South Florida man wants hell out of news industry

The Lonely One

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I've been working at a local paper for about a year now and the honeymoon period of "being published" wore off--fast.

The pay is crappy.

The hours are long.

But more importantly, I feel icky and sticky at the end of each work day, as if the dirty, insensitive things I have to do to be good at my job stay on my clothes like smoke and beer at the end of a late-night rock concert.

I don't fit into the news industry. I am not outgoing. I do not feel comfortable calling and pestering a mother of a child who died. Or trying to weasel my to an exclusive.

I am not cutthroat. Nor do I ever want to be.

I want OUT. As soon as I can possibly find another job.

Has anyone else had this reaction to working as a journalist? I write fiction but it hasn't exactly panned out as a source of income...

But really, journalism has nothing to do with writing. The writing itself is a jigsaw puzzle formula that a high-schooler can follow; for the most part it's calling numbers, pressing the cops or lawyers or public officials for info, chasing documents, and breaking news however possible.

As a cops reporter, the constant death, violence, heartbreak etc. wear on me as a person, and I hope that I never lose the truly horrid feeling I get when I call some of these victims. I do honestly believe what I get payed to do is unethical.

I would rather work a non-writing job than continue in my journalism career, with the possible exception of landing a court-reporter job.

Has anyone else had this reaction to working in journalism?
 

June Casagrande

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Wow. That brought me back.

Yes, I had a lot of those feelings. I mostly covered city halls, which in a lot of ways was very satisfying. (No way could I have covered the cops beat. Only a couple of times did I have to call the loved one of a murder victim to get a quote about what it was like. But I'll never forget the hell.)

But one of the things that bothered me was the culture of muckraking. Stirring up controversy was good -- didn't matter whether it had any substance. I HATED that and never played along.

And how colleagues and editors got excited about empty, stupid crap -- like pedestrians getting hit by cars. As you said, I'm not cutthroat and never want to be.


Oh, LORD, and that whole "outgoing" thing you talked about. It's pure torture walking up to people at a mall or a park and trying to get them to comment on the record -- with their name -- about anything at all. But it's a cake walk compared to the reaction you get when you're approaching people leaving a polling place. I once remember spending about six hours at two polling places and getting only one person to speak on the record. (It's the idea of the secret ballot that makes people so uncomfortable with talking there.)

But, you can take heart in knowing that pretty much every reporter in the whole world hates that part of the job. I know some very successful major-daily reporters and they all find that excrutiating.

The very premise of small-time community news jobs has long been based on the idea that you pay your dues for bad money in the hopes of landing a good journalism job (one of those $90K-a-year paying gigs at a major daily.) But, good news for you: Those days are gone. (I'm writing you from Los Angeles on the day when the Los Angeles Times parent filed bankruptcy!) The very premise on which your job was created no longer applies. Yes, you can spin it into other stuff, but their justification for paying squat and getting good work out of you no longer holds water.

Some sorta J-O-B jobs you might consider:
* Some kind of business writing -- like corporate documentation.
* Know about Business Wire and PR Newswire? They're in So Florida and they hire word-savvy people to read press releases before they send them out. I worked for Business Wire for years and it was a nice work culture.
* Proofreading and copy editing. I do a lot of this now. You have to know a lot before landing a job or many freelance assignments. But once the work starts to flow it's not a bad gig.
* Public relations in some capacity that does not require you to pitch to media. (I have a feeling you're not a pitch-to-media guy. But there are still some good places to be in that industry. Some sleazy ones, too, but some good ones. For example, colleges have "communications specialists"/"communications officers." They write newsletters and website info and stuff like that.

Congratulations on achieving your level of conviction regarding your current gig. It can be very hard in those situations to know who you are and what's important to you. (Especially when you're surrounded by people who expect you to be thrilled that three people died in a drunk-driver accident. It's easy to lose oneself in that culture.) So congratulations on that!
 

johnnysannie

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I've been working at a local paper for about a year now and the honeymoon period of "being published" wore off--fast.

The pay is crappy.

The hours are long.

But more importantly, I feel icky and sticky at the end of each work day, as if the dirty, insensitive things I have to do to be good at my job stay on my clothes like smoke and beer at the end of a late-night rock concert.

I don't fit into the news industry. I am not outgoing. I do not feel comfortable calling and pestering a mother of a child who died. Or trying to weasel my to an exclusive.

I am not cutthroat. Nor do I ever want to be.

