Wednesday, June 10, 2009
Day 1,095
So where do we go from here?Simply put, we don't know. (As if you couldn't tell that from our retrospectives.)
We've wrestled with what to do with the blog as we approached our deadline. It's our baby, so we'd love to see it continue, but we're different people now than we were when we first started this journey and we'd have to account for that. For sure, Ten95 as you know it will be taking a hiatus - likely brief, but potentially permanent - while we decide where we want to go with this. And when, or if, we decide to restart Ten95, it will likely be in a very different form than you've come to know it.
Know this: the "Ten95 Experience" has been a great one and that's thanks to you. From day one we got great, insightful and encouraging comments regarding our work and our lives. We had a community to vent our feelings to, and people who looked to our experiences as affirmation that they weren't alone in their struggles. We met young journalists who came to us for advice (which was humbling) and readers - seasoned veterans and rookies - who congratulated us on a project with such a unique perspective.
This experience has been one that we can safely say, made our first three years as journalists good ones and shaped our identities in the industry.
And for that, we thank you.
Sincerely,
The Ten95 Crew
The Ten95 Crew
P.S. -- For those of you who may need a Ten95 fix and will be in the Tampa area for the NABJ convention, 1/2 of the crew will be on a panel entitled "Reinvent Yourself, Not the Wheel"on August 4. And the rest of the crew will likely be hanging out in the audience, if you'd like to say hello.
Labels: convention, for journalism's sake, fun, growing pains, heart, inspiration, journalism, love, milestones, musings, NABJ, the industry, unity
continue...Wednesday, June 03, 2009
"I'm keeping my options open..."
If I had a dime every time I heard that line uttered by a career-less recent journalism school graduate, I might have enough money to buy a taco truck, drive up and down the Beltway selling heart-attack inducing bacon-wrapped hotdogs to unsuspecting federal gov't employees.Okay, so maybe I have thought about another line of work. So what? I know, I know. I said not too long ago that I was tired of listening to my colleagues whine about the journalism industry. And honestly, I don't think I'll ever get tired of it.
After reviewing a good deal of what I've blogged about these last three years, I've realized why the whining makes me cringe. I've long held the belief that journalism as a trade is done well when the journalist is learned and inspired by the craft...motivated by innovation...and persevering in his or her approach to pursuing their passions.
But enough with the esoteric graduate thesis.
As I batten down the hatches, in Baltimore, MD for a summer internship with the Associated Press, I feel I'm as ready as I'll ever be to decide whether keeping my options open is a good idea.
For one, I've prepared a great deal for this moment. Most often, journalism school graduates who have troubles finding work post-graduation experience this because they didn't prepare while they were in school. Honestly, had I been in my senior year and looking for my first internship I would have been at a serious disadvantage. Internships mean a lot, but they alone aren't eveything.
I'll never understand why I ever had to sell being involved with journalism networking organizations to aspiring journalists. The National Association of Black Journalists, along with the Bay Area Black Journalists Association, has been instrumental in developing and expanding my network and industry contacts. And honestly, many of these people have turned out to be great friends to have.
I've always interpreted "keeping my options open" to mean throwing away all of my hard work, just so I can be miserable in someone's public relations firm. Okay, maybe I'm being dramatic. (The paycheck would be nice, for sure. And student loan repayment will kick in faster than I can say "bacon-wrapped-butter-basted hotdog on a bun.")
But fears of a dying industry have not deterred me from pursuing goals I set for myself long before college. Perhaps I'll feel differently as this summer comes to an end. Or maybe not. I'd like to think I won't ever need to implement Plan B: Aaron's Taco Truck.
And while I won't completely reject keeping my eyes open for another line of work...it's unlikely you'll hear that "I'm keeping my options open." Hopefully, I've prepared enough so that I don't have to.
(Besides, if we (journalists) all left...who's going to support to the coffee and booze industries? ... Joking.)
Labels: for journalism's sake, inspiration, musings, preparation
continue...Tuesday, June 02, 2009
No Safety Net
I was never supposed to be here this long.Three years ago, I had it all set. I had just been hired full-time at my current paper after starting off as a two-year intern. The plan had always been to stay two years and then get up and out. By 2007, I would have some banging clips to help me find a new and better job at a more exciting paper.
October will mark my four year anniversary in Rhode Island and I am more nervous and uncertain about what to do about the future than I have ever been in my life. I was never supposed to be here this long and now, I'm afraid to leave.
I didn't leave before because I didn't need to. And after years of prosperity, it was easy to ignore rumors about how much trouble the industry was in. After all, who could imagine a day without newspapers -- we were vital. Or so I thought.
That was before the Rocky Mountain News closed its doors, before the Times threatened to shut down the Globe, before Detroit stopped home delivery and the P-I went completely online.
