E&P story on editors 'struggling' with furloughs

When I first saw the title of this, I thought it was about how editors were having problems with covering news because of furloughs. Which in these times, is a very newsworthy topic. Nope.

http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003949706

Instead, its about editors who are struggling to adjust to not checking their e-mails, or their Blackberrys while they are on furlough. Is E&P kidding us? They don't write about papers struggling to cover events because of the cuts, or even worse, how staffers are dealing with losing a week's pay.

 

Yeah, it's all about the "calling," the sense of duty and, for editors of Gannett papers, showing corporate how dedicated they are, even when we've got a big, barbed ramrod sticking us from behind.

Let's romanticize this profession right into oblivion.

 

I gagged halfway through that. My god, interviewing the management fucks and making them seem like heroes. How bout the reporters who got scooped during their furlough and how they still got reprimanded for getting scooped.

 

Would you like to provide some names or maybe write a story about those poor souls? Make fun of the stupid story if you want, but don't make up fantasy crap.

 

If you don't think missing a full week has and will cost some reporters scoops you are mistaken. And from my experience in this business the readers will blame that reporter and management will blame that reporter who, if he/she is smart, will be sipping drinks on the beach in Hawaii.

 

Oh, so they're suddenly worried about the wage and labor laws?

Nice way to tackle the furlough issue, E&P. Real hard hitting. Fuck E&P.

 

Every day I get calls from readers complaining about "scoops" we missed.

The mayor calls and wonders how in the world we didn't see his "oriental massage" bills on his expenses.

The basketball coach screams into the phone flummoxed that we haven't reported on his star player driving a Bentley.

The school principal calls in tears, wondering why his pedophile teachers don't even get posted on a poindexter thread.

 

This was the journalistic equivalent of a fan reaction story.

 

Granted E&P is written FOR editors and publishers, but you'd think an editor on furlough, instead of leaving the state, would spend some time in the community, walking around, hanging out in coffee shops, engaging people and trying to get a different perspective of what is going on in the community.

 

If that's who I think it is, I suspect a lot of people in the D+C offices (plus some no longer there, and not by choice) wish she'd stayed away longer.

 

I remember when I thought E&P was good and worthy of a subscription.

That was a long, long time ago.