tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-63938678088187909612012-02-09T11:28:50.177-05:00Musings from a journalist in limboThe Unemployed Onehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17865390165841660430noreply@blogger.comBlogger421100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6393867808818790961.post-79932753054537161242010-06-18T18:46:00.003-04:002010-06-18T18:57:09.292-04:00

http://www.haaretz.com/jewish-world/is-the-new-york-times-trying-to-clean-up-yiddish-1.295581This is fantastic -- if you're Helen Thomas.According to the above, Jeffrey Goldberg, who works for The Atlantic, was interviewed by New York Times reporter Helene Cooper. During this interview, Goldberg said this: "I don't necessarily believe you solve all of America's problems in Iraq, Afghanistan,

The Unemployed Onehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17865390165841660430noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6393867808818790961.post-47830638956444365392009-09-27T00:45:00.006-04:002009-09-28T04:28:00.702-04:00

Robert Niles with the Online Journalism Review has suggested eight things journalism students should demand from a j-school. I’m going to post them here along with what I think of them. And I’m going to ignore the fact that I think anyone who bothers with j-school in this climate is bat-shit crazy.This one stuck out to me, of course, being that I am an unemployed journalist.Passion, not

The Unemployed Onehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17865390165841660430noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6393867808818790961.post-77910161057936354862009-08-20T15:25:00.002-04:002009-08-20T15:34:05.144-04:00

I read the Tampa Tribune's site, a mash-up of the paper, a TV station and Internet news, every day. (Yes, I'm still pining for Florida but that's another blog.)In some cases, the comments that follow a story are more interesting to me than the story itself. tday, I was checking the comments nad noticed that several readers chastised the site for printing breaking news as it happened. They wanted

The Unemployed Onehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17865390165841660430noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6393867808818790961.post-52174318850601099032009-08-19T22:45:00.011-04:002009-08-19T23:16:38.134-04:00

I once took a call from a man who told me he would be a great story. He was mentally ill, but taking medication and living on his own. He was an interesting fellow, he told me.Then he announced he was responsible for world peace. He accomplished this by using a direct line to the Reagan White House so he could negotiate with Scotland. He spoke in an authoritative voice and was certain about the

The Unemployed Onehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17865390165841660430noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6393867808818790961.post-85637167237902591442009-08-19T03:01:00.008-04:002009-08-20T00:00:23.595-04:00

Alas, I am over the excitement at the prospect of returning to a newspaper. For one thing, the paper I applied to never called me. But they did call my boyfriend for a quick phone interview.Here is why this bothers me.The job was for a content editor/designer. The editor was responsible for the atrociousness that is "citizen journalism." Editing and laying out reader-submitted crap, er, content.

The Unemployed Onehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17865390165841660430noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6393867808818790961.post-61181660887350244442009-06-22T16:46:00.003-04:002009-06-22T16:48:21.579-04:00

Today I sent a resume to an area newspaper. I haven't decided how I feel about that yet. I've been out of work for a year and this job is something I could do. No idea about pay but it's a large-size paper so we'll see. I'm not expecting a callback.I was, however, very surprised by the little jolt of excitement I got at the prospect of working at a newspaper again. That was entirely unexpected.I

The Unemployed Onehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17865390165841660430noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6393867808818790961.post-81509503270667963412009-03-31T02:50:00.001-04:002009-03-31T02:51:55.244-04:00

http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003956666A partial list of newspapers that have cut publication days during the past year.

The Unemployed Onehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17865390165841660430noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6393867808818790961.post-39500354066689108912009-03-31T02:45:00.002-04:002009-03-31T02:50:10.192-04:00

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=102137273&ft=1&f=4516989The above links to a little story about a Miami newspaperman. I wholeheartedly agree with his quote: "I love the idea of getting out a paper every day. I've never put out a newspaper that I couldn't have done a better job if we'd have had another two hours," he says. "So I don't think a newspaper was ever complete,

The Unemployed Onehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17865390165841660430noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6393867808818790961.post-3823685552377491632009-03-05T22:23:00.002-05:002009-03-05T22:29:25.046-05:00

