There can't be a more cringeworthy job title than this

I imagine you've all seen entry-level journalism job listings that have the word "trending" or "social" in the title or description, basically looking for a young and Very Online™ writer to take something they see on social media and churn out content to chase clicks. This one I just came across, though, made my eyes roll so fast that they hurt.

"Mobile moments." Barf.

Job opportunity at Gannett | USA TODAY NETWORK - Reporter - Mobile Moments/Trending Topics

Unbelievably, the job description somehow makes it worse with these hyper-detailed "examples" of stories they want you to go find.

• Facebook starts buzzing with remembrances of a Tallahassee businessman who died suddenly of a rare medical condition. Who was this man? Whose lives did he touch? This reporter finds out and lets readers know why they should care and how they can help.
• A woman’s unique, life-sized lawn ornament goes missing. Her sentimental appeal to the hoodlums who stole it is piling up shares on Facebook and Twitter. This reporter writes a story and the statue is returned under the cover of darkness.

Did they consider calling this job, I don't know, "general assignment reporter"? Because any journalist on the newsroom floor, if called upon, should be able to write the first story.

The second one is the kicker, though. The imagination required to follow through to the story's heroic conclusion - "the statue is returned under the cover of darkness" - is more worthy of a novel than a real-life job listing. (Unless this actually happened in Tallahassee recently and they're ripping it straight from the headlines, so to speak.)

I guess to wrap up this rant with some overarching point, journalists of all stripes should know by now how to leverage social media for tips and story leads and it doesn't take a special "Reporter - Mobile Moments/Trending Topics" to figure out how to cover stories that matter to a community, whether quirky or somber or somewhere in between.

 

What if the beloved Tallahassee businessman is the one who stole the life-sized (SIDEBAR: who determines how big something must be to be life-sized) lawn ornament?
NOW we've got a story.

 

Maybe its me, but I find it somewhat tragic that newspapers now take their cues from social media and follow in its groove instead of creating and being first on stories that end up getting a lot of clicks on social media.

 

What is the journalistic equivalent of "jizz mopper"?

 

Any word on this one yet?

 

Honestly, probably could be filled by someone 15 minutes from Tahoe if you are never getting out of the office and only scanning social media.

 

Kind of like being sports editor in Greeley, Colo. [/crossthread]

 

Modern newspaper writing: 24,000 dollars a year max; 60 hour workweek no OT; looking for stories to snatch/update from social media in the pursuit of pageviews. How noble a profession.

 

Mobile Moments, featuring Real Life Real News, to be guided by Newsroom Coaches and to be done at the Local Information Center during Newsroom 2000. Everything is awesome!

 

I blame 60 Minutes.

 

That sounds like a job description written for the J. Peterman Catalog.

 

Only thing I'd add is the obligatory "Exciting times" proclamation.