What they told me: Newspapers are dying. It's time to jump ship. Get out while you can. There's no future in journalism.

What I told them: I want to know why.

I'm a former sports reporter who walked away from my beat to find out why newspapers are struggling, what they can do about it and how the Internet is changing the way the media does business. After a decade in the field, I'm now a doctoral student at the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University, where I study journalists' routines, media sociology, and sports media and communications. I've presented my research at regional and national conferences.

I worked for the Press & Sun-Bulletin (Binghamton, NY) and The Times Herald (Olean, N.Y.). I've written for The Boston Globe, The Boston Herald, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram and the Baltimore Sun, among others. I've covered college basketball, minor-league baseball, the NCAA Tournament, the NHL playoffs, and the NFL, NBA and MLB. I voted in the AP men's basketball Top 25 and broke coverage of the 2003 St. Bonaventure men's basketball recruiting scandal.

Some day, I'll write a book. Until then, I'm proudly shouting my observations at Sports Media Guy, which has been featured on Deadspin and The Big Lead.