So it's the great noughties depression is it?

With the news that the country is in 'official' recession, it's time to address the issue once and for all.

Rule of thumb states a country must go through two consecutive quarters of consecutive negative growth to be 'in recession'. Finally, this has been confirmed in Britain, but does that really matter now?

Some economists claim the country has being going down the tubes since April last year, while many countless thousands have lost their jobs while the country fidgeted uneasily in limbo, unsure whether reality was as horrificly dim as it seemed.

"There is no fear, but fear itself": an easy thing to say, but much harder to do, personally I prefer my own version: "The only real way to overcome fear, is to face it".

Currently, people who were once in the most secure of jobs are tugging at their collars nervously, but the foundation of the problem (as far as I can make out) is the general public's fear of losing everything.

Of course it's easy for students to remain unaffected; they either had no money in the first place (those un-subsidised by parents or Government) or are striving on blindly regardless (the rest). Businesses themselves are obviously the most affected area, as I reported only a few weeks ago, but individual's savings up to £50,000 are guaranteed by law, so by rights the long winding queues of Northern Rock's demise are, or should be, a thing of the past.

Sadly, children's lives aren't necessarily so blessed, with house repossessions rising to one per seven (SEVEN!) minutes according to the ONS.

I've come up with a simple solution: stop going on about it.

Fair enough, it might take a year or two before things are running smoothly again, but nothing is going to move forward while people are still worrying and paralysed by indecision on whether they should go on that holiday to Tuscany.

To that end, I'm going to do my part for my 'master plan' to fight the forces of shock-and-awe journalism and not mention the financial crisis, the credit crunch, the downturn, the recession, the collapse of the high street or sub-prime mortgages anymore.

It's not that I don't appreciate there's a problem, I just attribute a lot of it down to the typical mass hysteria and scaremongering from the venomous tabloids, though in contrast some papers got the right idea.

At the end of day history takes it's course, insert whatever generic saying you like, but this is something British people can actually affect, perhaps it's time to be a little more selfish and worry about our own future first before we paw with futility at the next biggest buzz-kill: the environment.

2009: excitement and horror in journalism jobs

A new year, a new start, or so goes the old cliché.

Of course, for many people the new year will bring as much misery and boredom as the previous year did, but generally it's obvious that due to 2008 being pretty dire, 2009 will be a step up for most people. A chance to prove yourself that 'things can only get better'.

People are keen to leave horrors like the to oft mentioned credit crunch, wildly fluctuating petrol prices and death of high street main-stays like Woolworths and Zavvi behind, but there's a real chance that 2009's economic climate will be even worse, causing more job losses and tightening of pockets.

Economics though, as much as it interests me, is not afront my mind this year, because this is the year I have to get a job, hopefully a good job.

On last count there were around 100 journo jobs on Gorkana, so with all the doom and gloom there are jobs out there, albeit probably not dream jobs, but this isn't the most fun time of year for that sort of thing.

Magazines are where it's at, but with BBC Mags on a recruitment freeze (though the Deputy Head himself admitted to being horribly bad at enforcing it), things still seem bleak. Opportunities abroad seem to be becoming more common, with vacancies boasting exotic locations such as Lisbon, Dubai, Frankfurt, Abu Dabi and Cyprus.

The thought of leaving the rainy shores of England for a warmer climate may seem exciting, but there is of course the uncertainty of whether it will pay off, not to mention adapting to a new culture - depending on which destination you choose - may prove difficult.

In the end, this is a time to be bold. Whatever the end result, one thing is certain: luck and determination will mean more than qualifications ever have.