Tuesday, March 22, 2011

AP staffers protest contract

Oh, the happy business of journalism today. (Someone at Poynter should have caught the typo in the headline, though).
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6 comments:

Anonymous said...

OK all you former journalists out there (particularly the Boothies since most of those visit here occasionally) feel free to protect your identity, but have many who lost their jobs gone on to similar journalistic ventures? If so, are you making 30 or 50 percent less? Those who got laid off and didn't continue in journalism, what kind of jobs have you found? I took one of the earlier buy outs (bad decision) and finally found fulltime employment almost two years after leaving the newspaper business. I make 2/3 of what I made before and the work is nowhere near as exciting as journalism. There is a little bit of writing involved, but mostly it's helping layout a company newsletter and write press releases. Just wondering where everybody else ended up?

22 March, 2011 20:55
Jim of L-Town said...

Well, I can answer for me. It took me 3 months to find a part-time communications job at about 1/3 of what I was making (no benefits) at the Journal.

I worked at that job for two years until I qualified for Social Security and am now fully retired.

I know others who have been unemployed for three years and others who have taken other journalism positions for less.

Good question though.

23 March, 2011 10:00
Anonymous said...

My situation was different. I resigned abruptly. I really felt a disconnect between the stated journalistic objectives and what actually was practiced. I could delve further, but for the sake of brevity, I will address the topic at hand.

I was out of work for a year after I left Booth's warm bosom. I scraped by doing sporadic freelance until my friend offered me a job working for his promotional company. I made half the pay but was extemely happy. I did that for two years, but had to leave due to the economy (I also took another 50-percent paycut to stay on as the business took a nose dive during the recession.
So, I took a part-time job as a telefundraiser and continued to freelance.
Freelance assignments continued to dwindle, so I decided to go back to school. I'm studying to be an IT specialist.
In the four years since I left Booth, I've been on numerous PR job interviews. In nearly all cases, PR companies opted for younger, presumably more "dynamic" candidates. I interviewed at one daily newspaper, which is a 35-minute drive away.
The editor was shocked that I balked moving to the city as a condition for employment. I explained I couldn't unload my house in this market where, if lucky, I'd get three-fourths of what I paid. The paper was a Gannett shop, so I knew pay would be a little less than half than what I was pulling down with Booth.

24 March, 2011 10:44
Anonymous said...

"Given the deep staff cuts at many other media outlets, AP’s reliable, unbiased journalism is needed more than ever."

Unbiased journalism? Give me a break. Their reporting is embarassingly inept and keeps moving left.

27 March, 2011 17:07
Anonymous said...

For many years journalist tried very hard to base writing on facts. To present the facts of the story and let the reader form his or her own opinion about those facts. Do/did journalists have personal opinions? Of course, did that sometime color the writing....it would be ridiculous to claim never, but in truth, the best journalists believed that presenting the facts without opinion was key. To report on a gay pride parade and the views of those at the parade is not a support of a homosexual agenda, although to many, the publicity itself denotes support.
Today the word is opinion. How do you "feel" about the facts of war and politics? Do you "believe" that it is right ....and apply that to healthcare or taxes, whatever.
Fox News has made a huge success out of pointing out that trying to keep emotion or thoughtfulness out of the reporting of what's going on in the world today, is ridiculous.
It's all about "telling us what you think," "how does it make you feel," "what do you believe?"
A friend said "why do I have to present both sides of a story when I only believe one."
Journalist used to make an attempt to present both sides in full and then allow you to make your own informed decision as to what you believed best fit your thought, morals, opinions
Today, most of us watch the news (think MSNBC or FOX) that best reflects our thoughts, morals and opinion.
AP is feeling that pain.

28 March, 2011 08:46
inky said...

Byline strikes have been passe since, oh, about 1970, the last time the Guild leadership had an original thought.

04 April, 2011 14:17

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