It's easy to see all that now, but over the past three years, I’ll admit it, I was caught up in the newness of my budding career. I preferred to focus on the joy of getting a great story or share the frustration in dealing with tough sources and bosses. But all around me, it was happening. It wasn’t until the recession came to my newsroom with the split of our company, buyouts, and then finally two rounds of layoffs that I started to get the picture. This whole thing is bigger than me. And I’m not invincible.
Honestly, that’s why I had a backup plan. The only thing is that now, my backup plan is causing me more angst than ignoring the industry ever did.
Getting my graduate degree was supposed to be my safety net. I started thinking about going to get an advanced degree in law probably about 6 months ago. I'd been covering courts for a while, and then, the paper announced plans for more layoffs. I got excited about the program and my plan was to apply for the Fall 2010 class, which would allow me to save up some money and really prepare for the transition. But with my job only 4th from the bottom on the seniority list when they announced layoff plans in February, I thought it important to have a backup plan.
So I applied to Georgetown. And got in. With a partial scholarship to their Masters of Studies in Law program for journalists. It's a one year program where I would be able to take all the same classes as a first year law student, but come May, I would leave with a Master's Degree.
I'm seriously afraid to leave and I feel like a punk for it. And it's killing me that this economy has me doubting my ability to land on my feet, even with an advanced degree. When I graduated from college, I never thought for a moment that I wouldn't be able to find a job. Ever. But that was back in 2005.
So here I am, with a great opportunity on one hand, a steady paycheck in the other and a gloomy economic outlook overhead. And I have no idea what to do. I've survived two layoffs and a round of buyouts by the skin of my teeth. The idea of hitting this economy in May with stale clips and a degree isn't particularly comforting. But even if I stay, I could be among the first to go if the paper were to decide they need to get rid of more weight.
Three years ago, I had no idea what I wanted to do, just that I didn't want to do it in Rhode Island forever. My disdain for municipal reporting emerged over the years, just like my love for cops, courts and legal reporting blossomed. And I worry that I'm romanticizing my time here out of fear for the unknown.
A friend of mine said that one of the bravest things a person can do is imagine a different life for themselves. I wonder if it still counts if you imagine a new life out of fear that your old one will disappear.
Labels: fear, for journalism's sake, journalism, musings
continue...Monday, June 01, 2009
Day 1086
When we started this blog, things were different.Most of us had just graduated from college, were looking for jobs or either just starting them. We were bright eyed bushy tailed journalists ready to take on the world. We had no idea what adventures our lives would hold as we struggled to gain our footing in the journalism industry.
So we decided to document it as it happened.
We've written as we've been hired, promoted and laid off. As we graduated and figured out where to go and what to do with our lives. We've told you about our horrible beats, great bosses and mean readers and listeners. We've shared our successes, our awards, our failures.
There was no way to know when we started out where the world would be today. That we were dangling on the cliff of a recession that continues today. It was unfathomable to think that a handful of newspapers across the country would actually close their doors. That thousands of qualified journalists -- veterans and rookies -- would be laid off from their jobs.
We documented the shift in the industry as it was happening, as we lived it.
One thousand ninety-five days.
On June 10th, the crew here at Ten95 will reach that milestone. A day that seemed like it was always so far off is now literally just days away.
Over the coming week, each of us will write about what it has been like to start a career at a time when the world, our industry and it's future were so uncertain. This blog has given us a vantage point on the changes the recession have had on the industry that is unique only to us. And we'll do our best to give an honest look at what the view has been from here.
We hope you enjoy it.
Labels: for journalism's sake, growing pains, heart, industry analysis, inspiration, journalism, milestones
continue...Thursday, October 09, 2008
The Mike Huckabee story
"The terrorists," it has been said, "hate us because of our freedom." I could never quite get along with that statement for a litany of reasons. (Not the least of which is it makes absolutely no sense.) Were it true, they would surpass even a great hall of haters, that rogue collection of losers and scoundrels that draw faith from another's failure, pleasure from pain.I thought a more accurate depiction of the source of their hatred had something to do with how policy decisions affect real people. And our tendency to wash up with food.
It is the excess of Western culture that is really to blame for the enemies we seem to accrue like so much debt. Americans are a wasteful people. Avocado is a facial wash. We scoff at the sight of burnt toast. We are obsessed with a pop-culture phenomenon that consists of someone on throwing dollar bills that flutter down on people at a disco. All of it has programmed us to believe that there are rules of status – one of them being that they do not associate with us.
So when Mike Huckabee, the former governor of Arkansas who finished second to eventual nominee John McCain in a several primaries this year, sat down on the D train the other day, my thought was that it wasn't him. I was with a group that included my good friend Gary, a producer at NBC, Jennifer, a fashion designer, Lindsay, an accountant for a private dental practice and future dental student, and Patrice, a musician. "This guy," I proclaimed, "looks just like Mike Huckabee."