I want OUT. As soon as I can possibly find another job.

Has anyone else had this reaction to working as a journalist? I write fiction but it hasn't exactly panned out as a source of income...

But really, journalism has nothing to do with writing. The writing itself is a jigsaw puzzle formula that a high-schooler can follow; for the most part it's calling numbers, pressing the cops or lawyers or public officials for info, chasing documents, and breaking news however possible.

As a cops reporter, the constant death, violence, heartbreak etc. wear on me as a person, and I hope that I never lose the truly horrid feeling I get when I call some of these victims. I do honestly believe what I get payed to do is unethical.

I would rather work a non-writing job than continue in my journalism career, with the possible exception of landing a court-reporter job.

Has anyone else had this reaction to working in journalism?


Not in journalism, no.

But in jobs, yes.

As my father told me when I went out and got my first job at sixteen, there is no perfect job.

The honeymoon period always ends on ANY job.
 

ritinrider

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The honeymoon period always ends on ANY job.

That's true, the honeymoon always ends. But, I think we're talking about more than just taking the rosie glasses off here. The op is talking about doing things that feel "wrong" and the attitude journalists seem to have that it's okay to do some of these things. Like, hope the wreck you saw on the way in to work resulted in several deaths, maybe even caused a pile-up because then it'd be a news story.

And, just wait until you're working on a story about someone the paper has interviewed in the past and they tell you to go to the files and pull a quote to use in this story. When I was working as a stringer for one of our larger state papers I left my family at dinner time to drive 40 miles and talk to a person about an event that was creating a minor news stir. Did the interview, wrote the story, called it in, thought all was well. Until, my husband brought in the paper the next day, my story was twice as long as what I'd written, there were several bylines listed (thank goodness), and there were quotes from the woman I interviewed I never heard her utter. I called the paper and talked to one of the journalists there who was really sweet and had been helping me out, plus her name was the first one on the byline. I asked about a couple of those quotes, did she call the woman, and get them, and how could I rephrase future questions to get those type of quotes? Her answer, we didn't talk to her, we pulled those quotes from our files of earlier stories.

It wasn't long after that I quit. In theory I quit to take a job with real hours, paycheck, and benefits. In reality, although those things were handy, it was the journalist attitude I couldn't quite stomach.

Good luck with finding another job, I've been told working in any job that doesn't involve writing is better for your writing. I don't know about that, but when I was a stringer, I wrote very little that wasn't news related. When I quit and went to work in a factory, I did write other things. Didn't submit them, but I wrote them.
 

The Lonely One

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Thanks for the feedback, all.

I know I haven't been doing this long, and my colleagues keep calling it "easy money," but mainly it's the gen. assignment guy saying that and there is a distinctive difference between our beats...plus some people WANT to be journalists. I always just wanted to be a writer.

I would consider working a copy desk, but I do not want to continue being a beat reporter (unless maybe doing courts, though that can be super long hours at times).

It's interesting the last poster mentioned non-writing jobs making your writing better--my dad had mentioned that journalism "keeps your writing sharp" and teaches you minimalism/getting to the meat of things, which can be good for fiction. However, I'm not really in the mood to write fiction after coming home at 10:30 p.m. from a shooting. My brain is pretty much mush and has no focus, and my stress comes out in the form of poor writing. Just read the last chapter or so of my WIP and you'll see what I'm talking about.

I was considering getting a steady job with USPS, or looking for a different position within the news industry. No way I would want to be a managing editor, though -- might as well be an air traffic controller.

We'll see where it goes. I'm not going to quit without a handshake from a new boss in this economy, so I'm all about playing it safe for now.

Thanks again for the kind words of encouragement.
 

WerenCole

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This is why I work the sports beat.


That and I really do want to be a journalist. It beats the hell out of being a chef. . . 13 years of that, I was too young to realize that I did not want to spend my entire life in that industry until it almost seemed to late. It has strengthened my conviction to be a journalist.

I try not to let my writing suffer. I keep outlets that I can actually have my own voice (for instance, check out my studyofsports.com article today at http://www.studyofsports.com/?p=457 ).
I still write my fiction. . . to a certain extent. Planes, trains and automobiles. . . (that is the thing about sports reporting, travel= spare time).

So you are telling me there is a job opening in Florida? Let me know, I am sure there are a dozen kids getting out of the journalism school at Boston University who would love it.
 

