'Black Wednesday' in Tampa

[photomat]

Good evening, all.

I just registered for this site after reading through most of the comments re the Tampa situation. Just wanted to express my sadness about what happened there and what's happening everywhere else. I spent twenty years in newspapers, first in upstate New York, then UPI in the 1980's and then at USA Today during the 90's. I witnessed a lot of bad shit during the dark days of UPI, but I have to admit it was more isolated then. UPI was like the Bad News Bears at that point and there was a hint of black comedy surrounding the layoffs. Not so now, needless to say. This is more like Sherman's March.

I'm out of journalism these days, though still a photographer. I posted a fairly long entry on my site about the Tampa situation, and, unlike a certain someone, tried to think it through for more than ten seconds. For anyone who's interested:

http://www.mattmendelsohn.net/matt-mendelsohns-dark-slide/2008/7/7/a-bridge-too-far.html

I really want to find some entry way that leads towards compassion for Ms. DaSilva, but it's very hard. A comprehensive review of her other blog posts, like the one where she expresses outrage that Roll Call had the nerve to ask her to stop blogging, leads me to believe that she's far from the naive, young screw-up her defenders are making her out to be. She clearly wants to be a blogger, not a journalist, and doesn't seem to understand the difference between the two.

Anyway, again, my thoughts are with you all.

Matt Mendelsohn
Arlington, VA

[Andy _ Kent]

Matt,

Good stuff on your blog. I'd love to see that AOL video but even with the password you provided it still wouldn't allow me to view it.

[Fredrick]

Online first or, as one person elsehwhere said, "work for the Web and put paper out in spare time."
An Atlanta-type newsroo model that eliminates all departments (including sports) and puts writers into generic "areas" (such as deadline news). No one seems sure exactly how it will be set up but it works basically like this: those "areas" include writers, editors, online & TV people. Idea is to converge all stories across 3 platforms (print, tv, online) if applicable.

I'm laughing my ass off at what these managing editor "newsie" types are going to find out when they butt into sports and take away sports departments for "breaking news" beats, daily shifts etc.
If all reporters are gonna be clumped together ... guess what? Your sports reporters who are used to working 60, 70 hours and getting paid for 40 will now be working 40.

Have fun scheduling coverage of games, you editors of newspapers that have college or pro teams.
Good luck having 4-5 people cover the beats because your new 40 hour a week sports guy/gal will be going to be getting regular time off just like your news reporters.
You folks are smarter than me.
You tell me a scenario in which papers are not going to be up a creek if they take away sports editors and put all sports reporters on breaking news shifts, etc. You tell me how they are going to have the bodies to cover anything besides breaking news.

[MMatt60]

This Matt M. (no, not me, the poster above in this string) is a heck of a good writer.

[Grey]

Some of us are not picking on the intern, just trying to enlighten her a bit so that she can be better informed the next time she chooses to blog.

Well, of course, the other advice, though, is to not have her looking over her shoulder every time she writes something.

Or looking around the newsroom and eavesdropping all the times she isn't writing something (which seems to be quite often).

Or reporting on internal meetings. I'm sure the Times folks have enjoyed the heads-up.

Or pontificating on a profession she knows little to nothing about, obviously. Or timing such thots on the eve of layoffs.

Or complaining about working an 11-hour day and hating feature writing.

Or applauding plans as stale as my roommates Saltine's.

Or bragging about "hits" on her stupid blog, which also includes such intriguing subjects as "guys, like I'm heading to the pool ... "

Or posting her none-too-impressive pic atop the words "lovely and talented." or did she spell it "luvly and tallented?"

Taking up for this girl is ridiculous.

She has passion and spunk. Big deal. We all had that. Some of us still do despite the hardships most of us have faced in double-digit years in this business.

I cannot imagine "reporting" on an internal staff meeting. Better yet, I cannot imagine the desire to.

[photomat]

>>This Matt M. (no, not me, the poster above in this string) is a heck of a good writer.<<

MMatt60: Thanks. I come from a family of writers (my brother Daniel writes for The New Yorker occasionally and the New York Review of Books regularly) and though I am trapped in the world of wedding photography these days, I try and write as much as I can. Photographers don't generally get kudos for their writing ability, so I try and do what i can for the team.

