Ranting Validation (Tennessean this one's for you!)
For those of you who know my story, I apologize for this part of the entry, however, it's a necessary evil.
In January 2007, I returned to The Tennessean newsroom expecting kudos from my bosses (anyone who works for Gannett understands the level of plural involved here) for a job done well during December 2006. In fact, what I got was a slap in the face. Those brilliant minds gifted with running that once powerhouse, now faltering, floundering daily, came up with the wonderful idea of 'moving' me to a permanent nighttime, weekend position of no journalistic consequence. This was opposite of the conditions on which I based the uprooting of my life to Tennessee. I had a proven track record for producing. Ricky Young, my city editor, said himself I was the go-to person on the news desk. So why would I want a move backward?
Of no journalistic consequence is the nicest way I can describe the BS position they wanted me to take. Every top editor in news, save for Meg Downey (I didn't talk to her) lied to my face saying it wasn't demotion and it was only later when the Tennessee Department of Labor sided with me, I proved it was. I was faced with the horrible decision of quitting a job that meant more than just a paycheck but I invested my life and was letting them squander it.
During my tenure there, I was carelessly bounced around from one overworked editor to a nonchalant one to another overworked one and finally, to an under-appreciated one. No one had time to care about my writing or my career. This, on the heels of my grandmother dying, my mother being diagnosed with breast cancer and a personal situation requiring resolution through a restraining order. In short, I realized, life was too damn short.
After coming down with the flu that kept me out of the office, when I finally returned, I talked with Mark Silverman, the top editor there who patronizingly smiled and gave me the handbook answer. "Every position is what you make it." Well, to borrow a phrase, NS. It was the kind of answer my mentors warned me I would get and sagely told me what I should be prepared to do if it happened. I shook Mark's hand thanking him for his time, walked back to my desk and packed my shit.
I finished my shift and I left. I didn't cry (like I thought I would) but it was the scariest thing I have ever done. It was also the BEST thing I have ever done. Since that day, my life has only improved because I have taken it back. I am responsible for my own happiness and my own career. And that, my friends, is priceless. Apparently, it's catchy because the blood-letting Mark was hired to stop still continues.
by Matt Pulle
Imagine you're Tennessean editor Mark Silverman. The job is not what it once was. First of all, one of your titles is vice president for content and audience development, which makes you sound like a middle manager at the WB network. The stock of Gannett, your corporate parent, is down 42 percent in just the last year. And worst of all, you feel the need to tailor the paper's coverage away from politics and crime and toward soft, lifestyle features as you try in vain to reinvent the newspaper.
This would not be the best of times.
So imagine what it was like for Silverman last week to watch one of his paper's best reporters get up and quit, thinning out an already anorexic herd of political journalists. On Wednesday, Sheila Wissner walked out of 1100 Broadway in the middle of writing a story about the state legislature, then tendered her resignation later via email.
“It's gotten really hard working over there,” she says by phone while making banana bread at her East Nashville home. “It's terribly understaffed, and as a reporter you don't know what's expected of you from one minute to the next.”
For nearly half of Wissner's 20-year tenure at the paper, she worked as an investigative or enterprise reporter—the kind of endangered journalist who instead of being tied to a beat digs for interesting, potentially controversial stories that expose wrongdoing. Last year, though, the paper more or less disbanded its investigative desk and Wissner found herself covering state politics. She thought it was a temporary gig, but when the state legislature convened this year, the affable reporter again found herself in a job she didn't like. On Wednesday, after the paper hired a new staffer who’d been freelancing for The New York Times, Wissner asked an editor if she could return to her old job as an enterprise reporter.
“I didn't get a definitive answer and sat down at my computer to write this story and said, 'Fooey, I'm out of here,' and got my coat and walked out the door,” says Wissner, who applied but wasn’t chosen for the paper's buyout package last summer. “I just snapped. I didn't yell at anyone; it was a completely internal thing; I couldn't do it anymore.”