Patrice stared at him and suddenly was drunk with laughter. "Oh woooooow, he does."
The only problem, of course, was that he was Mike Huckabee sans press secretary, personal assistant or any type of security. He wore a blue shirt that had the initials M.D.H in cursive writing at the cuff and carried an unmarked bag that looked like it was take out from a cheap Chinese restaurant. After all, he had gotten on at Grand St. A man and woman came up to him.
"We're big fans of yours," one of them said, as if he was still on the campaign trail in Iowa. He thanked them warmly, naturally, and they sat back down.
"You know," I said, motioning to him to get his attention. "I'm sitting here saying", wow, this guy looks like Mike Huckabee. Now I feel like an idiot."
He laughed, and robotically stuck out his hand. "I'm Mike."
"Darren."
He mentioned a few tidbits about his show on Fox News, which is why he was in New York. "They treating you well up there?" I asked.
"Oh yes, just fine. Though I'm sure I'll say something sooner or later that'll cancel that out real quick," he said, alluding to his pension for controversial public comments. We all laughed.
Huckabee spoke with the sort of fluid cadence that was his mark on the trail, the type of speech that makes it sound like everything he says is funny. He asked where I lived. He mentioned that he visited a church in Harlem that he really enjoyed, then asked where we went to church. I gave the Kings Church of Christ, and our ridiculously talented minister, David Wilson, a huge plug.
"Mike Huckabee?" a 20-something guy with blond hair, stuck out his hand. He acknowledged him and smiled. "I like your style man!"
Flattered and maybe a little embarrassed, Huckabee motioned to all of us, saying, "I guess liking my style means that it's pretty cool that I'm riding the subway."
He widened his eyes and shrugged, as if not knowing what to say to that.
His actions said that status does not mean you have to be excessive.
"It's the easiest way to get somewhere."
The reporter in me came out eventually. I asked him what he thought about Sarah Palin's performance in the debate against Joe Biden on Thursday. He would refer to Sarah Palin as "Sarah." And Katie Couric as "Katie."
"I thought Sarah really helped herself," he said with gravitas, a sign that he is taking his job as a political analyst for Fox News seriously. "I mean, she was just dreadful with Katie. And I mean awful. I really like her and she's a terrific friend of mine but she was terrible."
He was close to his stop now. I asked if he'd be embarrassed if we asked for a picture. Gary had his camera. "Oh no, no not all."
So we took one big, black happy photo with Mike Huckabee on the D train.
Labels: for journalism's sake, political coverage, relationships
continue...Wednesday, October 08, 2008
Keep going until you reach the other side
This was about as close to marching orders as we'd get. At least in the near future.My coworkers and I filed slowly into the small conference room in our office, the managing editor of our paper seated on one side of the oval table. For the next hour, she'd tell us what she knew, which wasn't much, but it was something.
All of the bureaus were closing, she said. And the two remote offices would be housed temporarily downtown in our office and another down the hall. The first reporter from South County arrived today.
In essence, the days of hyperlocal coverage writing about the minutae of Town Council and School Committee meetings -- were over, she said. The boss wanted us all to write A1 stories. On our beats, some of the bigger stories would survive, while some of our smaller communities may not even see the light of day in the new paper. We probably won't tell the readers that we're doing away with the zoned editions she said. We should be prepared for the deluge of calls we'll recieve next week.
"We are reinventing the paper and it could be exciting," she told us. "But to get to exciting, we're gonna have to go through a whole lot of hell."
That was one thing we all knew.
In the days since the restructuring began, they've switched beats on some reporters, pulling a municipal reporter onto the blog, and moving the Providence reporter to a national sports beat.
Right. My thoughts exactly.
How we'll cover news in the future is largely unsettled, she said. We may do it by town, but more feasibly, we'll do topical coverage. We should get our dibs in now with beat preferance, so when the New World Order comes, at least our desires have been made known.
I just sent my e-mail to her, telling her that in a perfect world, I'd like to cover either legal affairs, education or news features, in that order.
As I watched my coworkers pepper her with questions, I tried not to be mad. I knew I had no room to be afraid -- everyone else was chalky with fear. I empathized with the M.E., having to go into rooms full of reporters with few, if any, answers. Not a job I'd envy. At least not now.
I tried to analyze what this new world would mean for me, an average reporter. I'd be competing against all of my coworkers for the same amount of space that's in a Monday paper. Ideally, it means I can write what I want, when I want, taking the time to craft stories and delve deeply into subjects. Realistically, it means that I've got to find better stories to tell or find myself squeezed out of the paper.
I sure hope I'll find them by the time we get to the other side.
