Do you really want to know about this paper?

I start a new job next week. In the meantime, my current boss has hired my replacement at my current shop. Tomorrow I will be showing her around town, introducing her to various people, etc.
So my question: how much information do I share with her? I've been basically a one-man shop covering a town of 60K. Boss cut the part-time sports position so we have an intern and a long-distance freelancer covering sports (plus I was helping with football coverage and assigning). As far as non-sports, I covered everything. She made a comment to a co-worker today along the lines of "murphyc's name is on 90 percent of the stories and gee, someone else is going to be doing that writing, right?" Um, nope, all the weight and pressure is now going to be on you.
Further, do I tell her how about the morale of the shop or do I just let her figure that our herself? I'm thinking of letting her figure it out but emphasizing it is a ton of work. Any suggestions?

 

Just tell her about the work load, and the morale thing will take care of itself.

She's already seen your byline all over the paper. She'll figure it out pretty quick.

And good luck at the new gig, murphy.

 

Give some KY and tell her to bend over and take it because she's going to have to. Seriously, give her some helpful advice and any information to make the transition easier. Good luck on your new gig. I KNOW you will be happier.

 

congrats on the new job, and i've always seen morale, or a lack of it, as this: maybe it's my fucked up attitude that interprets it one way or another. what i see as a negative, someone else may see as a positive. let someone else figure out the subjectives out for themselves.

 

Thanks all for the advice. And Petty, if she finds the morale here to be a positive in any way, more power to her.
Versatile, best changed quote ever. ;D
I am typing up a list for her of what I cover, insights into the main people she'll be meeting, what a 'typical' week looks like, tips, etc. Plus I will wish her luck. A lot of it.

 

Don't forget the KY as a parting gift
.

 

Murphy,

If you like the new person, nothing wrong with telling her as much as you want. I'd probably do it over lunch and preface it by saying "Look, this is off the record, but look out for ....."

If you don't like the new person, don't feel obligated to tell her anything. She'll find out soon enough. Just a simple "Good luck" should suffice.

 

When I left my first job, the guy who was the heavy favorite to replace me was brought in to interview while I was still there. I went out in a group with him and by this point, it was pretty obvious he was going to be offered the job and that he was going to take it.

He said, "Anyone or anything I should be warned about?"

I said, "Well, it is a good job. As far as warnings, I'll let you figure some things out for yourself, because you may hate the people I love and love the people I hate, but call me in a month or so and I'll fill you in on anything you haven't already figured out."

He called me about a month later and had the same issues with the same people that I had.

 

I think Mizzou's got it right. Let her figure out things for herself. She's going to be excited to be starting a new job. Telling her morale sucks does nothing. (And Tom is right -- I've been in situations where someone's bitched to me about morale in my shop and I thought "Really? Seems fine to me.")

Tell her the things that will make her life easier. Leave the rest for her to discover on her own.

 

Yeah, you likely don't know the situation she is coming from ... your place could be a lot better than the previous stop, so I wouldn't mention the morale. But definitely fill her in on the workload. Seems like she might already be a little worried about that. I hope she had an inkling of that before she was offered the job. If you're a one-man shop at a paper that size she should have known what that meant. I hope she isn't in way over her head.