Andy Kent: I tried the link to that AOL layoff video and it worked for me. The password is aollover (double "l"). For those of you who don't know what I'm talking about, last year the entire AOL Paris office was laid off. On their final day, the whole office made a video that is striking because it's a) very clever and b) not very bitter. I particularly like the "for rent" sign at the very end. Try this link instead:

http://www.alleyinsider.com/2007/10/aol_twx_how_to                                  (again, password is "aollover")

Anyway, I'm glad I found this place and I look forward to reading more. Most of my time during my UPI days was spent shooting sports (favorite moment: witnessing a perfect game pitched against the Dodgers by Dennis Martinez) and I like staying in touch with all my reporter friends.

Sorry for the non-sanctioned quoting. I'll figure your board out soon enough!

Matt

[Andy _ Kent]

Some of us are not picking on the intern, just trying to enlighten her a bit so that she can be better informed the next time she chooses to blog.

Well, of course, the other advice, though, is to not have her looking over her shoulder every time she writes something.

Or looking around the newsroom and eavesdropping all the times she isn't writing something (which seems to be quite often).

Or reporting on internal meetings. I'm sure the Times folks have enjoyed the heads-up.

Or pontificating on a profession she knows little to nothing about, obviously. Or timing such thots on the eve of layoffs.

Or complaining about working an 11-hour day and hating feature writing.

Or applauding plans as stale as my roommates Saltine's.

Or bragging about "hits" on her stupid blog, which also includes such intriguing subjects as "guys, like I'm heading to the pool ... "

Or posting her none-too-impressive pic atop the words "lovely and talented." or did she spell it "luvly and tallented?"

Taking up for this girl is ridiculous.

She has passion and spunk. Big deal. We all had that. Some of us still do despite the hardships most of us have faced in double-digit years in this business.

I cannot imagine "reporting" on an internal staff meeting. Better yet, I cannot imagine the desire to.

... and then there's that.

I think I'll steer clear of those roundhouse punches because I can't really refute any of that, other than to say her first entry since the original one that stirred up all of this fire was a little better thought out.

[Ace]

I got no problem about someone reporting on internal meetings. If we could report on an internal meeting at Wal Mart or Chevron or whatever, we sure as hell would.

[SportsGuyBCK]

More details on the "reorganization" ...

http://poynter.org/forum/view_post.asp?id=13461

[Ace]

I like a robust newspaper.

[Grey]

More details on the "reorganization" ...

http://poynter.org/forum/view_post.asp?id=13461

Reads like a big "Circle" jerk.

[Andy _ Kent]

More details on the "reorganization" ...

http://poynter.org/forum/view_post.asp?id=13461

All I can say to that memo is -- WTF?!? Whoever wrote this memo apparently wanted to see how many new words he or she could invent or use in order to make this sound like some sort of smart plan. Basically what I got out of it is there are going to be an awful lot of circle jerks going on what with all of these "circle" editors.

Man, that's five minutes of my life I'll never get back.

[Andy _ Kent]

More details on the "reorganization" ...

http://poynter.org/forum/view_post.asp?id=13461

Reads like a big "Circle" jerk.

Damn Grey. You type faster than me you frick. Great minds think alike.

[Andy _ Kent]

BTW, here's another winning blog entry from one of Jessica's fans:

http://www.spot-on.com/archives/thugs_in_the_newsroom.html

Brody to Quint: "We're gonna need a bigger boat."

[Dickens Cider]

BTW, here's another winning blog entry from one of Jessica's fans:

http://www.spot-on.com/archives/thugs_in_the_newsroom.html

Brody to Quint: "We're gonna need a bigger boat."

Ugh. I noticed he disabled comments for the article. What a pity.

[Matt1735]

BTW, here's another winning blog entry from one of Jessica's fans:

http://www.spot-on.com/archives/thugs_in_the_newsroom.html

Brody to Quint: "We're gonna need a bigger boat."

I read Chris' post, and am bothered enough to respond here. Maybe I'm blind to sexism and racism because I'm a white male, but I don't recall anyone here or anyone in the comments I've read on her site bashing Jessica for being a woman.

The anger with her is that -- in the opinion of veteran journalists -- that she doesn't get it. If the same comments had been written by her brother James, the reaction would be the same.

No one who is part of a minority should be permitted to be outspoken on an issue, whether in a blog or as any other type of public figure and then be permitted to slink behind the "minority" wall by saying that any rebuttal is sexist or racist or any other -ist.

