The Columbia Journalism Review is asking for contributions to its Parting Thoughts series – a chance for journalists on their way out of the business to share their thoughts on why and what next for the industry.

In one ‘letter’ in the series, Jim Spencer, who was ‘involuntarily separated’ from the Denver Post, recalls his reaction to the news:

“My scoop didn’t matter. Neither did the ten writing awards I won in four years and three months as a metro columnist with the Post. The late nights and occasional weekends I put in, the blog I maintained in deference to the burgeoning online audience—none of it counted.”

Spencer went on to earn ‘twice as much as my co-workers’ writing for SpencerSpeaks.com, but now works in PR for the University of Colorado.