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What keeps you in it?

Discussion in 'Journalism topics only' started by SilverAndBlack, Dec 1, 2009.

  1. rpmmutant

    rpmmutant Member

    I'm in the groupie camp. Nothing like the attention of an irrational cross country parent and unpredictable 16-year-old volleyball players.
     
  2. apeman33

    apeman33 Well-Known Member

    Both of these.

    And finding out a few years ago that outside of doing this, in this tiny market, my journalism degree is as good for getting another job as a piece of toilet paper.
     
  3. podunk press

    podunk press Active Member

    My mortgage.

    Otherwise, I would have gone part-time and returned to college.

    Nothing about journalism excites me anymore.
     
  4. flexmaster33

    flexmaster33 Well-Known Member

    Ditto...exactly what I would say.
     
  5. EagleMorph

    EagleMorph Member

    The fact that no day is ever the same. Sure, games become familiar, faces become familiar, but something different always happens.

    I'd be interested to see how the morale compares between those out in the field writing consistently and those who put the paper together at the desk.
     
  6. Fredrick

    Fredrick Well-Known Member

    I think some of us are going to have to reassess that type of stance. We're probably going to be forced to start over in a new career of some kind. I'm really starting to sense the only copy editing/reporting/paginating jobs to be available in this business will be for workers 21 to 30. The salaries will be very low. There still will be jobs for people up to middle age in management, but the butt kissers have those filled for years to come. I'm closest as I've ever been to getting out. I just need some good sound advice.
     
  7. HanSenSE

    HanSenSE Well-Known Member

    Another "amen" from the congregation, for I have seen the light!

    About 10 years ago I took a job on news copy/design desk, essentially for more money and to improve skills. But at my current shop, the opportunity arose to get back into the games, I took it, and haven't looked back. Yes, you're on the first row of history as a news sider, but with all the shit going on in the world, to spend 8-10 hours a day covering baseball, football, ect.? I think it really helps define me!
     
  8. TrooperBari

    TrooperBari Well-Known Member

    Because I don't want to quit.

    I've quit on a fair few things in my life -- and not all in the negative way -- but I don't want to walk away from something that I'm good at and enjoy doing before its time. I tried the 9-to-5 world and it was uninspiring to say the least. This job engages and challenges me creatively on a daily basis, and I get the chance to entertain and inform people by bringing them stories they wouldn't otherwise see.

    Sports I can take or leave, but what I enjoy most is the chance to work around a bunch of sharp, like-minded wiseasses each day and create something new. To me, that's worth making a few sacrifices others might deem a bridge too far. Someone will call me idealistic and misguided, I'm sure, but that is the life I have chosen.
     
  9. BTExpress

    BTExpress Well-Known Member

    1. I am paid a very good salary.

    2. I have 5 weeks' vacation.

    3. I do not know how to do anything else.

    4. I have 24 years' seniority (vs. zero anywhere else I worked).
     
  10. ringer

    ringer Active Member

    The neverending challenge of trying to make each article better than my last.
     
  11. Drip

    Drip Active Member

    I know both avenues. Truth is I still like what I'm doing and am still getting a paycheck. I've got too many friends (and enemies I reckon) who aren't making a dime and are sitting on their asses. I am blessed. If God points me in another direction to make a living, I'll follow.
     
  12. SixToe

    SixToe Well-Known Member


    Wrong. You're not too old to do this. It's a matter of finding the right position in which your skills will fit, maybe adjusting your mindset and routines, and then pursuing it.

    If you (we, anyone) stay in a shitty job because you're scared of starting over then you get what you deserve. Lack of opportunities elsewhere is one thing. Being afraid to try is worse.
     
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