There’s something glorious about journalism. It’s a window to history, the best seat in the house, a power without responsibility and a chance to make a great big dent in the world. It’s seductive, mesmerising and frustrating in equal measure.

Otherwise, why do it? Why work almost double your hours most days for little reward? Why stand in the torrential rain for a grainy photo? Why neglect your family, your friends, your leisure, your health? Why risk your safety or to all intents and purposes become institutionalised?

It makes no sense, none at all. But we do it anyway.

The thrall of the job, the energy and creativity, the gallows humour it all counts. The thrill of a byline or photo on the front page, of doing better than your fiercest rival. Of that feeling you might, just might have made a difference. Of being first, being right.

Cut any of the characters from tonight’s documentary in half, and they will bleed news. They share a passion and pride few industries could ever hope to match. They are talented, generous, and often deserving better than they are allowed. We don't tell them nearly enough.

Times do change and for some, the worry of change can be as debilitating as their first day on the job. There is nothing shameful about moving on either. There is a whole big world out there with far better job security, better pay and hours that let you have an actual normal life.

But normal doesn’t suit everyone. We’ve evolved before. From hot lead and typewriters to computers and now smartphones. And we’ll evolve again, I’m sure, as we finally learn how to embrace what is a golden age for journalism as soon as we can free ourselves as an industry from the contortions of fearing to let go.

For those who can stay in this great trade, who can grow as a team, upskill and look to marry the old and the new, there’s a real opportunity to shape how we tell today’s stories, tomorrow.

It’s where this newsroom has changed most, bringing in digital natives to work with time served scribes.

With it the benefit of better gender and age parity to deliver an improved balance of what we should be, and want to be, as a modern publisher.

But what can readily be lost in this narrative isn’t that our focus should be on either print or digital. It should be – and is - journalism first.

The rest is simply how our readers, users, customer choose to consume what we share. Some might prefer to pay the original paywall – a cover price. For others, speed is their priority, as they log onto online. Many prefer the lazy read over coffee with a weekend edition.

We are trying to think not just in the now, but where we want to be in 10, 20, 30 years time. Not just the next week or next month. There has to come a time when we once again are brave enough to speculate if we are to accumulate. To recognise that to be the best, we need more not less.

In diminishing markets, where the bottom line rules and businesses try to build forward, that’s a conversation that continues. So instead we try and pivot in other directions, look to surprise with design changes, collaborate on events, evolve our content to offer deeper, richer reads than ever before.

Or we take a stand, choose the story of our generation like we did with climate at the weekend, and prove to you the readers that yes, journalism still matters, what and however you choose to read it.

Which is after all, what really counts the most.