Summary: We decided this topic warranted further inspection. Earlier, we shed light on the “shortage” of writers in AdLand, based on a USA Today piece. Based on further observation, and the insightful comments left by the experienced and smart readers of BMA, we want to concentrate this second piece on how we got here.
Where did the writers go? Were there enough to go around in the first place? Both questions are difficult to answer, but one could probably get away with “they left” for the first one and “probably not” for the second.