In the (good) old days, journalists used to enjoy a full-blooded strike. They would spend a lot of time marching in the streets and venting against the boss, a lot of time in the pub, and usually there was at least a mildly positive industrial outcome.

Today, journalists have lost all their power. They still make an important contribution to democracy, but the collapse of the old media business model means that going on strike — as Fairfax journalists are doing today — is something less than a futile exercise.

If they don’t believe that, or if they believe their industrial action could force management to stop cutting jobs, they should have a look at the image below and think about a world where journalists no longer have any industrial muscle …