Labels: fear, for journalism's sake, I-ain't-never-scared, industry analysis, Job survival, layoffs, the industry
continue...Monday, August 11, 2008
Film session
I knew it right after I watched Shattered Glass, the film based on the real-life events of disgraced journalist Stephen Glass and his plagiarist exploits at the New Republic .I love movies about journalism.
I love to see how other reporters go about their jobs. When I got into the game, I was pretty much going for what I knew. I was the lone ranger, a maverick cubby navigating an endless stream of people, places, games, events and editors whom I wanted to please. For the most part I just wanted to get it right.
In some ways that hasn't changed. I still feel like I am in this alone, but films about journalism provide an accurate picture of that loneliness. That's me on screen, if only for 120 minutes. Quite often, that's more than enough. But sometimes I just want to talk to real reporters and ask, "How did you get this story?"
Or I could just pop in Absence of Malice.
So yo, what's your favorite journalism movie?
Labels: faux disaster reporting, for journalism's sake, me-myself-and-I
continue...Monday, August 04, 2008
Letting journalism "have it"
...and the LA Times for that matter.Romenesko posted the ramblings of a disgruntled former LA Times employee. Basically, the guy's talking major trash about the Times and about the industry. Some of it is funny. And some of it is just...well, I'll let you be the judge.
The Ex-LA T'er calls it a list of "42 Things [He] Know[s]".
My favorites:
#3 - ...the business model for newspapers is broken. (Agreed.)
#11 - Newspapers were unbelievably slow in embracing the Internet, even though younger reporters have been pleading with their bosses for years to embrace the Web. (I second that!)
#40 - I have no doubt my newsroom colleagues who I left behind can adapt to the challenges of the New Media environment.
On kicking journalism when its down:
If you leave the industry, because you say it's so broken, doesn't that mean you aren't around to revive or rebirth it?
I've never understood why veteran journalists -- even young ones -- critique the industry, just as they are leaving it. I don't get how that sort of criticism helps.
It's like being the head cook in a restaurant, quitting and then telling management to stop serving steroid-injected chickens because it isn't good for customers.
Labels: for journalism's sake, frustration, industry analysis, journalism
continue...Saturday, August 04, 2007
Writers beware? ...RIP Chauncey Bailey
When I heard the name 'Chauncey Bailey' and the words 'gunned down in Oakland' spill out of a TV news anchor's mouth Thursday morning as I got ready for another day at work, I paused. In fact, the name Chauncey Bailey, alone, caught my attention because I felt like I knew the name, but I just could not remember how.It wasn't until I got to work that I actually realized how bazaar the news was. The name was familiar because I had seen it several times on an Oakland Tribune byline. The Tribune is a paper I have a connection to, both personally and professionally. And on top of all that, I'd only ever heard that Bailey was a good guy...the editor of the Oakland Post, an African American paper that was delivered to my church every Sunday. My mentor, Bob Butler, sent out a message to the Young Black Journalist email listserv announcing and reflecting on the news of Bailey's death on Thursday morning. It was then that I began to reflect on what it all meant.
Bailey was gunned down by an employee of Your Black Muslim Bakery in Oakland on Thursday. The employee confessed that he killed him because he was angry over stories Bailey had written about the bakery, its employees and leaders in the past. According to Oakland Tribune reports, Bailey had been working on a story about the group and its finances.
When this news broke Friday, I realized just how serious of a job being a journalist is. Your work has consequence, both good and bad. And I knew that. But I never thought that seeking the truth about your community and reporting it could get you killed.
Just last month, a mother approached me about her concerns that ice cream trucks were selling realisitic toy guns to children in Hayward, Calif. So I wrote a story about it. The woman attended a City Council meeting to voice her complaints, and I wrote a story about that too. Eventually, Hayward's chief of police called a meeting with ice cream truck vendors in Hayward and demanded they stop selling toy guns from their trucks or face reprimand. And I wrote a story.
Never before had I experienced writing something that affected visible change or action on the part of leadership. So I drove home Thursday night to share that with my parents. As my mom fried chicken, she, my step dad and I talked about what had happened to Bailey that morning. Both of them were concerned...because most headlines and anchors read and reported a "Journalist gunned down in Oakland." They thought of me. Jokingly, they asked if any ice cream truck vendors might seek revenge because I had called attention to the fact that some of them had been selling, to six-year-olds, imitation firearms meant for people 18-years-old and up.
Did Bailey ever wonder if writing the stories about the Black Muslim bakery would put him in danger physically? I shiver at the possibility that he knew the stories could possibly get him killed.
It makes me wonder: how careful (or un-careful) are we as journalists when we sit down to write stories that will have some consequence (positive or negative) for the stakeholders?
More on Chauncey Bailey.
Labels: dismay, for journalism's sake, frustration
continue...