Dealing with douchey bosses

We just finished up our second straight year without a sports editor at the chain of weeklies I work at. The higher-ups have decided to save money and let myself and another reporter run the sports department.
As you can imagine, it causes problems, especially since we work mainly evenings and are rarely in the office during the morning hours to show people we still work for.
A little over one year ago, our biggest weekly's editor was fired and six months ago, replaced by his staff reporter. Several weeks ago, we were told we have to report to him, although there's not much for us to tell him.
If we need to do something he lets us know; if we're doing something wrong, he lets us know. Fine.
I'm in a meeting today trying to figure out why our all-area insert has suddenly gone from insert to its own section and he flips out when I'm telling our publisher our editorial content is lacking because we had planned - for two months mind you - a smaller local section becase the all-area section was going to eat most our pages.
He curses me out in front of our publisher, ad manager and production manager and it took every ounce of energy for me not to tell him to fuck off and worry about the horseshit section he puts out.
In cursing me out, he tells me myself and a fellow co-worker need to attend the weekly editorial meetings early Monday, which are basically a jerk-off meeting that requires myself or my co-worker to drive 35 minutes to the office and back for a 30 minute meeting. Mind you, we're the only non-editors - in title and payscale - who are asked to show up.
How do I politely tell this guy to go fuck himself?
Venting over.

 

I'd ask for a meeting with the editor, then tell him one of two things:

1. You're asking me to do a job of a sports editor. If I'm the SE, then I need to see a raise.
2. I'd be glad to come in, but I'll be charging OT since these responsibilites are not part of my job description.

 

We did No. 2 already and it allowed us to not go to the meetings during the fall, winter and spring seasons. It's tougher to get away with in the summer because we barely scrape in 40 hours a week.
Is it wrong to let them know that we'll show up every meeting as long as the rest of the editorial staff is?

 

Can't you call in to the meeting? Conference call? Speaker phone? Bueller? Bueller?

 

Yeah, I'd say that's wrong, even though I'm an avowed anti-meetings guy. As long as you can do it in your normal 40-hour work week, you need to suck it up and attend their little gathering if that's what is demanded. Their need to have you there (as they see it) is different from any need for others on editorial staff. Now, it would be nice if your Monday schedule could be arranged so you aren't forced to work a split shift. But if that's the only times you have to -- Mondays, during the summer, when you're not on vacation or a holiday -- then consider yourself fortunate.

 

Good times, good times. Knowing them, it doesn't surprise me that they have no desire to hire an actual sports editor, or to promote one of you, even if it's only in name only. Why are they so obsessed to have you report to this one guy? Could you get a different, equivalent editor who you find more palatable to step up and volunteer to be the one you report to?

What could they really want you at those meetings for anyway,? Outside of being asses. You could try to sabotage your way out of there - If they're going to make you sit through story ideas about the West Podunk Town Council, start giving your notes and suggestions for every story. Drag it out so that they have to pay you overtime, even if it is the summer.

 

why the hell didn't the spineless publisher tell the assclown to shut up?