Monday, November 07, 2005
God, help me
I don't know how on earth people manage to do this job. There are harder jobs, absolutely, but I don't see how people manage to do this job. My day:
8:40 a.m.: in the office trying to plug through the library for a backlog of stories without having a clue how to read the filing system
9:30 a.m.: call health department, receive assignment details from editor, file one brief condensed from a press release
10:00 a.m.: healthcare insurance plan meeting - unavoidable if i want health insurance next year (that is if I'm still here)
10:20 a.m.: edit long story with editor, I guess this took about an hour
11:30 a.m.: file two more briefs based off of a press release and a calendar at a library, made one phone call to confirm some information about one brief
Noon?: continued to work on briefs, put a photo request together for a story this afternoon, confirmed that I'd be writing another feature in the office, got a telephone question answered
1 p.m.: editor mentions something about a meeting today that I knew about a week ago but didn't mention because I didn't know if it'd just be publicity for the company
1:03 p.m.: duck out of office to drive to Lamar to cover what was left of this meeting
2:00 p.m.: arrive in Lamar at the meeting
3:15 p.m.: finished observing the remainder of the meeitng and spoken with farmers and company representatives
3:15 p.m. - 4 p.m.: complete a few rounds at the police department, city hall and county offices, got an idea for one more feature story
4-5 p.m.: arrived at dance studio for a belly dancing lesson that got stalled in the middle because of two wasps hovering around the room. I killed one, the photographer and the teacher and I helped kill the other. There was much rejoicing.
5 p.m. - 5:15 p.m.: got telephone numbers from 8 underage girls and a married woman to call them back for interviews because I had to file the meeting story by 5:30
5:20 p.m.: arrived in library, called editor to ask for a 5:45 deadline so I could finish the story, pounded story out as fast as I could, didn't have time to check a third party on the company's numbers so I ended up writing a free publicity piece
6:00 p.m.: just trying to jab on one more quote, editor calls to ask where story is
6:10 p.m.: filed small brief on results of county commission meeting
Now I have to call those people from the dance class to file the story tomorrow. I have to call two representatives from two hospitals again tomorrow because they didn't bother to try to reach me today and I have to figure out where to find hunters to talk to them about youth hunting that doesn't involve standing over the gun counter at a store somewhere for hours until someone talks to me, because with at least one other project to finish because it's getting sickly late, one person i didn't get to call back friday, a new feature profile to write, and a second feature to write which I found today I simply don't have time to sit and wait at a gun counter.
I've got plenty more rounds to do tomorrow while trying to find more daily stories for the next day so hopefully (said with a smirk) I'll have another story to write tomorrow. Today my one piece will end up being about 9 inches (very small) and the other may be as long as 15 inches if I'm lucky. At least that's the length I'll write it to.
Sorry to bitch but how do people do this job???
8:40 a.m.: in the office trying to plug through the library for a backlog of stories without having a clue how to read the filing system
9:30 a.m.: call health department, receive assignment details from editor, file one brief condensed from a press release
10:00 a.m.: healthcare insurance plan meeting - unavoidable if i want health insurance next year (that is if I'm still here)
10:20 a.m.: edit long story with editor, I guess this took about an hour
11:30 a.m.: file two more briefs based off of a press release and a calendar at a library, made one phone call to confirm some information about one brief
Noon?: continued to work on briefs, put a photo request together for a story this afternoon, confirmed that I'd be writing another feature in the office, got a telephone question answered
1 p.m.: editor mentions something about a meeting today that I knew about a week ago but didn't mention because I didn't know if it'd just be publicity for the company
1:03 p.m.: duck out of office to drive to Lamar to cover what was left of this meeting
2:00 p.m.: arrive in Lamar at the meeting
3:15 p.m.: finished observing the remainder of the meeitng and spoken with farmers and company representatives
3:15 p.m. - 4 p.m.: complete a few rounds at the police department, city hall and county offices, got an idea for one more feature story
4-5 p.m.: arrived at dance studio for a belly dancing lesson that got stalled in the middle because of two wasps hovering around the room. I killed one, the photographer and the teacher and I helped kill the other. There was much rejoicing.
5 p.m. - 5:15 p.m.: got telephone numbers from 8 underage girls and a married woman to call them back for interviews because I had to file the meeting story by 5:30
5:20 p.m.: arrived in library, called editor to ask for a 5:45 deadline so I could finish the story, pounded story out as fast as I could, didn't have time to check a third party on the company's numbers so I ended up writing a free publicity piece
6:00 p.m.: just trying to jab on one more quote, editor calls to ask where story is
6:10 p.m.: filed small brief on results of county commission meeting
Now I have to call those people from the dance class to file the story tomorrow. I have to call two representatives from two hospitals again tomorrow because they didn't bother to try to reach me today and I have to figure out where to find hunters to talk to them about youth hunting that doesn't involve standing over the gun counter at a store somewhere for hours until someone talks to me, because with at least one other project to finish because it's getting sickly late, one person i didn't get to call back friday, a new feature profile to write, and a second feature to write which I found today I simply don't have time to sit and wait at a gun counter.
I've got plenty more rounds to do tomorrow while trying to find more daily stories for the next day so hopefully (said with a smirk) I'll have another story to write tomorrow. Today my one piece will end up being about 9 inches (very small) and the other may be as long as 15 inches if I'm lucky. At least that's the length I'll write it to.
Sorry to bitch but how do people do this job???
# posted by Solon : 7:28 PM
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How do they do it? Liquor, I am told, helps.
Slightly more seriously, we do it because someone needs to. You don't want the world to go all Orwellian 1984 without a fight do you? Keep hacking away and you'll carve out a niche for yourself, I have no doubt of that.
Also, here's one last tip. Careful about how you aproach your underaged sources.
Back when I had to do a story about the proposed children's curfew, I was told by an editor that I needed to go out one night and get quotes from people who would be impacted by the ban. Only after our meeting ended did I realize I'd been told to proposition teenagers after midnight.
I'd guess you've already made connections already, but a poorly phrased introduction is a surefire way to get yourself slapped.
Slightly more seriously, we do it because someone needs to. You don't want the world to go all Orwellian 1984 without a fight do you? Keep hacking away and you'll carve out a niche for yourself, I have no doubt of that.
Also, here's one last tip. Careful about how you aproach your underaged sources.
Back when I had to do a story about the proposed children's curfew, I was told by an editor that I needed to go out one night and get quotes from people who would be impacted by the ban. Only after our meeting ended did I realize I'd been told to proposition teenagers after midnight.
I'd guess you've already made connections already, but a poorly phrased introduction is a surefire way to get yourself slapped.
I called them on the phone, always preceding it with my name and "I'm a reporter with the Globe I was at the Belly Dancing lesson BLANK was in today and I have a few questions for her."
I got one girl's father and two girls' mothers. 24 hours and no restraining orders! Though I know the judge, I could probably get him to sympathize with me.
I got one girl's father and two girls' mothers. 24 hours and no restraining orders! Though I know the judge, I could probably get him to sympathize with me.
Inside connections within the judicial system? Cool.
I personally would have said "dancing lessons" rather than specifically mentioning the belly part to the father, but then it is probably best not to reference any body part of a girl to her father (maybe eyes, but even that might be risking it).
But that's just me.
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I personally would have said "dancing lessons" rather than specifically mentioning the belly part to the father, but then it is probably best not to reference any body part of a girl to her father (maybe eyes, but even that might be risking it).
But that's just me.
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