Any time an industry loses one of its institutions, it's a time for grief and reflection.
But it's also a time for perspective.
Change does not come without pain and trauma. Check the fossil record and you'll see what I mean.
Change is neither good nor bad, it is simply inevitable and unyielding.
It's how you think about change that makes it either beautiful or ugly. It's what you decide to do because of change that makes you ultimately succeed or fail.
Whether we're talking about an auto company or an industry trade paper or your favorite elderly uncle, always being there in the past may be comforting but it is no guarantee of always being there in the future. And this is not good or bad – it's simply what is.
It's obviously sad that so many good people – people we all know – are out on the street. But many, many more people in our industry are already out on those streets – and who will write the blog post for them?
What's more, many people – people we all know – are recreating their careers in and out of what radio is and is becoming. And they're doing it all around us every day.
There will be no shortage of news regarding radio. There will be no shortage of news outlets. There will be no shortage of news reporters. There will be opportunities anew for fresh and profitable sources for all of the services we have come to expect from R&R.
R&R's function has not ceased – nor has the ability of their talented cast to perform it.
Only the newspaper and its website are gone.
R&R is dead – long live what R&R will spawn.