the navel times and observer

I'm leaving you. And not by my choice. I don't really have an end of thoughts on this subject, so I'll start with the story.

Earlier this week the reporter covering the suburban cities around Joplin started talking to me very softly about taking over some of his assignments. Because the newsroom's lost as of today 6 reporters the entire staff is going to be taxed for production, and I saw that coming. I really was just waiting for an order to tell me that I was going to be taking on more assignments along with my regular work in Barton County and Pittsburg (for those of you who just began reading, my beat) but no editor had told me yet what those assignments would be.

Today I got into the office late (long story, in short I need to learn to wake up in the morning, among other things) and started doing whatever I could since all the public offices and most of the businesses are closed. When I arrived the metro editor, assistant metro editor and the managing editor were all in a meeting together, even though the assistant metro editor was off today and all of this week. I knew I was part of this discussion. After all, I'm now part of a very small group of reporters, it's not like my name wouldn't come up in the conversation).

Yeah, I still didn't see this coming.

My editor told me my beat was no more. I will no longer be covering Barton County and Pittsburg and my official duties will be completely taken over by the suburban Joplin beat. This is a wee bit of a shock when 3 months ago I asked the assistant metro editor (who apparently will now be our education reporter as well) what I should consider the Globe to be for people in Barton County. He said it should be the newspaper they go to for their news, for their local Barton County news.

People have and some will probably continue have subscriptions to the Joplin Globe, I really don't think anybody bought any subscriptions specfically after I started up here but hey, they got to see their cities on the front page a couple times and that's where I felt they needed to be. Particularly after that was backed up by my editors.

Apparently that is no longer our business. After the loss of 3 other regional reporters the Globe is only doing Joplin and the immediate area. We're sinking into our hole after 3 months ago the paper was all about getting into the area, that was even the topic of gossip 2 months ago because of all the efforts the Globe was taking to try to be the newspaper for essentially everyone in its coverage area.

Now we're just covering Joplin. Granted, I don't know the town that well, but from what I've seen I don't like Joplin. It's not very clean, it looks like business loop 70 (for the Columbians in the room) everywhere in town from what I've seen. The town has some redeemable qualities, but the town's a mess. The Globe building itself is an ugly black and gray concrete and metal grate disaster. And I get to live there now.

Quit? Not really in the cards. I still owe a lot of money to my kind parents for helping me make this move and I ca't afford to make another one in the near future. That and the Globe's been infinitely patient with me while I'm learning how to be a reporter. They've given me all the time I need and I wouldn't want to leave them high and dry while they're short on reporters. Not because I have any feelings for Community Newspaper Holdings, Inc., I feel abused by them because while the staff is shrinking the paper's also not allowed to hire anyone new.

Foremost I don't want to let down my fellow reporters. We will all be eating it in the next few weeks, months, because of the freeze and I couldn't afford for any of them to quit on me, I rely on all of them too much. Second are my editors, who have been so patient and have been willing to help me whenever I've needed them and to whatever degree I've needed them. They've worked hard and they're going to be worked harder like the rest of us.

So I'm sticking it out. I'm here and I'm not likely to get a reporting job that pays this well anywhere around here. I considered looking for jobs at, say, the Washington Missourian which comes at a good recomendation from a very trusted professor or the Southeast Missourian where I have a friend who's working as the education reporter and could probably help me find a job. I've also been advised by a friend at the Staunton, Va., News-Leader who has been strongly trying to persuade me to go out there that there is a job there. As stated, I can't afford a move, particularly not a move to Virginia.

The appeal of at least the Missouri papers is that they are small towns. Suburban beats, particularly when it means covering four towns, scares me now. I like my small towns, they're not complicated and everything is within a long walk of anything else at least within the city limits. There's not a bubbling source of daily news here, but there are always stories to work on and I'm just beginning to develop sources. I've put 10 weeks of my life into this town and I'm not anxious to leave it be.

I'm scared, I'm feeling a little abused by the corporation and I'm sad because I don't want to leave the sources here. I may not have any close friends that I'd hang out with outside of any professional discussion but I've gotten to know people here on the job and I don't want to leave them. I don't want to tell them I'm leaving. I only told two people so far and told them it was off the record, like that's gonna matter.

Anyway. Goodbye Lamar, I hardly knew you.