Are you always "on the job?"

I'm with Stone Cane there. I recently moved from the news desk to sports writing and my social life hasn't skipped a beat. Yes, I'm always looking at things through a reporter's eye, but it doesn't keep me from having a nice evening with my friends and getting out of town every now and then.

Also, as an desker, I rarely was "off the job." I was continually reading the competition, watching national news, giving the wire a once-over every couple of hours and discussing ideas with reporters.

Maybe my 24/7-on-the-job lifestyle can be chalked up to youthful enthusiasm, but many journalists, no matter what they do, take their jobs home with them.

Edit: Spelling error.

 

Shit, that might have made the job interesting enough to stick out.

I worked with a guy who gave up a beat for the desk ... he still didn't have a social life, so I think it was just him.

 

when I go on vacation I make it a point to completely shutdown and disconnect from current events, but I still find myself checking in with the home office by text or e-mail at the start of the day and the end of the day. Sort of defeats the thrust of my first clause, no? But my colleagues are quick to tell me to buzz off and enjoy the holiday, which my wife and family adore.

But like others, yes, I feel the call of the job non-stop, and often carry around a small digital camera with me at all times in case something happens!

 

All you have to do with that 2 a.m. cop call is the second-day follow-up on what the latest Pacman arrest will do to his career...

 

I think there are ways to do the job without being on 24-7. I don't buy the whole, "If you're not always on the job, you're not doing it right" sentiment.

It's all about priorities and knowing when to do things. I do some work at home, but I do my best to make sure that it's done when it's not interrupting the wife. There are lines that can be drawn. We're a four-man dept. and two of the other guys give out their cell numbers and one of them even gives people their home number.

A big no-no in my book.

I don't want sources ringing my cell phone when I'm 250 miles away visiting family. Granted, I'll get an idea here or there when I'm at home and jot it down, but any work related phone calls I have to make, they happen at the office. Most of the time, when I'm home, I'm home.

 

Most coaches have my cell number. Some athletes do. And I do get calls. But I will let them go to voice mail and return the call if it's my time and I'm doing something important to me or my family or I might answer the phone will politely tell them it's my day off and make a point to return the call when it's better to talk or put them in touch with someone who can help them right awyay. But I do find it worthwhile to be accessible.

Just today, I got the Sunday reporter a scoop. A coach called me on my cell, on my day off, with a pretty good story. I emailed it to the guy working in the office today. Gave him a by-line story and some much-needed local copy for a late June Monday section.

 

When I was a writer, I was always on. Didn't matter that for the most part, I was doing GA/preps/local colleges for the majority of my career.

Prominent "on" story No. 1: When I was the SE of a small daily in New Mexico, I had Sundays off. One Sunday, Mrs. Birdscribe and I were heading out for the day. I looked to the south part of town and saw a huge plume of billowing smoke.

We headed over there to see a good part of a city block on fire. Not seeing a reporter from my paper, there, I kicked into reporter mode. The next day (we were a PM), I came in with a pile of notes and prepared to write a story before getting my page out. The ME stops me, congratulates me... then tells me to give my notes to one of our citysiders. I reluctantly comply.

Prominent "on" story No. 2. I'm reading a bedtime story to Little Bird (who was then 3 1/2) when our phone rings. It's our neighbor, who can't get back into the tract because some lunatic has barricaded himself in a house two blocks away and the tract is sealed off. His wife and baby son come over to our house, then -- after I'm finished reading "Grover's Resting Places" -- throw on a pair of flip-flops and head out to see what's going on.

I had one of our paper's 3 cellphones (this was 1997, after all) and got as close as I could to the barricaded house. I call the desk, tell them what's going on, then start interviewing sheriffs deputies on the scene and neighbors of the whack-job, who went berzerk because his wife left him and took their baby.

Our reporter can't get into the tract, having to settle for hanging out at the nearby doughnut shop/command post (no, I'm not making this up). So I stick around and phone in details until deadline. Then, I stick around to wait this out.

It ends around 2 a.m., with the SWAT team crashing the place and killing the guy.

The ironic thing about this: his father owned this spa and jacuzzi shop nearby our house. They had a charity golf tournament every year they named after him and would send me fliers to put in my golf notebook.

I never did.

 

24/7.
cell, blackberry, TV
never stops - i'm afraid to miss a call
hate to get beat by even 30 seconds
even when i sleep i dream of stories
it's a dog eat dog world
if you let down for even a minute you could be devoured

 

I am always responsible for what gets in "my" section, so to that extent you can say I am always on the job. Part of the challenge for me in organizing the staff, however, was to create quiet zones where I could have some time off, or at least get away from the office for a day or a night. Most weeks, that works well.

 

I've been on vacation and haven't read this thread...who won Wimbledon?

 

wow

seriously, if that's how you do it, that's cool, but in this day and age that's unimaginable to me

 

I confess, I'm always "on" as well, but I've learned to prioritize for the most part.

I left for a trip a couple years back and I wasn't even five miles from my house (that's close when you live in the sticks). Cops were re-routing traffic because of an accident.

That's right. I talked to law enforcement, parked my vehicle and took pictures.

The few months I was unemployed, it drove me crazy. Some people didn't know I wasn't working, so they'd give me story ideas and I would see stories as I was out and about.

I will say it's nice working in a different town than where I live. Makes it a bit easier to separate work and not-work.