Missing It

[Inky_Wretch]

Geezus. The guy had the nerve to ask you if you would cover it for free. I finally am speechless. Can anybody explain why a person thinks a successful former employee would go cover a game for free? Even citizen journalism failed because after the initial thrill of "getting" a press pass the citizen journalist realized quickly it was work not play.

It wasn't his fault. He was just in a rough spot. Corporate had clamped down so tight the publisher told the managing editor to quit spending money. As I alluded to, they quit stocking the supply cabinet. Reporters had to buy their own pens, notebooks, etc.

 

[moonlight]

But then I realized all the bull**** I had to deal with over the years had destroyed the pure moments of joy in the journalism itself. The rush of hitting deadline was a great drug. But didn't make up for six-day, 70-hour workweeks. BSing with colleagues in the pressbox at State U games didn't make up for the emptiness of the newsroom as I looked around where there had once been eight fulltime writers and now there were just three. The thrill of scooping the competition or nailing a feature story didn't make up for sweating over budget cuts (Can we afford to pay mileage to cover Podunkville? What do you mean we have to buy our own pens and reporter's notebooks!?!) and laying off good people just so the billionaire owner could see the yearly profit margin go from 15 percent to 15.001 percent.

Things weren't as bad at my shop, but they were not good. We didn't have any layoffs (yet) but when someone jumped ship, they weren't replaced. But I see what you're getting at. I'm extremely lucky that I don't have to deal with the bull**** anymore.

But ... once the business gets in your blood, it's hard to get rid it out. I miss parts of it. I think I always will.

 

[Inky_Wretch]

But ... once the business gets in your blood, it's hard to get rid it out. I miss parts of it. I think I always will.

I miss parts of high school, college, grad school, bartending, my first real jobs after college and hanging out at the bar six nights a week. Doesn't mean I want to go back to that from the life I'm living now.

 

[Justin_Rice]

My last day in the business is less than a week away - I don't anticipate missing it at all!

 

[Fredrick]

It wasn't his fault. He was just in a rough spot. Corporate had clamped down so tight the publisher told the managing editor to quit spending money. As I alluded to, they quit stocking the supply cabinet. Reporters had to buy their own pens, notebooks, etc.

The new SE who asked probably was a good guy but I think he showed lack of judgment/class in asking the guy to cover something for free. As much as I despise newspaper higher ups, I can't imagine what covering something for free really means: It means I'd be paying for my own transportation to the event, having to eat something at the event, actually working to get quotes maybe even keep stats if it was a high school game, and write it on deadline presumably, find a place to send the story off my own computer and for what?? So some fatcat publisher can continue to count his millions. Ugh the thought sickens me.

 

[Doc Holliday]

It wasn't his fault. He was just in a rough spot. Corporate had clamped down so tight the publisher told the managing editor to quit spending money. As I alluded to, they quit stocking the supply cabinet. Reporters had to buy their own pens, notebooks, etc.

The day that happens at my shop is the day I start writing from memory. If that's not good enough, well then it's the day I walk.

 

[BDC99]

My last day in the business is less than a week away - I don't anticipate missing it at all!

Best of luck Justin.

 

[Riptide]

Newsroom camaraderie was really only at my very first job, not at the major metro where I ended.

Boy, does that hit home here. The past 15 years, at two major metros, no camaraderie at all.
Newsrooms used to be so much fun. Now everything just seems forced. And you can't fake the fun.

 

[ChrisLong]

Boy, does that hit home here. The past 15 years, at two major metros, no camaraderie at all.
Newsrooms used to be so much fun. Now everything just seems forced. And you can't fake the fun.

Damn right. My first job, I knew everybody on the staff, their spouses and kids. We played coed softball together. And on Wednesday (pay day) it was automatic that just about everybody showed up at the beer bar that was near the office, actually, go out the back door, 50 yards down the alley and in the back door of the bar. It starting around 3 p.m. when the 6 a.m. crew got off work, and continued into the evening. Some press workers showed up at 4, the office staff and sales people at 5, and so on.