The Fort Worth Star-T is the latest paper in this area to start making cuts. Roughly 12 percent will go and the rest will settle in for wage cuts. Basically, anyone who makes more than $25,000 a year will take a pay cut of 2.5 percent to 10 percent, depending on how much they make.Pretty sad, when most of your rank-and-file doesn't make much to begin with. Workers have already had 401k plans and

The Unemployed Onehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17865390165841660430noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6393867808818790961.post-64871749978561324992009-02-28T00:43:00.005-05:002010-06-18T18:42:17.230-04:00

While browsing the Web, these tidbits were found:The American Society of Newspaper Editors has canceled its annual convention because of the expense involved. Apparently, and not surprisingly, people can't afford to come this year. No one said this, but there are also a lot fewer people who could come.Cuts aboundThe Boston Herald trimmed 20 jobs.The Lakeland Ledger (that's out in my beach

The Unemployed Onehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17865390165841660430noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6393867808818790961.post-7068410885647649392009-02-28T00:41:00.000-05:002009-02-28T00:42:04.585-05:00

The Unemployed Onehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17865390165841660430noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6393867808818790961.post-38818262324942029592009-02-27T01:07:00.002-05:002009-02-27T01:12:13.333-05:00

Friday's will be the final edition of this 150-year-old newspaper. Denver is now a one-newspaper town. snips from an LA Times story (linked below)Buyers are scarce for newspapers, which are almost universally distressed. The owners of four newspapers filed for bankruptcy protection this week alone.Tribune Corp, which owns the Los Angeles Times, the Chicago Tribune and six other dailies, filed for

The Unemployed Onehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17865390165841660430noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6393867808818790961.post-52331564857651765002009-02-25T22:04:00.003-05:002009-02-25T22:05:40.272-05:00

A friend of mine was laid off today. I knew her when she was an intern -- and one of the best ones we ever had. She was feisty and spunky and a good writer and not afraid to ask questions and most importantly, she had no qualms about leaving the newsroom to stalk someone down to get her answers.Here's to knowing she'll land on her feet. If not in journalism, well, it's journalism's loss.

The Unemployed Onehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17865390165841660430noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6393867808818790961.post-17931274872535698002009-02-21T20:03:00.003-05:002009-02-21T20:12:14.837-05:00

Another newspaper company is filing for bankruptcy. This time it's the Journal Register Co., which owns about 20 papers located near Philly and Cleveland. The company blames crappy advertising revenues.It could also be because the company still wants to hand out bonuses for failure."Under a proposal filed as part of the bankruptcy case, the company has asked for permission to pay as much as $1.7

The Unemployed Onehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17865390165841660430noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6393867808818790961.post-34602082878715218432009-02-14T00:07:00.002-05:002009-02-14T00:16:29.845-05:00

I've noticed several papers are considering, or have decided to, charge for viewing news on their Web sites. Personally, I think this is something that should have happened from the get-go instead of spitting it out there for free. I think it's going to be a tough sell at this point. I myself won't be signing up to pay for the privilege although I do check on papers' sites now to see what's up.

The Unemployed Onehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17865390165841660430noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6393867808818790961.post-22919743009478695002009-02-06T14:30:00.000-05:002009-02-06T14:32:03.287-05:00

While I was trolling through Web sites reading about The Dallas Morning News’ latest round of layoffs, I came across another gem from fall 2008.The article, from the Dallas Observer, dealt with the latest figures from the Audit Bureau of Circulations, which released from stats last October. The DMN, like most papers, saw a drop from the previous year of nearly 10 percent. This puts it circulation

The Unemployed Onehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17865390165841660430noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6393867808818790961.post-80132257736227764322009-02-06T14:25:00.002-05:002009-02-06T14:26:43.702-05:00

A Belo employee admits that laying off 500 people while issuing 2008 bonuses to execs isn't the best timing in the world. He also insists that no 2009 bonuses are scheduled. He never says why the 2008 HAD to be given out. Cause the execs were expecting them? What about all those people who expected to have a job?http://blogs.dallasobserver.com/unfairpark/2009/02/morning_news_publisher_discuss.php

The Unemployed Onehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17865390165841660430noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6393867808818790961.post-37646040983181465402009-01-29T15:11:00.001-05:002009-01-29T15:13:47.483-05:00

