Tag Archive: why journalists hate their life

It’s three years and counting working for myself, and that’s amazing

Now entering four years. Should have posted something about this in October, but forgot to. In mid-October 2014, I quit my full-time job in marketing to start working for myself. It was a decision I had long pondered. A few years prior, my work situation has changed drastically and suddenly after 13 years with the same company, and while at the time I was blindsided, it was a good thing. Kicked me out of a rut. I had been deeply unhappy and seeking change, and suddenly change was forced on me. It was a blessing. Almost got caught in a new rut, but talked a lot with the Mrs., about goals, about ideas, about different ways to live. I remember the day I decided I…
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Someone shot up my friend’s workplace – and it should scare you as much as it scared him

On Sunday morning, someone took aim at the offices of the Lexington Herald-Leader, a major newspaper in Kentucky, and apparently shot the place up. Several windows were shattered and what appear to be bullet holes were found in other spots on the building, including in some windows on the press room. This was accompanied by a bomb threat at a newspaper processing plant down the road owned by another newspaper. It may have been a random act of violent vandalism, but I’m not so sure. A friend of mind works there. For obvious reasons I won’t name him. He’s shaken. He should be. He’s gotten threatening phone calls before — as a former small town journalist, I can say from experience that irrationally angry readers are…
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John Oliver, journalism, and why the Newspaper Association of America are morons

John Oliver, the Daily Show alum who has since moved to HBO and is winning fans across the ‘Net for his self-deprecating, funny, and sometimes insightful investigative pieces, recently did a segment on journalism in America today. Most of what he discusses is old hat to those who have been in the business for a while — I remember having these discussions with colleagues more than a decade ago and spending many years struggling (and failing) to convince a former employer to move into the 21th Century — but it remains a relevant and worthwhile discussion even today. Hell, even more today than ever. The stories I hear from friends still in the business are enough to make a grown man cry. Things are only made…
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Why journalists hate their life, redux

A few days ago I shared why journalists hate life, namely, the sheer ineptitude of management that seems hellbent on driving papers to extinction, kicking employee morale in the face while doing it. This is an industry-wide problem that is killing newsroom after newsroom and making reporters, frankly, not really give a damn about their job anymore. Well, here’s another story, courtesy of KC Confidential: The Kansas City Star has told reporters Karen Dillon and Dawn Bormann that one of them has to leave the paper, and they — not management — have to decide who goes. “Dillon has seniority, so she has the option of taking it or not taking it,” says a KCConfidential.com source. “And if she does, Dawn gets laid off. Dawn’s…
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Campaign season is the worst thing ever

Brutha, there is no more awful time of the year than campaign season. As many of you know, in my day job I’m a newspaper guy. I do the kind of things newspaper guys do. Right now, that means managing the coverage of two fierce mayoral elections. And let me tell you, my hatred for campaign season is the kind of hatred usually reserved for famine, pestilence, genocide, and Barbra Streisand. Not in that order. I’d go into details, but not in a public forum. Suffice to say that after 11 years of covering local politics, I’m more than a little jaded at the process and the people and all the little insanities that go into it. I aim to do a good job because…
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