The Lonely One

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So you are telling me there is a job opening in Florida? Let me know, I am sure there are a dozen kids getting out of the journalism school at Boston University who would love it.



That's another thing -- I don't think a lot of people going to expensive schools for journalism know what they're getting themselves into. That, or they REALLY want to be journalists/photojournalists/etc.

I'm not dissing people who go to school for it; that's what they want to do. But I did not go to school for journalism. In fact, I'm still in college for English.

Yet, I got the same job at the SAME PAY as a colleague who went to school for journalism. The only guy in our news room who makes more is the guy with a few years at another paper. That gets me to thinking papers value experience over expensive schooling (though it can't hurt I'm sure). If you have ten years in the industry I can't imagine an editor won't toss aside that degree requirement.

And that's another reason I want to get out, WerenCole, because I know there are people who want my job, who really love journalism and want to pound phone numbers and run the ink out of pens and all the rest. They probably don't care they make the same pay as someone without a degree.
 

WerenCole

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Just to note: I came to journalism school because there was really no other way for me to break into sports journalism in the forum I wanted by just stepping out of the kitchen into the newsroom. Basically impossible.


I got my undergrad in English, by the way. BU is an expensive school, yes, but I am not here ostensibly to "learn" journalism. I am here to network, meet people, set up my resume and my future. It has paid off and then some. . . the right school is like a meal ticket for the rest of your career. BU people are everywhere in the media and always willing to help out. I hear the same thing about Syracuse, Columbia etc. Anyway, I would have paid anything to stop being a chef. One thing I learned about a degree in English is that it is basically a one way trip back to the kitchen.

Journalists tend to crack on journalism schools. Even those who went through them. I don't disagree, actually. Cubs (not a cub reporter, but the cubs in school in general who have never really seen the real world) don't realize what it takes to survive in any industry. They major in journalism as a "why not" type of thing. I am removed from this. . . in my late twenties I have seen my fair share of shit and understand. It is a grind, life is, might as well do something that I like to do. Money be damned. The saying is "you will learn more in your first year then four years in school." Which is true in just about any matter of life. My masters program is three semesters long and I am taking four internships. When I started I had no idea what I was doing and yet there I was, sitting in the press box at the Boston Garden watching a hockey game. Yet, I was able to talk with the writers from the Globe, the Herald, ESPN. . . they will remember me later. I got the clips I needed.

The problem with many journalists is that they DON'T have heart. 4th Pillar of Society and all that shit. They are cynics who are pissed to be alive (not that I am not a cynic, mind you, but I like my job. . I find it surreal coming from everything I have done and this feeling will probably never change). Reporters are depressing people, which I do not understand. I used to ask cooks who worked for me that seemed depressed about the job "why are you here if you don't want to make great food?" This is shortly before I fired them.

This turned out a little longer than I intentioned. Oh well.
 
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WerenCole

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That gets me to thinking papers value experience over expensive schooling (though it can't hurt I'm sure).


Joe Sullivan, the sports editor at the Boston Globe, told me this exact thing just the other day. It is true. Back to my kitchen analogies. . . I would get these schmucks out of CIA or Cordon Bleu who thought they were real chefs because they went through 18 months of "rigorous" schooling. Fuck that. I never went to school to cook. I just did it and I was better than they were. Same thing applies with journalism ... I just wished I had known earlier that it was what I wanted to do because then I could have saved myself the years in the kitchen and a lot of money. :D
 

The Lonely One

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Congrats, btw, on your career. I'm definitely not trying to knock you for going to school. I just think it's shit that you aren't making more money (or that you wouldn't be, in my particular situation).

I actually have a friend at Columbia and he LOVES it. He is also an ex-cop, so he has an "in" in his beat.

Like I said, I feel bad for taking a job that I don't want from people like you, who might.

Maybe I haven't found the right "niche" in the industry yet; maybe cops isn't best suited for me. I'm definitely not making any rash decisions, however, and regard this job as a job e.g. where my income comes from. The "career" part I can figure out in the meantime.

I likely won't be here more than another year, maybe less if I don't get my annual raise, so keep an eye out in the classifieds :).
 

WerenCole

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You never know what will renew your interest. Perhaps getting off your beat is the best thing. Break into the "toy" (sports) department. Why not. After a while you will appreciate the work you do just because it is a job well done.
 