Wissner is just the latest staffer to leave Silverman's Tennessean. Sheila Burke, who covered courts and cops for 10 years, also departed last week.
“I just wanted to do something different,” Burke says. “I feel like the business is real tumultuous right now, and it seems like a good time to branch out.”
State political reporter Jessica Fender, city editor Ricky Young, assistant business editor Todd Pack and lifestyles writer Hollie Deese also have left The Tennessean in recent weeks. Not all of them fled because they disliked their jobs, but what seems to be happening at the paper is the same kind of personnel chaos Silverman was recruited to stop: the record ship-jumping of staffers under predecessor E.J. Mitchell.
Newsrooms, often located in bleak, non-descript office buildings, aren't supposed to be existential playgrounds, but when you add unpredictability and instability to the mix, they become factories of gloom and doom. And The Tennessean isn't helping matters by abandoning common sense principles that have served newspapers well for decades.
To take one example, Wissner says that her editors told the paper's political reporters last year to spend more time in the newsroom and less time at the Capitol. The goal was for reporters do more enterprise stories and less reporting on process and minutiae, which would be a decent plan were it not for the fact that in state politics, the best story is in the details.
“They didn't want us sitting in on meetings when there was incremental stuff going on that was not major news,” Wissner says. “We felt that you couldn't really know when the major news was going to break if you weren't down there.”
This year, the paper wised up and decided to have its reporters actually spend time with the people they cover, but the message to the staff was clear: The Tennessean would adapt any half-baked idea to save money or draw readers. The paper's current fad involves an Oedipal obsession with suburban moms. Mark Silverman boasted about the paper's MusicCityMoms.com blog in his weekly editor column. It was a moment that should have made John Seigenthaler cringe. Then, at the top of the paper's redesigned website, “moms” is listed as its own category right alongside “news, entertainment” and “sports.”
Desperately has absolutely no idea how to save the modern newspaper, but surely writing about how moms can find friends (an actual Tennessean story) isn’t the way to meet the challenges of the free media age.
Two for the road...
Now that she's left The Tennesseean, Sheila Wissner will have more time to make jewelry, which has been a hobby of hers for years. Check out Wissner's impressive handiwork at jewelryarte.com.... In a sidebar to its story on condo living, The Tennessean listed the pros and cons of choosing one versus a single-family home. One of the cons to living in a condo was “emerging neighborhoods.” How is that bad? Or is “emerging neighborhood” a Tennessean euphemism for some place that's not in a subdivision?###
If you were good enough to read this article, you see why I refer to it as, of no journalistic consequence, apparently that's the paper's new focus. So you see, I don't need to send the high minds at The Tennessean cards thanking them for being such a terrible place to work, thus, forcing me out. I've got a feeling, they already know it. Anymore would just be overkill.
I say to my former colleagues Wissner, Burke and Christian Bottoroff (who have gone way of an 'Ailene') you will be better for it. To the good people, because there are many, still suffering over there, I say: buck up. Like Bush, nothing this bad can last forever.
I have always applauded the fact that you "did you" and found a happiness that is discovered when relieving oneself of what can be noted as a "yoke restraining position". Maybe it wasn't that bad, but, frustrating I am certain. Anyway, keep spreading your wings they are glorious. Wonderful and enlightening article.
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No, "yoke restraining position" was NOT hyperbole. This place was so bad that very good reporters, seasoned reporters, vets been in the business for almost as long as I have been alive, used to make daily trips to the restroom to relieve not their bladders but their frustrations through tears. So frustrating it was that it conned some into believing there was no way out. I must add, I was not the first person to be pushed into a corner only surprising them by bailing out. I just don't think, matter of fact, I know, they underestimated what I would do and subsequently, what I was and am capable of. The joke's on them.
