New York Times makes a hire

Buck, what are you gonna do when you finally become one of us "old guys"?

 

Ask me in a decade.

 

Dude, you entirely misunderstand me. I have nothing - NOTHING, NOTHING, NOTHING!!!! - against Abrams, Passan and whoever else. I don't really have a scorecard going here. All I'm saying is that you becomes over the hill pretty fast when it comes to getting hired. Because of all the cutting and slashing and burning, you reach a point where you have to commit or get out.

All I'm saying is that I see how you really get to the big time these days - not just in sports, but on news-side, as well. I would say that a large percentage of new newsroom blood at metros are people 22-25 coming off of internships. It's just not set up to where you climb a ladder through small towns to get there. Now, this isn't to say that 22-year-olds coming out of college have it made. The vast majority can't get jobs, and I feel horrible for them. But I do believe that if you aren't at a metro by age 25 or so now, you're going to have a hell of a time getting there with the business as presently constituted.

I'm surprised that was such an offensive observation. I thought it was pretty vanilla.

 

No offense intended, and no offense taken, WJ. Was just making my own observation, based on yours and others' frustrations that have been listed here often.

I really don't think this is any more true now than it was in the past, simply because so few papers are hiring to begin with. There just isn't a "ladder to success" anymore, and I don't think that benefits 25-year-olds any more than it does 35-year-olds. No offense, but I think that line of thinking is a crutch. What I mean is, there are so few people -- of any age -- who are moving up like the Abrams of the world that it's an insignificant "trend."

The real reason that many newsrooms are as young as they are isn't because of a "youth movement" or a if-you-don't-make-it-by-X-you-never-will theory -- it's because so many older employees are getting laid off, taking buyouts or quitting, and those positions either aren't getting filled or are getting filled as cheaply as possible.

I think that hurts us all. But I don't think "how to get to a metro" is any easier for a 22-year-old now than it is for anybody else. The ladder simply doesn't exist anymore, that's all.

 

It was vanilla, Waylon, but some folks prefer chocolate. Or tooty-fruity.

Think I was pretty clear, too. Abrams hasn't done anything wrong and I'm not critical of him per se. Do I think I'd find coverage of a seasoned vet with more NBA experience and sources more interesting? Yeah, I do. Do I think a 24-year-old would be better off not making it to the NYT that early in a career? Yeah, I do. Do I think the business would be better off it one of the pinnacle operations didn't staff itself with 24-year-olds and, instead, more commonly hired 34-year-olds and 44-year-olds who have proven themselves over time and filled up their clip files and Rolodexes? Yeah, I do.

One possible theory: Middle-aged hiring editors like Tom Jolly and others seem more comfortable bringing in malleable kids than working with pro's pros. Infatuation follows and next thing you know, people are scratching their head over how a Howell Raines could have been snookered by Jayson Blair. Or the 24-year-old ends up like Alexander the Great, sobbing because he's run out of newspaper worlds to conquer -- so he goes to ESPN.com and newspapers sag that much more.

Let me repeat: Abrams did nothing wrong. But I sure think the NYT did. One thing I used to love about this business (and kept a fat file of my own rejection letters affirming this) was the attitude of veteran journalists of "Pay attention, kid, and you might learn something." Someone 24 was considered a "cub reporter." Now some of them go straight to the NYT -- Jimmy Olson taking Clark Kent's or Lois Lane's job -- while the veteran gets bought out/laid off and the hapless schmoes in between (those 30-to-50 somethings) know that their career climbs are . . . OVUH!

 

Agreed, J-dub. Don't see how anyone's better off with moves like this.

 

Jayson Blair?

 

Don't want anyone here to tell us to get a room, Buck. But your posts always further the discussions, in my view, especially when I've gone off half-cocked. And I think you're spot-on regarding the end of the ladder. Most of us are trying to navigate suspension bridges of the sort found in King Kong, all rickety and old and missing major slats and hanging by a thread. It ain't easy for anyone, or at least 99 percent of us.

I feel for oldish farts like me, even the older ones. I feel for young farts like you. And I feel for all those farts of various vintages in between. Wish the folks running our newspapers over the past 10-20 years hadn't left this business so vulnerable to the plunderers.

 

Jonathan Abrams is a serviceable, improving writer and a nice guy. But he's not in Mike Bresnahan's galaxy as an NBA writer or reporter.

I've read both of them more times than I care to remember.

And as usual, Joe Williams is dead-on nails here.

 

you guys are fucking sad.

I know Jon Abrams, he's a friend of mine, and yes he's a good writer, and yes he's a very good reporter.

who cares how old he is, and I think he's actually 23. If you can write, you can write. If you have talent, you have talent. The date on your birth certificate shouldn't determine whether or not you have enough "chops" to be hired by the New York Times.

We're supposed to be a fraternity. Instead, this threat shows a sad crabs in the barrel mentality. For those who say they aren't attacking Jon, this post isn't meant for you. But it just pisses me off when someone betters his career, yet can't get a simple congrats when it's clearly in order.

I, for one, am happy for the dude. Congrats Jon. Keep doing the damn thing.

 

Overreact much?

Sorry, we're journalists. We're always going to use events as a window into larger trends. It's just our nature.

Everyone here has bent over backward to say they have nothing against the guy.

Don't see how any of this makes us "fucking sad."

 

Amen.