Times' Michael S. Schmidt Leaves Sports, Heading for Baghdad

[YankeeFan]

Well, this is a heck of a change in assignments:

My Next Year ..

Today marks my last day as a sports reporter — at least for a while — as I will be taking on a new beat as a correspondent for the Times in Baghdad. In my new job I will be tasked with covering the day-to-day developments and larger themes of Iraq. Along the way, I plan to use this page to update my friends and family about my life as a correspondent in the Middle East. I’m tremendously grateful for the time I have spent working for the Times sports section and eagerly await my new challenge reporting from abroad.

http://msschmidt.tumblr.com/

 

[Fran Curci]

Very interesting, especially considering many writers I know would be terrified if they had to switch from, say, college football to MLB.

 

[Joe Williams]

Very interesting, especially considering many writers I know would be terrified if they had to switch from, say, college football to MLB.

That is one job in journalism -- foreign correspondent -- I never wanted and never want. Might have aspired to it if it were something based in Paris or London, with lots of cafe or pub time. But somewhere war-torn? Third World? Political hotbed? No thanks.

Congrats, thanks and good luck to those who roll this way. But even in best of times, newspapering wasn't worth getting killed over. Especially knowing more recently how little they have their employees' backs.

 

[Hoos3725]

Very interesting, especially considering many writers I know would be terrified if they had to switch from, say, college football to MLB.

That is one job in journalism -- foreign correspondent -- I never wanted and never want. Might have aspired to it if it were something based in Paris or London, with lots of cafe or pub time. But somewhere war-torn? Third World? Political hotbed? No thanks.

Congrats, thanks and good luck to those who roll this way. But even in best of times, newspapering wasn't worth getting killed over. Especially knowing more recently how little they have their employees' backs.

Really? I think I'd love it. A whole new set of challenges. I bet it pays pretty well, too.

 

[LongTimeListener]

Pfft. Easy. I've seen all those ****ers eating their pizza on election night thinking they're doing something big when they're doing less than a typical Friday night preps shift. Let him write two gamers off the Final Four, then we'll see what he's made of.

 

[YankeeFan]

Blogging from Baghdad:

The most common questions I have received from my friends and family are: What’s your life like on a daily basis? And, what’s your living situation?

After just seven days in Iraq, those questions are certainly far easier to answer than ones about the insurgency, the economy or Prime Minister Maliki.

I live in The New York Times bureau in a quiet neighborhood that is close to – but not inside - the Green Zone. The bureau is a large three-story house that must be about 6,000 square feet, sitting on about an acre and a half of land. It has nine large bedrooms, a newsroom, two offices (one for our security advisers and another for the Iraqis who manage our books), two kitchens, a dining room, a living room, a TV room, a workout room and plenty of bathrooms. The living room and several of the bedrooms and bathrooms have small stacks of old New Yorkers. Overall, the house has the feel of something not as quite as nice as a bed and breakfast but better than a college dorm – I guess that’s where nice media bureaus fall.

I’m not going to get into the security we have at the bureau or when I leave it but I will say that the bureau is surrounded by blast walls, a lot of security guards work for us and I feel safe.

Between the house and the blast walls are nicely kept grounds (not nice like country-club-in-Westchester nice, more along the lines of public golf course on Long Island) that have grass, bushes, and tables and chairs. About a half dozen fairly cute cats spend most of their day running around the grounds. The cats are often looking for food and sometimes sneak into the house.

http://msschmidt.tumblr.com/

 

[Dick Whitman]

Very interesting, especially considering many writers I know would be terrified if they had to switch from, say, college football to MLB.

That is one job in journalism -- foreign correspondent -- I never wanted and never want. Might have aspired to it if it were something based in Paris or London, with lots of cafe or pub time. But somewhere war-torn? Third World? Political hotbed? No thanks.

Congrats, thanks and good luck to those who roll this way. But even in best of times, newspapering wasn't worth getting killed over. Especially knowing more recently how little they have their employees' backs.

Really? I think I'd love it. A whole new set of challenges. I bet it pays pretty well, too.

I'd love it, too. Almost wish I had thought to go that route when I was in college, at least for a while. But I had sports blinders on, as a lot of us do.

I applaud the Times for believing a sports writer could take this on. Even smaller papers quite frequently want to start even accomplished sports reporters off on news starter beats, such is the "toy department" stigma.

 

[YankeeFan]

I'd love it, too. Almost wish I had thought to go that route when I was in college, at least for a while. But I had sports blinders on, as a lot of us do.

I applaud the Times for believing a sports writer could take this on. Even smaller papers quite frequently want to start even accomplished sports reporters off on news starter beats, such is the "toy department" stigma.

I wonder if he was recruited for the job, or if it was a tough one to fill within the Times.

Reading his latest blog entry, it doesn't sound as interesting or romantic -- you know what I mean -- as I had originally thought.

Sounds like he rarely leaves the compound due to security concerns.