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...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...Tuesday, February 24, 2009
Not to temper Aaron's enthusiasm because I, too, admire the work Bob and others have accomplished, but things here in my newsroom are a little somber.
For weeks, there's been talk of impending layoffs. Every day we'd get messages like this one from the guild regarding the rampant rumors circulating around the newsroom.
The Guild has been informed by the company that there will be no announcement regarding layoffs today. At this point we do not expect to hear anything until Monday or Tuesday.I hated those e-mails. And the constant chatter near the printer about how it would all be handled, and when, if ever we would get any details. Today, we finally got word.
Company wide 100 people are being laid off. I still have my job, but 18 of my colleagues don't. No reporters were laid off, but 1 section editor, a copy editor, and pairs of artists, photo editors, visual technicians, photographers and editorial assistants were. In addition, 5 state staff office assistants, including my two favorite people in the world, D and B, were laid off.
This is the second round of layoffs we've had in the last six months. Everyone keeps speculating that another round - which the execs say is always contingent upon the economy - isn't too far behind.
Labels: heart, layoffs, the industry, writer's guild
continue...Wednesday, December 10, 2008
Go Look at this Project
Some of my former collegues at the Freep just did a great project where they got unprecedented access to children in a local foster home. The Freep writes:Free Press photographer Kathleen Galligan spent three years photographing the children at Christ Child House. The Michigan Department of Human Services, which rarely grants permission to openly photograph children in its custody, gave the Free Press this unusual access to highlight the plight of Michigan's foster children.
"It's an effort to educate the public on the challenges we face," said Bill Johnson, head of the Michigan Children's Institute, the DHS division with legal custody of the kids.
Referring to Christ Child, he said, "They're a small agency, but they do a great job."
The project features stories, video, and great photographs featuring the boys that live at Christ Child and tell you a little about who they are and what they've gone through. The project features things you can do to help, as well. They also did something I thought was really cool --- they did a gallery of kids who still need adoptive homes. It's a small thing, but I just thought it was great.
If nothing else, flip through the pictures in this project. I did that quickly after reading about the project in Al's Morning Meeting. For some reason, seeing these kids just living their lives almost brought me to tears. Maybe I'm just a sap, but that's what journalism is about: giving people a glimpse into someone else's life.
Labels: community journalism, heart, inspiration, photos
continue...Thursday, September 20, 2007
An Ode to Spice, my new favorite (apologies for the bad poetry)
When I walk into Council Chambers, my heart lights up to see you sitting there,You, John Spice*, with your Rhode Island laissez faire.
You sit up front, quiet as the night begins,
I don't have to wait long before the silence ends
"Do I hear a motion," the councilor says, and your arm shoots up in the air,
Voting will have to wait; you've got something you need to share.
I sit up in my chair and wait for you to get to the mic,
The words that come next will inevitably make my night:
"I'm Roman Catholic, I wasn't prepared for this...I would definitely tax them," you say about a church looking for a break;
An ordinance on windmills is a good idea, you say because: "It's about protecting the people. Protecting the pedestrians. And our swimming pools."
Oh, John Spice, how I love you.
Spicey boy, with your sweeping arm jerks and unmoderated outbursts
You make my meeting go by so much quicker.
And your smokers cough? It couldn't get much thicker.
When I'm bored, I just take a glance at you,
With your rumpled sweatshirt and sockless shoes.
You never match.
I love that.
A guy like you has no precedent,
John Spice, you're my new favorite resident.
*Name has been changed to protect the innocent.
Labels: heart, meetings, musings
continue...Tuesday, September 11, 2007
I (Heart) West Warwick
It makes me chuckle when I hear things like this from my sources:"I'm only giving this to you, Talia. Not to that other paper. That other reporter just makes me nervous. He's so jittery."
One of the officers I use as a source at my local police department said that to me yesterday. I could barely stand I was laughing so hard.
It's funny.
I've been covering West Warwick for .... 13 months now, and people know me. Not just as the major metro daily reporter, but they know me. Talia. They smile when they see me. I lean back in my chair when they call and we chat. They say hilarious things about life, politics and that other paper to me.
And I love it.
Don't get me wrong: sometimes the daily life of being a bureau reporter weighs on me. But many days, when I'm out conducting interviews, shooting the breeze with cops and just being in my town, I love it. I should do it more often. And it makes me feel really good that people trust me with their stories. I never get anyone who says they won't talk to me because I constantly misquote them. And they feel comfortable enough with me to tell me when I've got something wrong or when they disagree. And they know that I'm professional enough to run a correction if necessary, but that I'll hold my ground if they're trying to blow smoke up my butt.
I have a relationship with the Town of West Warwick. And the more that I think about it, it's not such a bad one either.
Labels: heart, journalism, lessons, milestones
continue...Sunday, August 19, 2007
Goodies, with love
I love this item. Saw it on sportsjournalists.com:"Even though I’m a now a recovering sportswriter, bear with me.
As a reporter at the Minneapolis Star Tribune, the past few days have been just a smidge busier than normal with the bridge collapse.
Anyway, I wanted to share one story. On Saturday, a large box of food, sweets, goodies arrived at our newsroom from the folks at The Roanoke Times. As anyone who has covered a big story knows, it’s pretty much go, go, go for as long as possible and the gesture was great. Very cool.
Following is the note we got from the folks in Roanoke. So if there’s anybody on here from there, thanks a lot."
To Star Tribune journalists:
A few days after the Virginia Tech shootings, a large box arrived in our newsroom. Inside was a note and lots of stress-relieving junk food like you’ll find in this box. The note was from Joe Haight, managing editor of The Oklahoman of Oklahoma City. Joe wrote that similar boxes arrived in his newsroom after the McVeigh bombings. He recalled what that gesture meant to his staff, which had been worn down to a nub covering the catastrophic community event.
We were so moved that we vowed to pass it on when we next sensed a newsroom could use a little pick-me-up. So please consider this a journalistic chain letter of sorts, one that you’ll pass on when the next bulletin breaks in a newsroom somewhere in America.
Enjoy the snacks. Sorry we couldn’t send beer (company policy, ya know). And most of all, take care of yourselves.
The Roanoke Times newsroom
Labels: 24-hour news cycle, heart, the industry
continue...