"The tools of citizen journalism allow anyone to be a publisher at next-to-no cost. ...we will soon see a slew of standalone, online, B2B publications being run by recently retired journalists. Those folks who have been working in your newsroom for 10, 20 or 30 years will no longer have to surrender a lifetime of industry knowledge when they walk out your door. "
--Blogger and trade journalist Paul Conley
You don't have to work for a newspaper those ten, twenty, thirty years to develop that beat, either. You can spend the time working for yourself (hopefully).