Copy editor, New Jersey

A little birdie let the new ASE know about the JRC horror stories and invited him to explore some of the stories himself by visiting a couple of relevant online sites, including the JRC/Trentonian threads here.

Later, when the ASE contacted the sports editor and questioned him about the JRC rumors/stories, the sports editor lied to him and told him how great the company and newspaper both are.

It's understandable that the sports editor would not come right out and describe every awful JRC moment when he's interviewing candidates. He needs to hire people for the openings in his department if that's part of his job. But when a potential employee or soon-to-be employee specifically asks about the horror stories because he is concerned about uprooting his family to move to a place that sounds wicked frightening, it's completely shameful that the sports editor would lie to him.

 

Is it possible that the SE does not yet share your perception of JRC? One can misstate the truth out of ignorance and it would not be a lie. It would be unusual to find a unanimous opinion on working conditions in any newsroom. For instance, in what in some ways was the best (although by far most demanding) work environment I've experienced, I arrived only a month or so before an outside vendor did an employee-satisfaction survey, and I was stunned by what my colleagues had to say because it was far better than my last place. On the other hand, by the time I left, I shared some of their gripes and, in fact, wound up back at that sucky place that preceded it, which in hindsight was a big mistake. Hmmm. So maybe you are jumping to a conclusion that the SE lied. He may merely be misguided, blind to certain things, etc. Perhaps they are still being nice to him. Won't last, but he might as well enjoy it.

 

Oh, they do this all the time. One of their favorite gambits is to list a job, get all sorts of eager young applicants, then bring one (sometimes more) in to accept the "opening."

As soon as the rookie arrives, it becomes apparent he has been hired for a job currently filled by a longer-term, higher-priced employee. If the old-timer wishes to keep his job, he kicks into high gear, pouring out work like a lunatic, doing anything and everything everybody tells him so as to not get shown up by the new kid. "Overtime? Forget that. So what if they gave me 70 hours work to get done in 40, I need my job, so I suck it up and get it done," the old-timer usually thinks.

After a few weeks, if the old-timer really kicks up his level of production, they keep him -- and tell the kid to get lost. "At-will employee." If the young whippersnapper equals the old-timer's output, they keep the youngster at the lower salary, and tell Seasoned Vet to hit the road. "At-will employee."

Maybe the young kid uprooted his family, put down apartment deposits, moved halfway across the country to accept the job? Well, tough cookies for you, punk. I hear Mickey D's needs fry cooks. Maybe your wife can go get a (another) job.

 

how's it working out for you?

 

gold - then you and i know different newspaper people.

 

Little birdies are singing all over the JRC Universe, that Monday turned out to be a veritable Black Monday for some of the more reliable stooges/hired hatchet men in Uncle Bob's empire, with several of The Great Man's most bosom buddies being led out the door at daybreak, after first being relieved of their door keys and their company cars.

At least one was led, by a strange man nobody had ever seen before, directly into an unmarked car sent by The Company, to "take care of him." No word if they stopped by the bakery to pick up cannolis. ;D ;D

Doesn't feel so good when you're on the other end of the chainsaw, eh boys??

 

I had mixed feelings when I first heard that this 13-year veteran was leaving The Trentonian. I was sorry to hear that this consummate professional, an excellent writer and editor, and all-around terrific person, was heading to greener pastures. That feeling was quickly wiped away by my happiness knowing that she will be working somewhere where she is both respected and appreciated. Yup, it's true, boys and girls, there are places (non-JRC, obviously) that actually treat incoming employees with dignity. I know for those of you who have never worked for JRC must think this thread and the previous one are essentially snarky bitchfests solely intended to rag on a shitty company, but this thread's intention, articulated perfectly by Interim Bedwetter, remains the same: Journal Register Company is the spawn of Satan. It doesn't give a shit about producing a meaningful product, and worse, quite frankly doesn't care if its employees live or die (unless he or she has company-sponsored life insurance, then it's quite content to see you in a comatose, vegetative state, where undoubtedly it's off the hook for health insurance since the employee has been fired from his/her deathbed.) Under no circumstance should any non-JRC employee go work for any of its publications. Sooner or later, mostly sooner, you will regret it professionally, financially and spiritually. The best analogy I can give about the fine people who work in the Sports department at The Trentonian is that of soldiers fighting abroad whose mission is to just survive one day and then another day and then another day without getting hit by sniper fire of the Khmer Spooge that is JRC. No one gets left behind as they battle in the trenches while their commanding officer leaves the battlefield every night at 11 p.m. Working in that Sports department is war, and war is hell. For those of you who ask why would anyone put up with this daily madness, I say it's because of pride. Pride in doing a job well done and pride in knowing that about 30,000(?) people are going to appreciate what they read every morning thanks to their efforts. I know that was the case of a former sports editor who spurned on two separate occasions job offers in both the Sports and News sections of the fifth-largest paper in the country -- which would have paid him roughly double his Trentonian salary -- and one of the largest news wire services because he was proud of the work he did at The Trentonian, and believed that his work had meaning. How do you tell a Sports paginator pushing four decades of service at The Trentonian to go find a job somewhere else? So for those of you brave souls still surviving one day at a time at The Trentonian, you will always have my respect. Fight the good fight. As for Uncle Bob, if the liver cancer couldn't conquer him, maybe rectal cancer will, or hope that Ramon finds a kinder, younger, more gentle sugar daddy who will treat him better and shower him with shinier baubles. Maybe then, a heartbroken Uncle Bob will go to his garage, turn on the car ignition, blare Whitney Houston's "Where Do Broken Hearts Go?" from the CD player as he lets the sweet carbon-monoxide fumes purr him to eternal sleep.

 

Beautifully stated, Tracheortreat! ;D

 

I know of two publishers who got the boot this week, Lapdog. Do you know of more?
http://jrcbites.blogspot.com/

 

Looks like there's another opening at the Trentonian. Just got off the phone with an old friend on the news desk. He couldn't take another minute so he up and walked out in the middle of his shift. Then went to the bar to celebrate. My hero.
Now news is down to four. So if you're looking for a job ... naw, just kidding. You'd be better off selling dope on Stuyvesant Ave.

 

what's you friend going to do for an income?

 

He had a part-time job while he worked at the Trentonian. He worked it so that will now be his full-time gig. So he's alright. I wish the rest of the news and sports desks would follow his lead out the door. From the sounds of it, a few more are handing in their notices this week. Thank God.