I practiced law for three years early in my career; I have practiced journalism for the past 29 years, running a statewide legal newspaper. On my second day at the paper, I was waxing strips of text and placing them on flats. Today we publish our stories first on a WordPress website and production of the newspaper is handled by a hub in another state. I choose to be an optimist about the journalism business – I look forward to watching the development of new channels of distribution and how the industry will make money on them. During 2015-16, I served as the national president of the Society of Professional Journalists, the country’s largest and most broad-based group for journalists. Within SPJ, I focus on ethics and Freedom of Information issues. Follow me on Twitter @paulfletcher.