I?e been hanging out in newsrooms since I was 20 years old, which is more than a couple of years ago, and for all of that time I?e heard reporters and editors say that they couldn? do any other job.

It wasn? that they were incapable of doing something else. But they couldn? put their heart into anything else. Therefore, they thought they really couldn? do any other job.

Indeed, journalism is a calling more than a profession. Like teachers or preachers or cops, we do the job because we have to. It? hard for us to imagine doing anything else.

In fact, I confess I used to needle my colleagues by occasionally asking them what they? do for a living if they couldn? be a journalist any longer. That buzz killer of a question would quiet any convivial gathering of reporters. I? usually get icy stares.

Of course, what was then a mischievous query has now become a tragic personal reality for legions of journalists. They now must confront the unthinkable. They must do another job.

But wait. I?e covered business and the economy, also for more than a couple of years, and I?e seen this before. An industry gets roughed up. Dispirited employees trudge out, pink slips in hand. But, lo and behold, some of those same former employees stiffen their spines and start their own little businesses. With a few years, and a little luck and pluck, some of those businesses grow up into thriving enterprises. Maybe one or two will become substantial.

A recent example: We?e seen some biotechs sprout up in the Conejo Valley. They got planted, figuratively speaking, when hundreds were laid off from Amgen Inc. Who knows? Maybe one will end up bigger than Amgen ever was.

I bring this up because we?e starting to see some startups from laid-off journalists. In last week? Business Journal, we reported about a former New York Times reporter who has started an online Hollywood trade publication. And in the Up Front section on Page 3 of this issue, we have a story about the former ?ot Properties?reporter for the Los Angeles Times who has started a business that contracts with former journalists to staff after-school classes.

I don? mean to be a Pollyanna here. The decline of traditional journalism is bad. The watchdogs are going away. So are the knowledgeable reporters and editors who not only deliver information but insight. Some journalists, tragically, will not successfully make a jump into another profession. And I?l bet many of the former journalists who managed to transition into a successful second career would gladly and quickly trade it away if they could get back their old job and a decent paycheck.

But the point is that it is not all gloomy. Some journalists will figure out how to continue reporting in an online age. Some will find a rewarding career in another field. And some will start businesses.

Even if they always thought they couldn? do anything else, they will discover they can. After all, journalists are nothing if not creative and resourceful.

And it is not outlandish to imagine that in a few years, maybe five or 10, we?l be able to point to an office building and say, ?hat business got started after a reporter got laid off.?p>

Charles Crumpley is the editor of the Business Journal. He can be reached at [email protected].