New York Times makes a hire

I'm sorry, but that is so vastly, vastly oversimplifying it, and I get tired of seeing that line trotted out on here. Trust me when I say that I'm neither burned out or bitter, and that I'm going to be just fine. I shouldn't have said "big city salary," because I know that kind of talk touches some raw nerves on here.

All I'm saying is that to get to a big-city paper, you have to work the system very early. It's a race against the clock pretty much from the time you set foot on campus. This isn't the NFL, where if you run a 4.3, you'll be found. You have to be talented AND be savvy enough to constantly be positioning yourself from a young age.

More power to a guy like Abrams for doing so.

 

I agree with this, and that's part of a lot of people's problem, including mine, with hires like this. It has made it so that it makes people ask, "My gosh, don't these high-end positions mean anything anymore, except to, essentially, eliminate about 85 percent of the people in the field from the business, and yes, make them angry?" If somebody this young has, essentially, worked nowhere except the L.A. Times and the N.Y. Times, and, really, doesn't have to work anywhere else in his entire life to have made it big, almost without trying, what does it mean for the rest of us?

The problem with this, and with trying to be a good sport about someone advancing their career in this manner, is that, in actuality, Abrams might have been one of the few people at the LAT, or in the business anywhere, who probably did not really need such a boost. That's why it's difficult to be happy about it.

Abrams is, indeed, "solid," and "nice." But you know what? Almost everyone at those two papers could probably be described as a solid reporter/writer and a quality person. At least. And I always thought you needed to be more than that to be at the LAT and the NYT.

Abrams has taken advantage of opportunities, I guess, but really, hasn't done it quite as well as this hiring would have people think. Like Birdscribe, I believe the LAT has writers/reporters who are far ahead of this guy.

And I'm going to say this, even though it won't come off well, just because it has, undoubtedly, made a difference for him.

Abrams was not part of the "Student Journalism Program." He was a product of the LAT's absolutely outstanding Minority Editorial Training Program, which, basically, puts anyone in it light years ahead of regular academic interns who sometimes also serve a school semester or a year. The opportunities sought, granted and given to MetPros are greater, better and more frequent and more tailored to the trainees, and the reporting/writing instruction, teaching/mentorships to which they have access within the newsroom are greater than anything summer academic interns, or even many staffers, ever learn or have the opportunity to do -- especially so quickly and early on in their careers or their lives.

As long as they do a "serviceable," "solid" and "nice" job at the opportunities they receive, anyone in the program can pretty much get to wherever they want to go, and will be welcome at literally any newspaper in the country, within three years after leaving school. Or, maybe, five years, at the most, as opposed to the 10, 15 or even 20 years it often takes many others to achieve such things after really, actually, doing the "work" that, let's be honest, Abrams really hasn't.

Sorry, but it needed to be said.

As others have said, it's not Abrams' decision, or fault, and who wouldn't have taken this opportunity had it been offered to us? But this system isn't right, and what's happening to 85 percent of the people in this business isn't right.

 

Well, if he's smart enough to get hired by the NYT, surely Mssr. Abrams will read this thread and spend his time in New York fighting vigorously to dispell claims he was hired because of his race/age/salary/etc.

Even if a number of posters are correct and this was a bad hire, it's not this dude's fault that he was hired, no matter what the reasons were behind it.

 

I'm not sure anyone has called it "a bad hire."

It's a dispiriting trend. But a very good hire.

 

then you are a dumbass.

obviously you don't have the mental ability to look at the bigger picture.

 

If Sam Zell wants to put puppies on the front page, who the hell are we to judge?

If Dean Singleton decides that blending three papers into one and shedding 70 percent of the journalists employed there is smart business, who the hell are we to judge?

If the Tampa Tribune asks a guy to live miles from the home office for its benefit, then uses that as an excuse to lay him off, who the hell are we to judge?

If Lynn Hoppes takes time to pen a rah-rah piece about this business, even as his own paper is treating some longtime, hard-working staffers in a savage way, who the hell are we to judge?

If a paper protects its big-shot plagiarizing or fact-morphing writer, who the hell are we to judge?

If the Cleveland Plain-Dealer does an 11th hour 180-degree turnabout on its Olympic coverage plans, who the hell are we to judge?

Gimme a fucking break.

 

See, my posts and, I'll presume, some of the others were so not about Abrams that I didn't even know that he was a minority.

And out of respect for him, I'm not changing my stance on the matter.

 

The NY Times honchos can gloat about the new minority hire and increasing diversity in the newsroom. Isn't that what the hire is about then with news about his internship coming out?

 

abrams ain't what he used to be.

 

To be jealous would assume I want to work in New York (had the chance and passed), would want to be a beat reporter (been there, done that) and would want to cover the Knicks (I hate the NBA and you couldn't pay me enough money to work with Isaiah Thomas). I think I can eliminate jealousy as a motive for questioning the NYT on this hire.

Abrams may be an off-the-charts writer. Age is not a requirement for that.

But age is a requirement of experience, and experience is so much more than being a good writer. Experience is knowing how to be a good employee. It's knowing how to be diplomatic in tough situations. It's knowing how to manage stress and work/life balance. It's having that institutional knowledge not just of your beat and your paper but of sports and of the industry. It's being able to "act like you've been there" and be past the shock of disillusionment so it doesn't cloud your work.

If Abrams is 23, I don't care how many fantastic internship programs or pro sports clips he has. Neither he nor any other 23-year-old has the all-around experience. I agree this hire says more about the state of the NYT than it does about Abrams.

 

I wouldn't expect you to do that, Joe. I wouldn't necessarily expect anyone to do it.

And a person's ethnicity, per se, doesn't really matter, either. But, truly, the LAT's MetPro program does matter. That was the point.

The impact of that program on someone's career really can not be overstated, and anyone who is in a position of power within the industry knows that, and always has. It might well be the very best, most valuable, and valued, recruiting system for young talent in the business.

It's an extraordinary program, and really, it is a wonderful thing, in many great ways, for the business, and for those individuals who are fortunate enough to be accepted into it.

And, if the paper had a similar program that was open to non-minorities, the people coming out of that would be in the same enviable positions.

Fair or unfair, that's the truth and the reality of the situation.

 

Tom Petty,

please don't ever disrespect me by calling me names. I don't know you, don't know who you are, but don't disrespect me, especially since I never disrespected you.

I come to this board for healthy conversation. Not to be called a dumbass.

Thank you kindly.