I learned this from an extremely intelligent hen, a wise one, who, in fact, told the eggs over there to go straight to the bin. Said hen left without a plan and after a well-deserved respite landed in a job tailor-made for hen. Oh, didn't I love taking hen out to lunch on paper dollar, as she was a much needed and integral source! BAAAAH! So, like other courageous people, I have learned from others. Maybe the credit should go to her.
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So, much like the music industry, I seriously doubt that people are coming back to actual printed newspapers as they move further & further into the internet to get their information. With that in mind, what do you think is a new viable business model that can support the kind of quality investigative journalism you're talking about here?
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I think the answer for newspapers and blogsites, is in niche markets. While I was at Gannett, The Tennessean's parent company, it acquired a company called 411 or something or other. Basically, I think the newspapers are going to become thinner and less useful as readers subscribe to the content they want and get it sent to them on their mobile devices, i.e., phones, PDAs (Blackberrys) and computers. It's already happening. The cash flow comes in from the amount of hits you get, which is why traffic is so important, and the number of subscribers, which will basically be the number of people guaranteed to receive the content. User-paid content will eventually disappear as advertisers pay to sponsor a particular number of threads. For instance, let's say you want Sports News on your Blackberry. Then you will get the link, after you click it and before it displays a 15-second Nike ad, pops up... that's what we are looking at in the near future... in my humble opinion. So newspapers may be obsolete but news organizations can survive, they just need to get with the program...
I think that's what The Tennessean is trying to do. Now, I haven't been privy to inside talks for more than a year but from what I remember, the paper's leadership was SERIOUSLY locally focused. The term hen-publisher favors was the dreaded 'local-local news.' I think that was the precursor to this 'Moms' crap. That smacks of 'local-local.' Problem is, it's not news. LOL. Soccer moms rule the world because they control the purse strings, usually don't work, have computer access, PDAs and (in some cases) are really focused on only what affects their world...hence a need to reach out to this comparatively small demographic, despite the fact that it makes the paper seem sophomoric, at best.
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I applaude you for realizing your future growth was not with The Tennessean,and I have seen so many people stay in jobs and except whatever thrown at then, and are miserable just for the sake of employment.I like your writhing style, and know nothing about the world of journalism. I found your Blog informative to me to keep me abreast of what is happening in the crazy mixed up world.
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Thanks Ms. B.
As a new reader, you're entering in at a point when I am extremely comfortable in my own writing voice and style, which has taken some time to get to. I do, however, have nightsweats about comma misuse and other grammatical mistakes that I, sadly, am privy to. I thank you, and all, for overlooking them as I don't have an editor's eye (although I do try). I only hope to continue to get better...thanks for hanging in until I do.
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I knew about everyone but Ricky, I missed that piece of gossip. I wonder how my favorite folks are doing there... because they're all still left unless folks quit and didn't tell me yet!
Well girl, we both know -- as it's ridiculously obvious -- that we did the right thing!
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My sources tipped me off to that egg's departure, as it was the bane of my existence while there. However, I didn't know about Burke and was truly surprised and proud of her for that one. Whatever she does, she's gonna be fabulous, as true hens always are. Oh, weren't we the smart ones to get the hell outta Dodge. Good grief: MOMS. Had I not quit already, that certainly would have done it. I know CJ, JH and TD are quite happy they don't have to see the inside of 1100 Broadway for the rest of their lives too. We are all the better for it, yippee!
I'm just glad to be proven right, over and over and over again. Can't even talk too much about cracked eggs over there (it is worth mentioning that only a cracked egg would suggest, or even think, any reporter ESPECIALLY political reporters do their jobs from a desk, that is a cracked-egg theory if I ever heard one), since the publisher is tragically, a HEN! Although, she DOES exihibit the worst of all egg tendencies, unlike Jumbo Egg, who hen-pub and top cracked-egg will never be.
