Sports Writer, Albany, Ga.

I debated whether or not to write this, and I'm not sure I made the right decision, so Moddy, if you feel the need to zap this post, I certainly won't hold it against you.

Most critiques, I can live with. But there's just something about having my integrity called into question that eats at me.

I posted my opinion about this job on this thread a few days ago with the hope that young journalists would avoid a bad situation. It is a situation I know well, having worked through some of it, and having stayed in close contact with others who stayed well after I left. I also have spent the past several years working closely with other young journalists and have seen how difficult this industry is, and getting off on the wrong foot can end a career before it's even begun. It's an issue close to my heart.

My criticisms of this job were simple: The sports editor there has created an unhealthy work environment and the coverage at the paper (at least in sports) has deteriorated in recent years.

I'll admit, in my original post I may have been a bit too colorful in my critique in order to drive home my point. For that, I apologize.

What happened in the days after my original post was this:

The sports editor, managing editor and publisher of the paper spent the next three days researching my screen name to identify who posted the comment. The managing editor then called my current editor repeatedly to try to get me in trouble with him and force an apology. The publisher contacted me to inquire as to why I was trying to hurt his newspaper. When I responded with my concerns, the managing editor sent me an email calling me a liar, a coward and saying that I had no integrity as a journalist or a person. Oh, and I was told I was "too thin skinned to work in this business." The irony of someone who spent three days reacting to a message board post calling me thin-skinned almost made the whole incident worthwhile.

In any case, I was assured that my comments about this job opening were made because of a personal vendetta rather than my honest assessment of the situation, and I believe the fallout from my comments have certainly driven home that point. Obviously this is a pleasant working environment where the management is so concerned with putting out a quality product that they would never waste three days investigating and attempting to punish anonymous message board posts. They certainly did prove me wrong.

In any case, this will most definitely be my last post on the subject, and as I said, a large part of me just wanted to drop it altogether. But as a journalist, the only thing I truly feel I must protect at all costs is my integrity, and so I find it particularly difficult to allow things like this to go unaddressed.

Take from it what you will, and good luck to anyone who still sees fit to apply.

Signed without anonymity,

David Hale

 

Holy shit, what a hellhole.

 

I'd like to add that David isn't alone in his sentiments. The paper has a knack for collecting resumes. Hiring people is another thing all together.
There was a time when this was a good stop. Apparently, things have changed dramatically.

 

Wow. It's hard to believe they would get so concerned about a negative post on a mesasge board. Are they worried that, in this economy and with this many journalists currently out of work, that no one will apply for their job because of what they read on a message board? Yeah, that might cut the number of resumes they get from 3,000 to 2,857.

 

When somebody posts such things, the motivation isn't "concern" about who may be doing it, or why.

Sometimes, people may spend time "investigating" posts, and trying to figure out who others are on here, out of pure curiosity, and that's it.

Say certain types of things, and people won't be able to help it. The end result hardly matters. They just want to know.