Do You Want To Be Like Jason?

You know, I don't think we're doing a terrible job at attracting "the most aspiring writers journalists," because there seem to be a lot of bright, young minds in this business.

The real problem, though, is that we're not keeping those bright, young minds. The best journalists of my generation are rapidly getting out -- moving on to somewhere where they can use their skills to do good, make money and be happy (in whatever order.) Somewhere where there's a future. Somewhere with some optimism, and the promise of better days.

Put it this way: It ain't real fun to be in your mid-twenties and already having survived two rounds of layoffs at your paper. Is that really what I have to look forward to for the next 2-3 decades? Shiiiiiiiiiit.

Why should I stick around, if I find myself with a stable opportunity in another field -- a more lucrative one, at that?

We can make all the efforts we want at attracting aspiring journalists of any race, any gender, any background. But it doesn't do a damn bit of good if we drive them all away before they're 30.

 

Buck,

It's not "we" who are driving anybody away, it's those above us, and obviously we can't control their methods of thinking. That doesn't mean we should throw in the towel and send the message that it's a lost cause, because that's a defeatist attitude.

And since the column that inspired this thread was specific to writing there was nothing wrong with my phrasing and no need to cross out the word "writers" and replace it with journalists.

 

I agree with your point, it just looked funny in your post since you had my phrase in quotes.

I guess I'm just trying to avoid falling into the doomsday school of thinking right now, as hard as that is to avoid when we hear of a different paper each day cutting jobs and offering buyouts. To be honest, I was ready to get out myself a little over a month ago and was putting out feelers to some of those "other" fields you mentioned, but the three days I spent at Poynter during the Sports Journalism Summit re-energized me and others who were feeling the same way.

Call me an eternal optimist, but I thought if we could take some of the positive, inspirational messages that were delievered in St. Pete and spread them around to potential journalists of all ages, then perhaps a grass roots movement might actually develop. Maybe it could progress to the point where the bigwigs could not ignore the damage they are doing to the credibility of our field and stop doing what they're doing, or at least revisit how they are going to make the business economically viable without destroying everything that is right about it.

 

Any more thoughts on this matter, Buck? I was eagerly awaiting your next post.

Thank God my boss isn't looking over my shoulder right now to see how much time I've spent on this message board today.

Such is the life of a freelancer at the end of May with everything but NBA playoffs, Stanley Cup Finals, postseason college baseball out of the local area and MLB over.

 

Like I said, I think we're not doing a bad job on the grass-roots part of it. Like you said, we're not the problem.

Maybe I've grown cynical about that part of it, although they can't ever sap my passion for what I do.

I just don't think "spreading the positive, inspirational messages from St. Pete" makes much difference when you go back to your job and they won't give the hardest worker on the staff a 3-percent raise, and they won't let you expense an update for your 4-year-old AP stylebook and then they cut your mileage rate by 5 cents because gas dropped to $2.96 last week.

I don't buy into the doomsday bullshit, either. Newspapers aren't dying, by any means. But they don't make it much fun to live, either. At some point, you have to say, "I can do better." So many of us here have shaken our heads, reluctantly, when asked the question, "Would you recommend journalism to an aspiring high school or college student right now?" ... Right now, there seem to be more growing opportunities -- on the Web, on our own, in different fields -- for us to do better.

But not in newspapers, not with the way the head honchos are running this ship. There's just not much incentive to climb aboard, and that's sad. Fucking sad. Personal pride doesn't pay the bills.

 

Buck -- That might rank as one of the five or ten best posts in SportsJournalists.com history. Excellent job.

 

THAT was definitely worth waiting for.

I think I'll fire myself now so I can collect unemployment.

Listen, I cannot disagree with one thing you said, and I am living the reality of personal pride not paying the bills right now. Boy is it frustrating, especially with my 40th B-day approaching rapidly. But my 3-year-old is so hooked on sports and the environment, and the ability to bring him to my "office" and not have it be boring when he's in the stands with his mother watching football, hockey, baseball or basketball is something I don't want to deprive him of at any cost.

You're right, it's fucking sad and just plain wrong how the head honchos are doing things all over the place. And when I'm asked the question by a young, aspiring journalist, whether or not he should pursue the field, I have to bite my bottom lip hard, while at the same time being very up front about the lack of opportunity for financial gain or stability.

There is no good answer, but I cannot enjoy being responsible for turning a gung-ho potential journalist away from his dream, so I walk on.

 

Then you can sue yourself for unlawful dismissal and really cash in.

 

Know a good lawyer Double J?

Boy wouldn't that be fun to tie up the court system with a lawsuit like that. Stranger things have happened.

 

i think circulation and advertising numbers and newspapers' ability to financially adapt to the web might be saying something different. i'd have whole-heartedly agreed with you a year ago. i'm not so sure any more.

 

Those advertising and circulation numbers can easily be manipulated to fit the bigwigs' needs to justify making cuts. Trust me, I've seen it happen first hand. 8)

 

andy - please explain yourself.