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Prima donnas in the newsroom

Discussion in 'Journalism topics only' started by What Deadline, Jan 4, 2009.

  1. SF_Express

    SF_Express Active Member

    Well, taking him down a peg shouldn't be that hard if that's the situation, right?
     
  2. SoCalScribe

    SoCalScribe Member

    Anyone who thinks they're hot shit and is also still working in this industry needs no further humiliation or punishment. They'll get theirs, and soon, and chances are it won't have as much to do with their actual competence as it should.
     
  3. jfs1000

    jfs1000 Member

    Star running back punches a stripper, he made a mistake and he is good at heart, and sits the first quarter of the bowl game. Backup gunner is caught breaking curfew feeding the homeless? Rules are rules.

    Talent affords you some "privileges."
     
  4. Tarheel316

    Tarheel316 Well-Known Member

    Got to agree with Dan Oregon. But I think this sort of thing exists all papers. At my shop there are people who get preferential treatment simply because they've been here a long time. It doesn't matter if they haven't made one iota of an effort to upgrade their skills over the years. I don't like it but I have to live with it.
     
  5. playthrough

    playthrough Moderator Staff Member

    That was my first question too.
     
  6. slappy4428

    slappy4428 Active Member

    I've worked with interns like that... one rat boy used to piss and moan if a comma was changed.
     
  7. Starman

    Starman Well-Known Member

    A good SE can defuse this stuff; even if he doesn't have the authority to order Mr. Wonderful to write on a narrow, specifically-defined topic, he can at least request/require him to keep the desk posted on what his general angle is going to be, giving everybody else a heads-up to keep their distance and not stomp all over the same territory.

    Of course, some of the "tortured artist/ master wordsmiths" won't brook even THAT much interference with their "art." When/if that happens, if Mr. Wonderful has enough pull with the Powers That Be to get away with it, all you can do is throw up your hands.
     
  8. MileHigh

    MileHigh Moderator Staff Member

    It's not just with writers. Some deskers fall into this category.
     
  9. slappy4428

    slappy4428 Active Member

    true dat
     
  10. MacDaddy

    MacDaddy Active Member

    I third the sentiment. The first thing I thought of when reading the initial post on this thread was a previous stop, where one of the best people to deal with was the stud columnist and the absolute worst person to deal with was also our worst writer.
     
  11. dooley_womack1

    dooley_womack1 Well-Known Member

    Oh, I've had that experience. The best writers understand you're just trying to make them and the product look better.
     
  12. Joe Williams

    Joe Williams Well-Known Member

    The columnist who doesn't interact with the staff and, in particular, let the beat people and the editors who handle his copy know how valuable they are is one selfish SOB. Without the former, a lot of the seeds of topics wouldn't exist. Without the latter, such slobs would look as silly to the public as they often look to the desk.

    The people in the plum jobs have a chance to be leaders within their staffs, and the best ones see that as an obligation and an opportunity. Someone who flaunts it and acts like a prima donna -- reminding colleagues in numerous ways big and small just who's sitting in first class and who's stuck in 34E -- is a detriment to a staff. In these morale-challenged times, that negative far exceeds any subjective notions of talent. Let's not forget that half (or more) of most columnists' success is due to the position some editor decides to put him in. Not a birthright.
     
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