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This is an interesting post. I remember when I first starting writing at a community newspaper and the cops found a dead body hanging from a tree in a local trailer park. My editor had me call the mother of the dead guy. I did feel horrible, truly horrible, doing it. I mean, why do we need to hear that the mother feels terrible. Of course, she feels terrible.

That said, I only had to do stories like that for a couple of years. I'm now a freelancer, so I write what I want. I'm doing a story now on people who chase mythical creatures like Bigfoot for a living. That's a fun story, and it allows room for creativity. If you love writing, try to hammer out a freelance career and focus on the type of writing you feel comfortable doing. It's not easy, and you may have to scrimp and save for years, but it can be done if you're persistent enough.

Don't feel bad about not being outgoing enough, either. I was painfully shy when I started this career. Today, though, I can hold my own in almost any conversation. My wife has complimented me a few times on how I seem to have overcome my shyness. I think reporting and writing and interviewing has actually forced me to get over what was largely a debilitating shortcoming.

Don't give up on your fiction, either. There are an amazing number of markets for short fiction today. They won't pay your bills, but they can give you a bit of pocket change and keep your writing spirit fresh and energized.

Just some thoughts.

Dan
(visit my blogs. I need the hits!)
http://community.enormo.com/blog/
www.careersearch.contentquake.com
http://workfromhomecouple.today.com
http://indycomics.today.com
 

Ms Hollands

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Have you thought about all the other types of journalism out there? I started my own music listings publication about five years ago, interviewing acts who would be playing locally before the following issue, and ended up selling the business and getting a LOT of great experience and enjoyment out of it.

Now I work as a production editor for a dairy industry publication. It's rare that I have to source the news, but my journalism experience - even though it was the music industry - has been very handy. Perhaps you could take your experience and apply it to something related, but not actually straight journalism for a newspaper.
 

WerenCole

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That is a good point. Journalism does not need to mean newspapers.
 

matty

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Yeah, yucky.

I've been working at a local paper for about a year now and the honeymoon period of "being published" wore off--fast.

The pay is crappy.

The hours are long.

But more importantly, I feel icky and sticky at the end of each work day, as if the dirty, insensitive things I have to do to be good at my job stay on my clothes like smoke and beer at the end of a late-night rock concert.

I don't fit into the news industry. I am not outgoing. I do not feel comfortable calling and pestering a mother of a child who died. Or trying to weasel my to an exclusive.

I am not cutthroat. Nor do I ever want to be.

I want OUT. As soon as I can possibly find another job.

Has anyone else had this reaction to working as a journalist? I write fiction but it hasn't exactly panned out as a source of income...

But really, journalism has nothing to do with writing. The writing itself is a jigsaw puzzle formula that a high-schooler can follow; for the most part it's calling numbers, pressing the cops or lawyers or public officials for info, chasing documents, and breaking news however possible.

As a cops reporter, the constant death, violence, heartbreak etc. wear on me as a person, and I hope that I never lose the truly horrid feeling I get when I call some of these victims. I do honestly believe what I get payed to do is unethical.

I would rather work a non-writing job than continue in my journalism career, with the possible exception of landing a court-reporter job.

Has anyone else had this reaction to working in journalism?

Go freelance with your writing, find another line of work in meantime.
 

inkkognito

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I second going freelance, or maybe consider the corporate world. Back when I was on Round 1 of my freelance career in the '80s, I was also a news stringer for a Chicago daily. It was just covering board meetings and such, but it was a soul drainer. I needed the money at the time, and it wasn't hard work from a technical standpoint, but I still cringing each afternoon when they called with the evening's assignment.

I ended up bouncing over into the corporate world, editing three newsletters and writing much of the content. In a way it was like chasing down reluctant subjects... but instead, it was writing the company line even when I knew it was BS. It felt like I was compromising myself, but I told myself, "They're signing my paycheck so they get to dictate what I write." Fortunately, my job went in another direction and I ended up in corporate training, writing and delivering classes. I loved it and would probably still be there if we didn't move to FL.

Poke around for other ful-time gigs like corporate stuff, and build some magazine markets in the meantime.
 

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Lonely One...I know exactly how you feel. Doing face to face interviews is my pet peeve. I am shy by nature and I don't think anything will ever change that. I wrote for a few different newspapers and I guess it's a good way to "pay your dues" but for me, it's not something I could imagine myself doing again.

I don't know about you but I like writing fiction. Everyone has different gifts and talents. I guess a lot of people enjoy reporting but I feel it depletes me of my creativity.