But we know that news-productivity demands are increasing. We also know that there are limits. We thirdly know there are trade-offs: Quantity up, quality down. I’ve said it before: you can practically graph it. The do-more-with-less thing—nobody believes it.

We need more reporting on this issue; we can’t just leave it to Gawker.

This isn’t just a journalism workplace issue, like speeding up the line at the chicken-processing plant. Actually, it is kind of like that, come to think of it. It’s about the quality of information that is getting out to the public, and, more importantly, from my point of view, what’s not getting out because it doesn’t pass the time/productivity stress test.

Us chicken workers have got to start talking among ourselves.

There’s a danger here, and it’s not just for journalists.

Dean Starkman writes and edits The Audit. He is CJR's Kingsford Capital Fellow.