The way the media industry appears to be going at the moment, I was beginning to wonder if the journalism course I'm currently studying would include lessons on noose tying and razor-blade sharpening.
It's easy to get depressed by all the doom and gloom surrounding local journalism. Every week it seems another newspaper group is posting declining profits, announcing redundancies, or even going into administration.
Local broadcasters aren't fairing much better either. As well as the high profile problems at ITV, which they continue to attempt to resolve, local radio stations have been stream-lining, merging and closing like never before. The Guardian's Dippity timeline (below) illustrates the current state of the industry.
And none of this matters a jot to the 'average man or woman on the street'.
But perhaps it should. At the risk of sounding pompous, local journalism is meant to be at the centre of the community, informing the region of what's going on on their doorstep. It's the conduit for local politics, news and gossip. If local newspapers go to the wall, how will we find out how the council intend to spend our money, what our community's priorities are, or how the local sports teams are doing.
A perfect storm
Here in Cardiff, the South Wales Echo has been chronicling local events since 1884, and their owners, Trinity Mirror, are among the many newspaper groups cutting back as they weather what Alan Rusbridger describes as a perfect storm.
But perhaps it's also right here in Cardiff that a glimmer of light is about to emerge from the storm.
Next week Ofcom Wales will start taking bids for a chunk of the digital radio spectrum.
Digital upgrade for local news?
Despite the name, the winner of the licence will actually be able to broadcast digital TV to Cardiff and the surrounding area.
The frequency can be used either for providing the Cardiff area with mobile broadband coverage, or for a number of local TV channels (or a 'multiplex' to use the jargon).'A really exciting time for Cardiff'
He told me that although the chunk of the spectrum could be used for either mobile broadband or TV, the most likely option would be to provide a dedicated digital TV service for Cardiff.
You can hear more what Hywel calls a 'really exciting time for Cardiff' by listening to the full interview (below).
Hywel Wiliam - Ofcom Wales
As you can hear, Hywel is pretty positive about the prospects for the frequency, despite the timing of the auction meaning bids not being as high as they might have been a year or two ago.
It follows the success of Channel M, which has been providing a similar service for the Manchester area since 2000.
Mancunians (as well as the rest of us) can tune in to Channel M through Sky, Virgin or Freeview, as well as analogue in the region. The channel shows six hours (seven including repeats) of local news every day, plus numerous sports programs providing in-depth coverage of the city's various teams. They even show highlights from local non-league football.
And if anyone missed the evening news bulletin's report on Stockport County Council's effort to stamp down on pigeon droppings (tenuous pun not intended), they can catch it again online.
Convergence in Cardiff
Cardiff's local papers have done a fairly decent job of getting online. Media Wales, the subsidiary of Trinity Group which owns The Western Mail, The South Wales Echo, Wales on Sunday and Celtic Weekly Newspapers, pool their resources to provide WalesOnline.co.uk.
They combine to provide a fairly comprehensive overview of the news in Cardiff and the surrounding area.
So imagine the potential if local newspapers, desperate to halt the decline in sales, advertising and revenue, decided to foray into TV. Instead of complaining about the BBC's growing local coverage, this would provide the perfect opportunity to turn the tables.
Broadcasting upwards of six hours of local news a day is unheard of anywhere in the UK except Manchester.
And it's a prospect that could change the tone of the media industry in Wales. Suddenly, after a doom filled 2008, 2009 may suddenly be looking up for all of us trying to break into an industry many commentators have written off as being in decline.
But it will all depend on who has the highest bid when the auction closes in February.
