Journalism Indignity Goes Global

(Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Reporters: don't book that flight to Perugia, Italy, after all--the International Journalism Festival scheduled for April 2014, has been canceled on account of no revenues, Poynter.org reports.

The six-year-old IJF, Europe's biggest media event, generated less than $55,000 in revenues last year, most of that from corporate sponsors, according to Poynter. Journalists pay nothing to attend the event, so there is no ticket revenue, according to festival co-founder Christopher Potter. Ironically, the journalism profession also finds itself cash-starved because it gave away its online product for free for too long.

Perugia, the capital of Umbria, is a hub of culture and art and the cuisine is yummy, so if you've already have your plane reservations, it won't be a total loss. But if the IJF is going to be revived, it will need the magic of Harry Potter, not Christopher Potter.