Etiquette

It's unprofessional if the offer was made on an office phone. If they did not know how to contact her away from work (I'm assuming that to be the case), they should contact the person at work and ask to speak after work, then ask the question in that subsequent conversation.

I agree with the posters who say you should be flattered, blah, blah. But you are right, offering the job to somebody at work is not the way to handle it.

 

funny but you didn't mention it being in poor taste to call the reporter at work in your initial complaint. sounds to me like you were offended that a writer would leave your place and would've been ticked off whether the call came at work or not. and if you've spent 55 years figuring out how the world works, you still haven't succeeded and the writer would probably be wise to look elsewhere.

 

People come and go. That's the nature of the business. Been there, done that myself. The reporter in question is good enough that she could work just about anywhere she wants. She's from here and wants to be here. If she told me tomorrow that she was moving on to a better gig, I'd congratulate her. Would I hate to see her go, of course?