Furthermore, these cracked-eggs (and loony hen) might not remember Tennessean reporter, MR (a lil before my time) this poor hen was chucked into the compost bin after a fiasco because hen covered a beat in another county but required to remain in Davidson County office. Said hen made mistakes, yes, however, hen was only trying to meet the unreasonable demands of the cracked eggs in charge at time. Setting up people for failure; that's one thing a certain green-egg was expert at doing while it was there.
Getting back to Bane of my existence-egg, it was only a matter of time since formerly good hen-turned-drinking-the-egg-Kool-Aid hen (as hen proved in our last convo) was promoted over Bane egg. Bane egg's hen had yet another little chick and they took their brood back to sunny California. Guess there was nothing else to do in white-bred Williamson County, eh?
Did you know, egg 'Bobby Brown' (as CJ used to say) moved to Sports? Where it belongs, fo' sho. Didn't care too much about hard news...unless it was regarding legislation about online gambling, LOL!
love that you came by again!!!
PS: Folks confused by egg talk may want to take a peek at the first of three 'Egg Chronicle' installments, 'A Tangled Web.' A Tennessean egg gets well-deserved mention in The Good, the Great and the Golden.
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I knew Bobby Brown was going to sports. I think that happened right as I left.
I'm wondering about the young hens we left behind though... I know AP just bought a house with her man and I don't know about ND (who recently lost her dad). As for JR, I think she should move on sooner rather than later.
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My heart does go out to some of my favorite hens over there. ND is so dedicated to writing that she will do it anywhere. This hen is understanding of that, as I started my writing career doing it for free and obviously still do. LOL. However, she is a star dimmed by the wits of the cracked eggs-in-charge. She is lucky to be far, far away from the newsdesk, as at last I knew she was not interested in hard news at all. ND's saving grace is that she works for an Extremely Gifted Hen, who continually refuses to drink the egg-Kool-Aid cracked eggs attempt to drown her in, which is why all the cracked-eggs over there give her a hard-boiled time.
I share the same sympathy for JR, whom I have not heard from since I left the country. A snub I overlook, as I can only imagine what she's dealing with. Consider this: when I met this most intelligent hen it was after reading her resume and noting that she was educated at both Columbia AND Vassar. Quite exquisite hen, indeed. I then told hen, "DON'T COME HERE."
I warned this hen of the pitfalls of the cracked eggs-in-charge. However, hen had her own reasons for coming, as I believe McClatchy has their own brand of cracked eggs, of which, I was sorry to hear but, yet, expected. JR also had a relationship with Formerly Good Hen in the years before her wrist-bending of the cracked-egg-Kool-Aid began. Formerly Good Hen made promises to JR that I'd bet my hen house never saw the light of day. Same happened to this hen. Immediately, after JR's arrival Formerly Good Hen's addiction to cracked-egg-Kool-Aid became abundantly clear to me, however, JR kept the faith. Now her name is printed in a news publication where "MOMS" is a priority. I also noted she got stuck with some of the Christmas stories I did last year. How in the hell did that happen?
Her words to me when I told her of my non-demotion, demotion: "If they could do that to you, they could do it to me."
Note to JR: As I told you the day I met you, you don't belong there: www.journalismjobs.com.
Note to Formerly Good Hen: Based on our last convo, the cracked-egg-Kool-Aid they've got you hooked on is effecting your better judgment. Seek help. Super-Witty-Good-Hen GK got a taste of management and realized the CE Kool-Aid wasn't for her. Or, enter a 12-step anti-cracked-egg-Kool-Aid program then leave taking JR with you. She came to this party because you invited her. Don't forget that.
Is my AP the same as yours? Doesn't sound so. But I suggest, she concentrate on her Nest Egg and forget about that place. After conducting some research, I learned your AP came after I went. Coming from Knoxville, I thought my good-egg friend, Tom Chester, would have told AP the cautionary tale of JH and her misadventures in Cracked Eggland.
Note to New Hen AP: I don't know you, however, if you can, sell your house, take your man and RUN. Having worked for both, Scripps and Gannett, myself, the former is cheap but the latter will drive you to run around with your head cut off.
