Entitlement

so, just what is broadway joe entitled to? seems as though, since the numbers are so low, we owe broadway joe, pe and the rest some of the best jobs available in the profession to make sure they approve of quotas.


seems as though many people on this board aren't concerned with equality, it's more about entitlement and not earning a damned thing. doesn't seem quite fair to journalists of any color and/or sex.

 

"You're gonna put me out of a job."

Pack up the Plantation, Breakdown

 

I don't see Wright Thompson complaining. And he earned a great job coming out of college.
If you're good, you'll find a job. Or an employer will find you. But if you're at some 5,000 bi-weekly afternoon paper, maybe you're not as good as you think you are.

 

You aren't really debunking arguments when you are mentioning someone of his caliber getting a job as proof that there is no issue.

Now, Thompson will always be "Quoteless in Kansas City" to me.

But, he is a fucking stud.

 

I'm just saying, great papers hire great writers out of college. They go out and find them. Whether it's Thompson, or Michael Smith earning a job covering the Patriots right out of college.
It's not just about skill, but about luck.

 

The sense of entitlement that many young writers in this business have disgusts me...

Yes, some of us are luckier than others and start at bigger papers for whatever reason... But if this is really what you want to do, give it five years before you start bitching left and right...

If they hire you to cover preps, cover the hell out of it. Don't sit there and complain that you don't get to write a seventh sidebar from the NFL game.

If you're good in this business, and you're willing to apply for jobs and move around a bit, some paper will find you... If you reach 30 and you still have never been promoted and no paper responds when you apply for every job out there, maybe this isn't the business for you. There's no shame in that. I respect the people who realize that and move on...

I hate to resurrect the name of the legendary Rachel Lenzi, but she's the classic example of someone who was willing to move around and has now done quite well for herself.

 

Oh, a subject that gets my blood boiling.

Work hard. Work hard. Work hard. I'm not going to go off about this. If young writers are truly talented, they'll prove it. Others will look ridiculous.

Your work will speak for itself. It's the ultimate 'scoreboard'.

 

About a year ago, I got a packet sent to me that had some newspaper articles in it. One of them was by Rachel Lenzi, and it was excellent. I really enjoyed it.

Mizzou's so right about moving around... same thing for tv. I know a young guy who seems to have potential, but he refuses to leave NYC. So he gripes and complains he's never going to get an on-air job. The hardest part about moving around is the relationship thing. It's tricky.

 

Seems like you're not getting a lot of support for your point, Tom, whatever it was.

 

I have friends who took part-time jobs at big papers hoping they would eventually be hired full-time... I'm not saying it never happens, but usually it doesn't and they're bitter now because they're not getting full benefits or a competitive salary...

I have a hard time being sympathetic when they're unwilling to leave. They act like going to a smaller paper is beneath them, which is idiotic... There are people who actually believe they're going to go from 32 hour preps writer to major college or pro jobs with no steps in between...

 

This is actually one of the more sensible posts. Up to now, it's been the same back and forth or the witty: "If you're not at the pinnacle by 30, you just suck."

There is at least one idiot shit recruiter out there, though, who views any downward move as a problem. It doesn't matter what the reason was: personal, a hiring editor reneging on a promise, whatever. In his tiny mind, if you ever move down, you just suck.

 

Bullshit. There are plenty of great talents who for some reason or another have fallen through the cracks. I'm so tired of people at big papers, and i'm at one, thumbing their noses at people at smaller papers.
Many of those at larger papers wouldn't last a week at smaller papers. That's because many of them don't know how to work. They know how to hide, which is what you can't do at a smaller shop.