 

[Fredrick]

The day that happens at my shop is the day I start writing from memory. If that's not good enough, well then it's the day I walk.

Can you imagine going into HR and having to plunk down 4 bucks for a reporter notebook and 2 bucks for a cheap pen? Or if they made you buy notebooks on your own. My Q: "Clueless HR person ... where in the hell do I find reporters notebooks for sale? Wal mart doesn't carry them."

 

[Fredrick]

Damn right. My first job, I knew everybody on the staff, their spouses and kids. We played coed softball together. And on Wednesday (pay day) it was automatic that just about everybody showed up at the beer bar that was near the office, actually, go out the back door, 50 yards down the alley and in the back door of the bar. It starting around 3 p.m. when the 6 a.m. crew got off work, and continued into the evening. Some press workers showed up at 4, the office staff and sales people at 5, and so on.

The reason you can't or don't want to do this anymore is the editors. Gannett has created a group of middle management personalities that nobody in their right minds can stand to be around outside of the office. They are such miserable people. I'm sure they are told to go to any such gatherings and pretty much break them up. The folks who call the 10 a.m. meetings, the same ones in charge of the layoffs, can ruin a party in about five minutes. The editors pretty much make sure staffs have bad morale. I think they are encouraged by Gannett to make sure people are on edge all the time and miserable. I would think in the HR manuel it says it's easier to lay off people and freeze salaries and add furlough dates when the staff is on edge and miserable to begin with.

 

[BDC99]

Boy, does that hit home here. The past 15 years, at two major metros, no camaraderie at all.
Newsrooms used to be so much fun. Now everything just seems forced. And you can't fake the fun.

I have been lucky in this regard. I genuinely like the people I work with, and though we never go out anymore (spouses, kids, etc), I still enjoy it most of the time. I worked at one of the so-called "destination papers" for a bit, and it wasn't fun at all. Ever. Which is why I am no longer there.

 

[BDC99]

The reason you can't or don't want to do this anymore is the editors. Gannett has created a group of middle management personalities that nobody in their right minds can stand to be around outside of the office. They are such miserable people. I'm sure they are told to go to any such gatherings and pretty much break them up. The folks who call the 10 a.m. meetings, the same ones in charge of the layoffs, can ruin a party in about five minutes. The editors pretty much make sure staffs have bad morale. I think they are encouraged by Gannett to make sure people are on edge all the time and miserable. I would think in the HR manuel it says it's easier to lay off people and freeze salaries and add furlough dates when the staff is on edge and miserable to begin with.

Had to do a double take until I saw the poster. But let's be damn clear on one thing. Middle managers are largely not the ones to blame for furloughs/layoffs/pay cuts. They might have a say in the decision on who gets cut, as they should since it affects the operation, but they are only following orders from people who have never done what we do. And if you are working for managers who openly push for you to he miserable, you need to question that and push back. Hard. So, they're going to fire you? Right. And if they do, you'll be better of in the long run anyway.

 

[BDC99]

The reason you can't or don't want to do this anymore is the editors. Gannett has created a group of middle management personalities that nobody in their right minds can stand to be around outside of the office. They are such miserable people. I'm sure they are told to go to any such gatherings and pretty much break them up. The folks who call the 10 a.m. meetings, the same ones in charge of the layoffs, can ruin a party in about five minutes. The editors pretty much make sure staffs have bad morale. I think they are encouraged by Gannett to make sure people are on edge all the time and miserable. I would think in the HR manuel it says it's easier to lay off people and freeze salaries and add furlough dates when the staff is on edge and miserable to begin with.

I am really having a tough time wrapping my mind around this. So, they are manufacturing hateful, spiteful managers? They're still human ****ing beings. Yes, there are some socially awkward folks in this business, as well as straight-up assholes, but in most cases, if you know how to deal with people, you can get by just fine.