The layoffs, the bankruptcies, the wage freezes, the unpaid leave, the dwindling circulations and advertising revenues have pretty much taken a front seat lately when it comes to this blog. I recently got back in touch with an old friend from college. During one of our e-mail exchanges, I explained that I wasn’t really looking for newspaper work. Even if I were, there really isn’t much out there

The Unemployed Onehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17865390165841660430noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6393867808818790961.post-14856875503870002982009-01-26T00:37:00.002-05:002009-01-26T00:37:52.942-05:00

My post on candy-asses got me to thinking about photos in newspapers and what a hot-button they can be if they're showing something less than pleasant, like, say, pictures of war.Most of the places I've been have taken into account the news value of photos, at the least holding a discussion to determine whether any given image is worthy of publication because it furthers the story or tells one of

The Unemployed Onehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17865390165841660430noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6393867808818790961.post-26529429435053738712009-01-16T20:35:00.002-05:002009-01-16T20:40:00.494-05:00

The Minneapolis Star-Tribune has joined the list of papers in big financial trouble. The paper announced that is has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. The Tribune Co., which owns the LA Times and Baltimore Sun, among others, has already filed.Also, the Seattle Post-Intelligencer joins the Rocky Mountain News and the Miami Herald as newspapers for sale. The Intelligencer is owned by

The Unemployed Onehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17865390165841660430noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6393867808818790961.post-7175450835492470682009-01-15T23:13:00.006-05:002009-01-15T23:24:39.303-05:00

Michael Miner at Chicago Reader reports that the Sun-Times has suggested eliminating some editorial positions and outsource those jobs, maybe to India. Roughly 30 jobs would be cut, all are copy editing and design desk jobs.Writes Miner: "The Sun-Times Media Group would have to be in terrible shape to consider such an idea. To turn copy over to editors on the other side of the world whose

The Unemployed Onehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17865390165841660430noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6393867808818790961.post-27307683335616990592009-01-13T23:22:00.001-05:002009-01-13T23:23:47.902-05:00

I got this email today from a friend:Found this at Sportsjournalists.com. It's a memo from Jim Moroney over at DMN to the staff. Had to share.“The waters are choppy and the visibility is poor.” That’s how a ship’s captain might describe it. For us in business, we know the economy is wobbly and there is no expert who can tell us with certainty when it will stabilize.So expect 2009 to be a very

The Unemployed Onehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17865390165841660430noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6393867808818790961.post-91138882004722474952009-01-03T01:46:00.001-05:002009-01-03T01:47:36.920-05:00

More and more bad news just keeps coming for newspapers. Bankruptcies, layoffs, up for sale, dropped benefits – the list keeps growing. In Detroit, the Free Press and the News are planning to dump daily home deliveries except for the three highest circulation days – Sunday, Thursday and Friday. These are the first major newspapers to do such a thing."We're fighting for our survival," said David

The Unemployed Onehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17865390165841660430noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6393867808818790961.post-35159085845290876362008-12-18T15:56:00.005-05:002008-12-18T19:17:16.873-05:00

I've thought for a long time that newspapers need to just print the news and quit worrying about who they offend.The most recent example of this failure to report the news is the Rod Blagojevich story out of Chicago. Several newspapers ran copies of the crime complaint against Blagojevich but edited it to remove what exactly he said. Umm, isn't this a BIG part of the NEWS?From the Chicago Tribune

The Unemployed Onehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17865390165841660430noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6393867808818790961.post-61633900761291406402008-12-12T17:52:00.003-05:002008-12-18T17:00:52.781-05:00

I've been away for a bit (lots of changes) but I have kept up with news about newspapers and it just gets worse.The Tribune Company (Chicago Trib, LA Times, among others) has filed for bankruptcy. Thanks to a mound of debt accrued when it bought out Knight Ridder, McClatchy has the Miami Herald for sale. Sadly, rumored buyers include a real estate developer and a Big Sugar family, per Bob

The Unemployed Onehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17865390165841660430noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6393867808818790961.post-79458750500709857212008-05-12T01:26:00.002-04:002008-05-12T01:35:14.582-04:00

