Who’s responsibility is it to fix problems?
Throughout the journalism world, people are complaining about the demise of the status quo, looking to blame everything from corporate greed to Twitter.
Around Berlin people complain about the problems with the area.
Where is the SWOT analysis for both? Strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats. Everything is not gloom and doom in journalism, nor in Berlin. Let me point out some of the strengths:

Journalism

• required for democracy
• technology makes communication easier
• technology is cheaper than ever
• produces a valuable product
• requires little more than a skilled practitioner to produce
• has people who care about it immensely

Berlin

• has hard working, resilient citizens
• has a DOWNTOWN instead of urban sprawl
• is located in a beautiful region with rivers, mountains
• is actively thinking about the future
• has low cost of living, low cost of property
• has people who care about it immensely

At the city council meeting tonight councilors mentioned convincing people from Portland to travel to Berlin. The decor of Berlin could easily appeal to the Falmouth/South Portland crowd, if the riverside buildings were turned into upscale art galleries and restaurants and the detritus was removed. Is that were the city wants to go? Does it have the assets to move in that direction? That remains to be seen. Some people have said the city’s blue collar traditions might prove too much to overcome.
But pointing to problems doesn’t find solutions; pointing out possible solutions finds solutions. Who cares who is to blame, whether the problem is a lack of classified ads or a lack of jobs? The solution required is to find a solution.