Sad story - respected sports writer dies

Four-thirty.

You think Lee’s gonna spring extra money loose for a commemorative pin? If they did that for him, they’d have to do that for everyone like him … and they ain’t gonna spend that kind of money. His publisher might’ve had a doughnut party for him — maybe.

 

Only if the publisher paid for the doughnuts himself.

 

This is true of any job, not just newspapers or the media in general. Work is a business relationship, not your family. If you treat it emotionally, you're definitely going to get your feelings hurt. And never, ever define yourself by what you do for a living.

My dad spelled it out before I ever applied for my first job.

"You provide a service, and the company compensates you for that service. If you don't like the conditions of employment or the company no longer needs the service you provide, either side is free to walk away. But whether the job is the best or the worst, always have an exit strategy. Nobody is irreplaceable."

His other opinion: "If you do something for free, that's not a job. That's volunteering."

 

Your Dad made a great point about nobody being irreplaceable.

On my first full time job after college, a veteran coworker told me, “Always remember that the newspaper will still come out without you.” Some of the best advice I’ve received in my career.

 

Yes, maybe he was happy and loved his job that much.

 

I had an SE who told us, "Don't ever love your newspaper because it'll never love you back. However, it will bend you over your desk and f*** you every chance it gets."

 

It is good advice. But for a newspaper - really any creative endeavor - to be great, it's crucial that some percentage of the people involved not believe that - or, at least, that the product won't be any good if they do believe it.

It's a fine line, though I'm pretty confident a variety of forces - including Twitter - have obliterated it.

 

I was told that advice more than 28 years ago, and I think my coworker meant two things:

1. Don’t lose your mind stressing out over someone not calling back before deadline. There’s other things to put in the paper — let an editor know what’s going on and file a better and more complete story tomorrow.

2. The bigger and longer lasting point: Writing for the newspaper is your job, but not your life. It’s important for young journalists to know that. Take pride in your work and do it well, but make sure there’s a work/life balance.

 

Oh, most young journalists know it. Really well. Working too hard is not a challenge for most of them.

 

One of my SEs approached a desker who was coughing his head off. Told him, there was a paper yesterday, there was a paper today, there will be a paper tomorrow. Go home and get well.

 

From law firms that claimed to stress a work-life balance:

Firm 1

“Tim had his second divorce and triple bypass, and he still billed 2300 hours, you have no excuse for not doing the same”

Firm 2

“We noticed your hours were down last week.”

“Maybe you didn’t hear but my father died”

“I know, is that the reason?”

 

I've known Steve for almost my entire career, and he was one of my best friends.
What I will say is this — he loved the craft of journalism, not the business. He did his job, and did it well. It was a big part of his life, but not a total part of his life — his family lived a little more than an hour away, and he was there every chance he could get, and covering the University of Iowa meant he was just a short drive from his home.
It wasn't just the Times that meant a lot to him. He served on the board that oversees the Daily Iowan, Iowa's student newspaper, for a long time, putting in a lot of hours in meetings that could get tedious, because the DI was a big part of his student life, and he wanted to make sure the writers and editors there got what they needed.
He could be critical but was never cynical about where he worked, yet he understood who he was working for and knew what they were about. He was a damn good reporter, a damn good writer. He was never about "the brand," he just made sure he did his job well.