AN 'I JUST HAD TO' UPDATE: While cleaning out my bin today, I came across a gem. On today of all days. I never clean out my bin, which is why I still had this. Bane Egg, you can truly kiss my nicely feathered, patootie. After being urged to come up with my own beat on the news desk, after Top Cracked Egg-in-Charge's arrival, I researched the idea and then sought to become a social issues reporter, as that's where my interests lie. After submitting a several-page proposal on how I planned to cover the beat, story ideas and why it's important, Bane Egg (who didn't even bother responding to said proposal) told me in a meeting witnessed by my Bane-You're-So-Great-Hen editor. In said meeting, Bane said it was a beat the paper would NEVER do and I better think of something else. The next day, BDLC started a position with the same focus in features. The job was never posted. I guess Bane Egg should have thought better of saying the N-word because looky, looky what we have here:
From: Young, Ricky
Sent: Wednesday, May 30, 2007 12:59 PM
To: NAS-Info Center
Subject: Diversity and social issues job
###
Ha! A proposal! Well, hell, I guess we can't believe anything falling from the lips of a cracked-Bane Egg, can we? This is MY freaking idea! After he told me, "No-way Jose." This is why I left that dump and all those cracked eggs over there can just go straight to hell. Um... remember that thing I mentioned about local news focus? Check the size of those two words in this internal memo. Bane Egg definitely had too much of the cracked-egg-Kool-Aid. Although I hear it's not, I hope it gets really hot in California.
ANOTHER DOG-GONE UPDATE: Will this place ever stop producing material for said discussion? Probably not. Take a look at this . Loony Hen and Top Cracked-Egg-in-Charge should hang their heads in shame. Poor Jumbo Egg is probably cringing everytime he see's stuff like this. I mean really, a LOCAL (hint: this was your big chance) television station ends it weekend morning news broadcasts and the daily rag ran that?
I would have liked to know more. I would have liked to hear from those ousted. I would have liked to hear from the viewers who watched it.
Are they outraged? Since it was a Biz story, I would have liked to have known how much it takes to produce a show like that, how much advertisers pay for such slots and how much money they were losing? Were advertisers pulling out? What do the advertisers have to say? Is news really all about cash flow and not, gasp, news? I'd imagine the answer is yes, evidenced by the fact that there are more ads on the page than news.
I would have liked any tidbit of information. I didn't even know TV stations would consider stuff like that. Is this a recession issue? Is it because advertisers have to cut back because profits are down, budgets are cut?
WTF, just anything more! Instead, what we have are four-paragraphs, a quote and a partial all from the same source. It's barely even a brief and they had the nerve to put a head and tag on it a pass it off as a story. Readers will probably contemplate shooting themselves but not before picking up the phone to cancel their subscription. To think, Loony Hen did this in another state. Oh lawd have mercy!
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Wow. Wow. Wow. I don't much more to say other than wow. I have been in a cave of theological studies, and obviously behind on the "meaty" convo. I agree with all the pitfall mentions of 1100 Broadway. Yes, I did get lost in some of the "cracked-egg" metaphors. However, i get the gist of most things spoken (kudos to young loislane for the Bobby Brown reference...surely you can't give away all the code names used during our brief stint in "hell's news kitchen"). But I love it. Hate I didn't chime in earlier.
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Hiya CJ,
Thanks for stopping by. Yes, the egg analogies did go a little overboard, however, that's because there were so many to talk about! Goes to show less cracked eggs running amuck, less confusion all about. And aren't we happy to have survived that place. Don't know where JH is (don't even think those are her initials any more as I suspect she might have hitched it with her own Gerald Levert) but I sure wish she could see all this, just the same as I hope someone lies and tells Bobby Brown this entry is about online Poker, so he will read. Maybe JH could find some validation through all this too.
Thanks for reading and your comment!
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