 

[Inky_Wretch]

It's a lot easier to have the camaraderie when everybody isn't working remotely thanks to laptops and wifi everywhere. And when you're in the office, you aren't having to get people to take out their earbuds to talk and you're not worried about getting tomorrow's edition online NOW! and social media.

Back when you lugged a TRS-80 with acoustic couplers and nobody had cell phones, you wound up in the office to make sure everything was OK. Put the paper to bed and you were actually done for the night.

 

[Fredrick]

I am really having a tough time wrapping my mind around this. So, they are manufacturing hateful, spiteful managers? They're still human ****ing beings. Yes, there are some socially awkward folks in this business, as well as straight-up assholes, but in most cases, if you know how to deal with people, you can get by just fine.

Sorry to anger you, but yes. As somebody who worked for Gannett and one other chain, I can tell you Gannett either seeks out or molds individuals into being complete corporate assholes. A good way to get hired as an editor at Gannett is stress to them you have experience slashing staffs and slashing pages. If you have experience firing people and making cuts you are ready for Gannett. Yes I do believe they in a way are manufacturing "hateful spiteful managers." In fact, people can back me on this ... I was told one Gannett middle management edict was to NEVER ever socialize with a reporter or copy editor, somebody susceptible to layoffs. Anybody back me on this?

 

[KJIM]

Damn right. My first job, I knew everybody on the staff, their spouses and kids. We played coed softball together. And on Wednesday (pay day) it was automatic that just about everybody showed up at the beer bar that was near the office, actually, go out the back door, 50 yards down the alley and in the back door of the bar. It starting around 3 p.m. when the 6 a.m. crew got off work, and continued into the evening. Some press workers showed up at 4, the office staff and sales people at 5, and so on.

I no longer work in journalism, but this sounds very, very much like my current job. It's awesome to have that, and it seems to be rare. I'm lucky.

 

[MisterCreosote]

Sorry to anger you, but yes. As somebody who worked for Gannett and one other chain, I can tell you Gannett either seeks out or molds individuals into being complete corporate assholes. A good way to get hired as an editor at Gannett is stress to them you have experience slashing staffs and slashing pages. If you have experience firing people and making cuts you are ready for Gannett. Yes I do believe they in a way are manufacturing "hateful spiteful managers." In fact, people can back me on this ... I was told one Gannett middle management edict was to NEVER ever socialize with a reporter or copy editor, somebody susceptible to layoffs. Anybody back me on this?

I will preface this by saying I left the business in the Great Bloodletting of 2009 as the bottom was just starting to fall out, but:

I worked for Gannett as a middle-management editor (metro/news) for a few years. It was one of the hardest positions I was ever in, because, since I was promoted in-house, I was already friends with most of the people I was "managing."

I'm sure I came off as "hateful" and/or "spiteful" at times, but that's only because I had to balance our friendships with the various and numerous edicts from corporate -- a very difficult balancing act, since those two things were most often at odds with each other. It was almost impossible to keep my friends AND my job, and that's a choice no one should have to make.

All that said, the people who hired me as a manager didn't hire me to **** on my underlings or to wield the ax. I was a liaison between the "management" and "rank and file," with allegiances to both. This is hardly beyond the pale or unique to the newspaper industry.

 

[Ace]

The reason you can't or don't want to do this anymore is the editors. Gannett has created a group of middle management personalities that nobody in their right minds can stand to be around outside of the office. They are such miserable people. I'm sure they are told to go to any such gatherings and pretty much break them up. The folks who call the 10 a.m. meetings, the same ones in charge of the layoffs, can ruin a party in about five minutes. The editors pretty much make sure staffs have bad morale. I think they are encouraged by Gannett to make sure people are on edge all the time and miserable. I would think in the HR manuel it says it's easier to lay off people and freeze salaries and add furlough dates when the staff is on edge and miserable to begin with.

I don't know where Frederick is going with this but he's way off base. We had 9 a.m. meetings.

 

[Riptide]

The news industry can’t cut its way to quality