I know plenty of people who think writing, in any form, is easy. Of course, these people have never written for a living.The title of this blog is the best advice I ever got from an editor. It came about one day when we were at a Press Club meeting. (These meetings consisted of a group of us gathering in a smoky bar and drinking a lot every Thursday.) I admitted that I often sat, stumped, for a

The Unemployed Onehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17865390165841660430noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6393867808818790961.post-67478159383216874302008-05-05T02:38:00.003-04:002008-05-05T02:59:21.611-04:00

One of my biggest pet peeves probably only applies to me or, at the very least, to a handful of other people. It's my internal clock.It's not right.When left to nature, I will stay up till 4 or 5 in the morning before I finally get to sleep. I'll wake up between noon and 1. I've been this way as long as I can remember. Summer breaks were spent watching old movies all night. Getting up at noon

The Unemployed Onehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17865390165841660430noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6393867808818790961.post-68997168196180590892008-04-07T20:10:00.003-04:002008-04-07T20:28:28.334-04:00

Swiftmud. Softmud. PIP. GMA. CO.All of these are acronyms that have appeared in the newspaper for which I used to work. How many of them do you know? As someone who had just moved to Florida, I didn't know a single one. I was told they are common acronyms to the area.Funny, I queried about six other employees and not a single one knew. It seems obvious to me that if seven newspaper workers (

The Unemployed Onehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17865390165841660430noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6393867808818790961.post-66541262709109789772008-04-04T20:53:00.002-04:002008-04-04T20:59:14.472-04:00

At one of the newspapers in my area, the city government reporter's idea of advancing a City Council meeting is to take a copy of the meeting's agenda, throw in a few extra words to string the thing together, and print.As someone who covered that beat for years, this drives me absolutely nuts. I can't believe his editors haven't put a stop to this lazy excuse for work.Aside from the fact that

The Unemployed Onehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17865390165841660430noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6393867808818790961.post-86581027693820990672008-04-04T20:50:00.000-04:002008-04-04T20:51:02.364-04:00

I recently realized that I've dropped a long-time habit of mine. I guess it happened while I was working as a page designer and I never picked it back up.The habit? Moving my lips while editing. Or just plain reading aloud.It's a great help when self-editing; I began doing it while I was reporting and carried it with to the copy desk back in Texas. It suddenly hit me earlier this week when I was

The Unemployed Onehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17865390165841660430noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6393867808818790961.post-49230855218518675582008-03-28T17:27:00.005-04:002008-04-07T20:10:05.755-04:00

Writing columns isn't easy. I've done it on occasion, and I find it even more difficult than putting together a feature story in which I am heavily invested.My column-writing experience came in college, when I pounded out two to three a week. All but two I consider completely forgettable or completely embarrassing. The other two were both humor columns. One, which ran in our Halloween edition,

The Unemployed Onehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17865390165841660430noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6393867808818790961.post-24726357505058350932008-03-21T22:08:00.004-04:002008-03-21T22:25:45.760-04:00

For a time, I had what I considered a very good editor. This was back in Texas, after the first editor I worked for was given the boot. (It was about time, too.)The paper I worked at was at its best under this new editor and one of the things stressed to us was to get ahead of the curve. He didn't want us to merely follow news. He wanted us to let people know what was happening so they could

The Unemployed Onehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17865390165841660430noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6393867808818790961.post-58118350049842833322008-03-19T14:02:00.006-04:002008-03-19T19:32:42.635-04:00

Today, I was browsing the Internet and came across an argument about who vs. that. Basically, the rule I was taught was to use who when referring to a person. Use that or what when talking about anything else. Of course, I was also taught to never end a sentence with a preposition and a host of other rules, including using more than instead of over.This got me to thinking about saying "Sometimes

The Unemployed Onehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17865390165841660430noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6393867808818790961.post-43293595974211148212008-03-18T10:30:00.003-04:002008-03-19T19:34:42.094-04:00

Here's the deal with press releases. Reporters and editors are inundated with the things. My habit with them is to skim through them. If they have a local angle at all, I read it more closely. If it doesn't, I toss it. If it's something I can use, I treat it as a story tip. I then make calls, do interviews, perform research, etc.I never, EVER simply stick my name at the top of it and turn it in.

