One thing that surprises me – and it shouldn’t – is how resistant people are to change and adaptation.

So in the quest to continue my hustle, I emailed an acquaintance about the possibility of utilizing social media to promote her cause. I got pretty much a “no” with a small window for “possibly.” There was hesitancy to promote the specific cause with the use of social media, but when I pitched a cause in general, the “possibility” arose.

A few minutes after the exchange, I was reminded that Pardon the Interruption on ESPN was celebrating its 10th anniversary of being on the air. PTI, as it’s colloquially known, is a touchstone. An agent for change.

Has it been 10 years?

The premise of the show was outrageous, edgy and a bit narcissistic. Two sportswriters – one who’d been on the Washington D.C. sports scene for years and the other about to make his name (and his brand) go national – sitting at a table frankly talking, sometimes in blunt terms, about the issues and happening in sports. It took a bit for the show and its premise to catch fire, but it really started the movement of reporters diversifying themselves and their brand in another mediums.

Then on my Twitter feed, I attempted to start the dialogue about the 10th year of ESPN’s Pardon The Interruption.

Of course, the first reponse I got on Twitter was from a veteran reporter who disliked the idea of reporters going to another medium. It was in the tone of: “Stay in newspapers! Don’t do anything else!”

That’s wrong. Think about it. That’s why so much in nature is dead or has changed. It couldn’t survive or was killed, or it couldn’t keep up. Or was resistant to keeping up. And that’s what is hurting some journalists and hurting newspapers.

I’m sure some of the older journos will disagree with me, but consider this – a guy I worked with was all for incorporating technology and new information transit means into sending the messages. And he was 53!