What happened to the veteran journalists at the Tribune sucks. It was full of lies (job performance would factor in, etc.). Jessica's blog reaction to what happened sucked. It was naive. Even after a number of people have tried to point out why they were upset, I still don't think she gets it. And that sucks even more.

To all who have been affected, my best wishes that you are able to find something and never go through this type of awful mess again.

[imjustagirl]

I read Chris' post, and am bothered enough to respond here. Maybe I'm blind to sexism and racism because I'm a white male, but I don't recall anyone here or anyone in the comments I've read on her site bashing Jessica for being a woman.

The anger with her is that -- in the opinion of veteran journalists -- that she doesn't get it. If the same comments had been written by her brother James, the reaction would be the same.

He probably wouldn't have been referred to as "blondie" several times though. Or a bimbo.

Not saying I disagree with either characterization, seeing as to how she's presenting herself. But the things said about him wouldn't have been about the color of his hair or his flooziness.

[Mike Harris, not that one]

Pretty damn shabby reporting by Chris Nolan by the way. The Jamie Ms. Nolan refers to as a he is actually a she. I know the Jamie and worked with her. Nice lady too.

[SoCalDude]

   I have digested this thread since it began, checking every couple of hours for new comments.
   Saturday night I was at work and I saw a story folder in the story list slugged ACC.xxxxx
   That means somebody grabbed it off the wire for future use, using the xxxxx in place of the actual date.
   So I opened the story to see what it was and it was written by Scott Carter.
   Kinda freaked me out.
   Scott, what happened to you shouldn't have happened. All the best to you. 
   

SoCalDude,

Any chance that story can see the light of day here, so those unfamiliar with Scott's work can get a sense of just what a loss this is to the Trib?

   Andy, that's not my call. I was surprised to see that somebody had saved the story. Space is tight and our national news is very limited. We're still a couple of months away from any kind of preview section. 

[playthrough]

More details on the "reorganization" ...

http://poynter.org/forum/view_post.asp?id=13461

Reads like a big "Circle" jerk.

I still say "audience editors" is one of the bigger crock-of-shit jobs I've seen in the "new" newspaperdom.

[Andy _ Kent]

   I have digested this thread since it began, checking every couple of hours for new comments.
   Saturday night I was at work and I saw a story folder in the story list slugged ACC.xxxxx
   That means somebody grabbed it off the wire for future use, using the xxxxx in place of the actual date.
   So I opened the story to see what it was and it was written by Scott Carter.
   Kinda freaked me out.
   Scott, what happened to you shouldn't have happened. All the best to you. 
   

SoCalDude,

Any chance that story can see the light of day here, so those unfamiliar with Scott's work can get a sense of just what a loss this is to the Trib?

   Andy, that's not my call. I was surprised to see that somebody had saved the story. Space is tight and our national news is very limited. We're still a couple of months away from any kind of preview section. 

Thanks SoCal. I wasn't sure if it had run somewhere else yet.

Scott's blog from July 1st can still be found on TBO.com by the way. Obviously that wound up being his last, but here it is:

http://www.tboblogs.com/index.php/sports/related/C158/

[slappy4428]

BTW, here's another winning blog entry from one of Jessica's fans:

http://www.spot-on.com/archives/thugs_in_the_newsroom.html

Brody to Quint: "We're gonna need a bigger boat."

What a dumbass... If Jessica DaSilva were Jess DaSilva, a man, and someone used the term "young man" it wouldn't be sexist. But because she was identified as "young lady", That's sexist?
And it's OK for her to identify herself as "lovely and talented?" Can;t have it both ways... Nolan's a foof.

[deskslave]

They will build a communication system that is real time, focused not on meetings but on the evolution of the news priorities throughout the day.

So...like, talking to each other? Ooh...innovative!

[slappy4428]

They will build a communication system that is real time, focused not on meetings but on the evolution of the news priorities throughout the day.

So...like, talking to each other? Ooh...innovative!

That's a big step for some papers... errr.... information centers

[Andy _ Kent]

Andy,

Love your posts. I just think it's funny that 47 of your first 49 posts are on the same thread.

I hope you hang around.

Thanks Mizzou, and thanks for giving me an excuse to reach the 50 mark in posts. Yeah, this thread obviously hits real close to home for me, and being this is the slow time for work, unfortunately I have a lot of free time on my hands. That'll change when NFL training camps open up here in a few weeks.