The Unemployed Onehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17865390165841660430noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6393867808818790961.post-39231519394472601122008-03-16T14:56:00.005-04:002008-03-16T15:06:55.282-04:00

Since the beginning of my career, I've made it a point to avoid top managers and editors as much as possible. While some of them are sharp, most of them are company men (or women) and would have no problem hanging a peon reporter or copy editor out to dry to cover their own butt. But the worst I've encountered so far have been mid-level managers, especially when they are intent are someday being

The Unemployed Onehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17865390165841660430noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6393867808818790961.post-77306637269936215802008-03-16T00:23:00.004-04:002008-03-16T14:55:15.523-04:00

Today McP covered a charity event in Naples attended by Jim Courier, my favorite tennis player of all time. Ah, memories of my 90s crush.Anyway, McP's task was to interview Courier. Although vague rumors had filtered down previously that Courier wasn't always nice to reporters, Mc returned home to report thatCourier is more than just a pretty face -- he's polite, well-humored and a good interview

The Unemployed Onehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17865390165841660430noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6393867808818790961.post-56758250259184859392008-03-12T22:17:00.003-04:002008-03-16T00:28:38.537-04:00

A short blog about the most unappreciated, yet most important, desk in the newsroom. I'm not talking about page designers, though at some papers, copy deskers read copy and lay out pages. I'm referring to actual copy editors. I started out as one, which probably explains why I'm more inclined than most reporters to acknowledge that these guys are more important than writers.Anybody who can save

The Unemployed Onehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17865390165841660430noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6393867808818790961.post-50436427402205505052008-03-11T23:57:00.007-04:002008-03-16T14:55:50.276-04:00

McP has added another paper for which to freelance. At this place, he had to agree to not freelance for its nearest competitor. I've heard many an argument from people here in Florida about non-compete agreements, and I still believe them to be bullshit in all forms.First of all, the one I had to sign forbade me from working for another paper two hours north of me stretching to two hours south.

The Unemployed Onehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17865390165841660430noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6393867808818790961.post-10910917606704378522008-03-09T21:07:00.002-04:002008-03-09T21:15:09.249-04:00

While I was lolling about on New Year's Day, reading, I started to wonder how many books I read each year. I decided to keep a list and see. So far, I have 19 books on the list. I'm halfway through No. 20. I didn't realize I was going through them so fast, but that explains why I have a hard time finding new books at our local library.Our library is in a gorgeous building. It's close to my house

The Unemployed Onehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17865390165841660430noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6393867808818790961.post-39476730839722466502008-03-08T20:50:00.004-05:002008-03-19T19:41:21.326-04:00

Yesterday was rainy. Before I came to Florida, those were the types of days where I could grab a newspaper and peruse it at my leisure while listening to the sound of rain. I didn't have a paper to read yesterday, though, unless I fired up the computer.I have basically two newspaper options here: The Sarasota Herald-Tribune, which is a pretty good paper. The writing is OK, the editing (I'm

The Unemployed Onehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17865390165841660430noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6393867808818790961.post-8761130560319783312008-03-06T16:40:00.005-05:002008-03-19T19:38:41.179-04:00

I have a new favorite Web site. http://www.angryjournalist.com/Read long enough and the funny disappears. It'll just make you sad.I did find this, Post #1539: I'm angry it's taking so damn long to get a job outside the industry.I'm having the same experience. Seriously, all throughout college and my first news job, I kept hearing how easy it would be to transition into PR, advertising or

The Unemployed Onehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17865390165841660430noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6393867808818790961.post-50488795387793287172008-03-05T22:46:00.003-05:002008-03-05T23:42:42.257-05:00

Dear Sweet Jesus, I have my own blog. I'm not sure if that makes me up-to-date and cool or one sheep blindly following all the rest, but since I no longer have access to newspaper and ink this will have to do.I've been out of the newspaper business for nine months. It's still an odd feeling. I decided to become a journalist while still in high school and never pictured myself doing anything else.

The Unemployed Onehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17865390165841660430noreply@blogger.com0