I was fired from my job on Monday after nine years with the same newspaper, seven of them as Lifestyles editor. Nine years of good evaluations, seven years of placing in the Tennessee Press Association contests, never been wrote up, it's too bad I live in a "right to hire, right to fire" state. This is the only real job I've ever had; I started when I was 22.
I ran a book review on of our reporters wrote, and the publisher said he was firing me because it didn't have any local ties. He also said that in the last few months, I had lost interest in my job. I probably had to a degree because I was pregnant and found out that the baby I was carrying had a chromosomal disorder, and she was stillborn in August. I came back to work two weeks later and have managed to do my job and never miss a deadline. I believe that's his excuse, and he only fired me to give his wife the job. She starts on Monday according to a friend of mine who works at the newspaper.
Ok, enough of the venting. I've decided to try to make a go of the freelancing. I get to draw unemployment (the publisher told my editor he would do that for me, what a big heart he has), but I really want to make this work for me. I got a call today from an editor at another newspaper, who was told about what happened and wants me to freelance and write features. She's infuriated at the way he treated me. She's only going to pay $25 a story, but it's a start.
Any advice for me? How do I handle the fact that I was fired? Will the editors of the different publications even ask why I left? Will being fired hurt me in the freelance world? Thanks for listening.
I ran a book review on of our reporters wrote, and the publisher said he was firing me because it didn't have any local ties. He also said that in the last few months, I had lost interest in my job. I probably had to a degree because I was pregnant and found out that the baby I was carrying had a chromosomal disorder, and she was stillborn in August. I came back to work two weeks later and have managed to do my job and never miss a deadline. I believe that's his excuse, and he only fired me to give his wife the job. She starts on Monday according to a friend of mine who works at the newspaper.
Ok, enough of the venting. I've decided to try to make a go of the freelancing. I get to draw unemployment (the publisher told my editor he would do that for me, what a big heart he has), but I really want to make this work for me. I got a call today from an editor at another newspaper, who was told about what happened and wants me to freelance and write features. She's infuriated at the way he treated me. She's only going to pay $25 a story, but it's a start.
Any advice for me? How do I handle the fact that I was fired? Will the editors of the different publications even ask why I left? Will being fired hurt me in the freelance world? Thanks for listening.
