D-Day Has Arrived At My Shop. Wish Me Luck.

Seven years ago, I was bumped... My shop had layoffs, eliminated the copy desk and created a pagination desk.

I was the lowest in seniority in the highest union classification. I decided to apply for a pagination job incase I was bumped and it saved me. I worked on that for nine months and had to watch the lifestyle editor take my sports job.

She put scores in as they were given to her -- if a coach called in and said they lost 55-67, that;s how she did it. She had no knowledge of sports and it just killed me. And as a paginator, I was not allowed to edit copy.

I had to go to the presentation editor and request not to do her pages -- let her sink on her own. After a couple of months, she went on maternity; someone else took her spot temporarily. When she decided not to come back, I was on the recall list for my old job and moved back.

Bumping sucks. I could do pagination just fine. But this woman with NO knowledge of sports bumped into my job. Not because she knew what she was doing, but because she wanted to keep benefits. I understood why she did it, but it killed me to see the product.

 

Well, yet another update.

I found out today that I will still be assigned "some sports" reporting but that our college coverage (my beat) will be scaled back "greatly."

I'll also be given "at least as many news stories" to cover and I'll be taking "photos more frequently."

Looks like I'm a Jack of All Trades. That isn't a bad thing. It could be worse.

 

Which makes it sound like they're formatting the tasks a little more to the staff they have left, which at least makes a little bit of sense. More than the former plan did, anyway.

 

Wow. The few opportunities they have to move forward and they choose to keep stepping backward.

Sorry to hear the state of your shop, Pete.

 

I don't think we can take for granted that blogs are moving forward at this point.

 

You've got the right idea. You're still employed. Don't knock doing other things. It will make you more valuable. It will also give you more options to get out of your hell hole.

 

In regards to the idea of bumping people out based on seniority, I was laid off from my sports editor gig at a small-town daily about a month ago (I was off on the day of the layoffs, but nobody got in touch with me, so then the ME called me on my cell the next day on the way into the office, just "Bad news, man.") The guy who took over my spot, which was heavy on pagination and night work, originally started in sports and left for news. Anyway, he had more seniority than me, but was working the news side. So now he's upset because he's working nights and long hours (but at least has a job) and I'm out in the bread line. Better a crappy job than none, I guess.

Anyway, it means back to school for me (go Golden Bears!). Good luck to everyone.

 

SF, you're one of the most level-headed guys around here, and I've got nothing but respect for you. But as a single guy, I gotta take exception to this. Why is the guy with two toddlers somehow more entitled to a job than I am? If he puts me out of work, I'm in a world of hurt too. And at least part of the reason I don't have kids is because I'm pretty sure that I'm not financially capable of taking care of them. (A much bigger part of the reason, of course, is that no one will procreate with me. )

So because I've made that decision (well, sort of) not to have kids, my job is somehow more expendable? I really don't think that's fair. He made the decision to both have kids and work at a newspaper (or car plant, or whatever the employer in question is). Why should (a) he be immune from the consequences of that decision and (b) I be forced to bear those consequences?

I certainly hope never to end up in a situation like this. But if I do, and it's my job or his, I can't let my decision be guided by concern for his kids. Well, I can (and probably would -- for the sake of the point, I'm intentionally sounding more cold-hearted than I hope I am). But I shouldn't be required to be guided by concern for his kids.

 

Heck, deskslave, I don't even think you should end up working more nights or weekends or split days off because you're single, either. I've been both -- single and family guy -- while working as a journalist, and I know that singles often got the short end of the straw on scheduling, travel demands and so on.

I would think that the two-career couples would be in a better position to drop down to one- or one-and-a-half-careers, as long as one spouse still had access to benefits. I think newspapers that have layoffs but retain both ends of a newsroom power couple are being particularly shitty -- a business in crisis might not want to support one household doubly, while some other laid-off staffer's household not at all. But even this sort of hair-splitting is pretty arbitrary and really shouldn't enter into business decisions. Who the heck am I or who the heck is someone else to stick our noses into that stuff?

Some single folks aren't blessed with the family things that make life special for a lot of us, and thinking they should exit first in a layoff could even be a little cruel. It's often not merely a lifestyle choice. So I wasn't sure what to make of the post that went there.

 

I don't like the idea of what they are making you do as a jack of all trades, Pete. Sounds like the photo staff complained and didn't want you aboard or they may be trying to make you quit by giving you news story assignments. Sounds shitty.

 

Our photo staff consists of one man: The man I'm to bump. So that's not the case.

I think they're throwing me a bone by allowing me to cover sports.

I've volunteered to keep working straight afternoons and all weekends because 1) I keep my shift premium for afternoons and 2) I don't need as much daycare 3) I know there are two people who don't want to work nights and/or weekends.

Look, I know I don't owe them anything (much like no one owes me anything) but it benefits me. So I volunteered. Still no word on that, though.

 

Thanks for setting me straight Pete.
But you will be the only photographer now? What the fuck with that? How will you put out a paper?