This is one of a number of articles I wrote about the changes at The Capital Times shortly after the announcement was made they would move to the web. Rob Zaleski is a writer that took the buyout, and Friday was his last day. I have not talked to him since, but I wish him the best in future endeavors. Read his CapTimes.com porfile here.

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“The times have changed so dramatically since I got into this business,” says Rob Zaleski, a columnist for The Capital Times as he paces before a room of aspiring journalists.

“You might think twice about going into the newspaper business,” says Zaleski, admitting it is the first time he has ever said this.

“At The Capital Times, which has existed for 90 years, they dropped a bombshell on our laps last week and announced that at the end of April they would no longer have a print edition,” says Zaleski.

The paper announced it would move operations to the web from a daily newspaper. Two weekly print supplements will appear in the other Madison newspaper, the Wisconsin State Journal.

“I don’t think any of us saw this coming,” says Zaleski. “That’s an entirely different beast for a journalist. I think that’s a sad day for writing.”

Zaleski spent 26 years at The Capital Times, but knew at age 14 that he wanted to be a journalist.

“Nothing was going to stop me from this dream,” he says.

Zaleski grew up in Bay View, on the south side of Milwaukee. He excelled in English, but did not care much about other subjects. He says he believes he still holds the lowest score on a geometry test with a 19 percent.

After high school, Zaleski attended the University of Wisconsin – Milwaukee. He dropped out after his junior year “mainly because I wanted to be a sports writer, and I heard about a part-time job at the Milwaukee journal covering high school sports, and I talked my way into the job.”

“Back in those days, you didn’t need a degree,” says Zaleski.

Zaleski became a sports editor at the Green Bay Daily News. By 25, he was living his childhood dream of covering the Packers.

Zaleski moved to Madison in 1976 to work for United Press International. At the time, UPI was the top wire service competition for the Associated Press.

In 1981, Zaleski took a job at The Capital Times as its sports editor. He covered the Brewers World Series run in 1982 before becoming a features columnist for the paper.

Zaleski has written columns and features for the paper since 1984. One of his favorite topics is overpopulation, although he did earn the wrath of a fifth-grade class when he wrote “one does not move to South Dakota, one gets sentenced there.”

Zaleski has his doubts about his newspaper becoming an online entity.

“Nobody in the newspaper industry has yet to figure out how they’re going to raise revenue off an Internet newspaper.”

“Right now, advertisers are still reluctant to buy ads on the Internet,” says Zaleski. “If you don’t have advertising revenue coming in, and people are getting the news free on the Internet, how do you pay for the salaries of your staff?”

Like others at The Capital Times, Zaleski is uncertain about his future.

“I feel like I’m the chopping block,” says Zaleski. “They’ve eliminated my position basically, so I’m going to have to apply for a new job.”

“We have to reapply for all our jobs,” says Zaleski.

“The bad news for a grizzled middle-aged reporter is,” says Zaleski; “Is anyone going to hire us?”