Breaking points

I'm without an interview so far, myself. Not sure why I don't measure up for at least an interview at some of these places. Who knows? It seems that working for a newspaper has already given outsiders a negative view of what kind of person/employee I might be, based on stereotypes. I really hope that's not true.

I'm applying to non-sports media relations jobs. I left sports because I didn't want to do the night/weekend thing anymore, so why should I go back even if it's not a newspaper? I once interviewed for an assistant SID spot at Idaho. Moscow isn't the cheapest place to live, and the job offered less than what I was making at the newspaper at the time. So, no. Not interested in sports media relations.

 

When they replaced a highly respected prep writer (whose health issues forced him to step down) with a guy from news who doesn't know his head from his posterior when it comes to writing. This guy's experience in sports journalism, as far as I know, was stringing prep football games for us and a terrible pro wrestling column. Frankly, all of his columns are terrible, though I do enjoy reading them for their terribleness. Maybe that was the whole idea.

It didn't matter in the end. I got pinkslipped six months later.

 

Pro wrestling column? Wow.

My breaking point was my then girlfriend, now wife. She moved away from family and friends to be with me, and I kept leaving her sitting at home at night while I waited on a late story to come in, or had to stay late because someone called in sick/on vacation, etc. I realized that even if I did ever did get a raise (which wasn't likely) and could afford to married and have a family, I'd never see them.

Plus, I got constantly tired of the "do more with less" attitude. Belt-tightening is one thing, but YEARS of shoestring budgets that get tighter and tighter as time goes on just wore me out. Staffers would leave and not get replaced because the starting salary for a position would be too low to attract anyone.

I guess at the end of the day, the little headaches added up to one big headache, and it just wasn't worth it anymore.

My successor posts here, and I think he does a hell of a job with what he has, which is less than what I had. To put it in hockey terms, he's been killing a 5-on-3 penalty for about 10 minutes straight.

 

I honestly don't know where to begin. From long hours to crappy pay to worse management it's seriously like letting me loose at a golf superstore with a blank check. Probably the, "I so desperately need to get the fuck out of this business" moment came for me in February, 2008. My girlfriend had just learned that night that her cousin was killed in a motorcycle accident. While I was at her place, trying to be there for her, I get the dreaded cell phone call that there was a fire somewhere that I needed to go to...at 12:45 a.m. Of course, I get to the fire scene in time to see half of the firefighters packing up their gear because, in typical fire fashion, they called in 15 trucks just in case and only needed five. And since no one in my office knew how to listen to a fuckin' police scanner properly, they just paid attention to the initial dispatch and stopped paying attention thereafter.

So, on a night that I should have been home and had no reason to leave had someone paid attention, I wasn't. I spent the ride home bitching aloud in the car that "something's gotta change."

 

Consider it done.

In all honesty, thanks for the post.

 

Haven't hit my breaking point, but I'm getting there.

In my case, no big event has triggered this. I just simply don't like where I'm living and am sick of working nights/weekends in an industry (and job) that is going nowhere.

I want out in the worst way, but I have no idea where to go. I have no desire to go back to school and since I've never been a people person, can't think of many professions where my skills would transfer.

If it wasn't for this country's BS healthcare system, I'd seriously consider quitting right fucking now.

 

What an incredibly depressing thread! And a necessary one.

 

http://www.contracostatimes.com/ci_4948766?nclick_check=1

 

I can't point to a single, definitive moment, but I do know I'm on my way out of newspapers. More than anything, I've just come to the realization that no matter how far from home I'm willing to go or how flexible I'm willing to be on my salary, this lifestyle I'm leading just isn't sustainable. All the signs point to my time as a working stiff lasting a lot longer than working in newspapers being a viable career.

If I had to point to a single moment, it'd be a recent "reshuffle" in our paper's management. The people who brought me here -- the people I know and whose concept of journalism I trust -- have been reassigned within our parent company or otherwise marginalized. Their replacements are people far more concerned with the company line than putting out a good newspaper, and ever since the change I've noticed a steady stream of stories covering said parent company's pet interests or singing the praises of its financial performance. It's not even sold as advertorial space -- apparently we're just doing it to curry favor within the company.

The thought of taking on tens of thousands of dollars in student debt doesn't excite me, especially as I've only been debt-free for less than a year. If I stand pat, though, I'll be making $30K (if that) well into my 40s when this industry finally keels over and dies. I know there's a painful, awkward transition in my future -- it's just a matter of when.

 

No breaking point for me yet. But I've made peace internally with the fact that if I get laid off eventually, it could be the best thing that's ever happened. And while obviously awful, I still enjoy the day to day and I'm still young enough that I haven't had a major incident with my family.

 

There have been some posts about how to get out. If you want to go back to school for a master's, a graduate assistantship helps.

There are a few sports information grad assistantships for my new home state of Pennsylvania listed on the CoSIDA website at http://cosida.com/jobs.aspx. The great thing is you get a half or full tuition waiver, plus a small stipend for 10-20 hours of work per week.

Edinboro isn't difficult to get into.

I landed a grad assistantship at a D-II school in Pennsylvania in the university relations department. My future boss was blown away by my resume, which isn't that special. What I have is the ability to write in complete sentences, know layout and web, and can make wise decisions on my own. The department I'm in also offered a graduate assistantship and I'm wasn't close to being a top-tier student.

There are options for going back to school. Jim Carty went to law school and earned a scholarship. Don't think you have to pay full price.

 

Today, a breaker could have been handed to us in the newsroom: non-compete agreements. Leave the paper and you can't work for one owned by a competing company within 30 miles for a year. This was met with one "That's retarded," one "I'm not signing," and one "When I leave here, I'm going much farther than 30 miles, anyway."