2011 George Polk Awards

Not quite the Pulitzers, not the least of which because it includes magazines, but still a pretty big deal in journalism circles.

Couple of sports connections I notice:

* Sara Ganim was honored for her work on the Penn State scandal.
* Lance Williams of "Game of Shadows" and BALCO fame was honored in the Medical Reporting category.

http://www.liu.edu/About/News/Univ-Ctr-PR/2012/February/Polk-PR_Feb-20-2012.aspx

 

Ganim should sweep every award.

She'll have the opportunity to leave her small-town paper very soon.

 

Quit fawning!

 

Mid-size paper in a mid-size city. And a state capital.

 

When I stop laughing, I suppose I'll stand corrected.

 

I get your point, but I see the other, too....

There's a big difference career and lifestyle-wise between living in Madison, Wis., and Beloit, Wis.

Same here, I think. Maybe she doesn't want to work at the New York Times, and there are worse places to live and work than a good-sized college town.

 

I understand this.

But - and not to comment on this Ganim situation specifically - if you're a newspaper reporter in your mid-20s and the big boys call, maybe you say "Well, I really like it here. I have a significant other who works locally, and I just really like being near this place." Maybe there's family considerations as well.

But that can lead to one day waking up in your mid-40s, having never had another opportunity, and saying "Aw, geez. I should have done that when I had the chance."

 

I cannot imagine that many ambitious people turn down those kind of opportunities. You have to strike while the iron is hot, and, while certainly mid-sized and small papers have their charm and advantages, the siren song of the metro - and certainly the NYT - has to be too much for 99.9 percent of people to turn down.

 

Hey, to be clear: I certainly didn't turn it down. It's just an alternative reality some might want, depending on what else is going on in their lives.

But yes, I wouldn't expect to see her there in 10 years ... or maybe even one.

Oddly, I think once people take that step and get on that track, when they get later in their careers, they might start looking in the other direction -- a nice life at a smaller paper. Full circle.

 

;D

 

I bet that's true in a lot of professions. I can remember occasionally coming across high school basketball coaches in their golden years guiding small-school programs, after years of coaching at some big-school powerhouses.

 

Always easier to drop down later in life.