Dear dimwit on the phone

This. Just don't run a graphic and then explain why there isn't one if you feel the need.

We make our weather graphic in-house from some cut-and-paste graphics. In this situation, we would have needed a long-range forecast to make the graphic work or just limited the graphic to a brief look-ahead to Wednesday.

 

Dear Podunk Assistant Superintendent:

As much as I value your deep and extensive experience in journalism (Clearly you've seen the New York TImes' crossword puzzle so you're obviously an expert) I think I going to go ahead and ignore all advice from you in regard to the story we ran today on the principal of the local elementary school who got arrested for drunk driving.

First, it's not my problem if our story made her "feel bad". We didn't do anything but report the facts of the case and went out of our way to keep it as straightforward as possible. Second, as much as you may feel it's "bad journalism" to report on this story, it is, in fact, a story and, as such, you're lucky we didn't put it above the fold on the front page with a photo of the school to boot.

And, no, before you ask, we didn't choose to put it on page three to be nice. It just wasn't as newsworthy as the other items we had this week. If she got arrested two weeks ago, you can bet your ass it would have been the lead story.

Third, I understand that you feel it would have been nice to get a quote from the Superintendent of the school department on how great the principal lady is. Unfortunately, we can't make quotes up and when we called your boss for a quote, the only thing he would tell us is that the DUI won't affect her employment with the school since she's retiring this month anyway. And you would have seen that exact quote if you read through the story.

Lastly, I get that you feel it was a one-sided story. Sadly, that's what happens when you're reporting news items such as these. You don't get to make excuses for someone's behavior or try to justify it. We contacted the principal and gave her a chance to comment for the story. Had she done so, she could have said all the things she wanted to and we would have printed it. She chose not to and, as such, it seems like we're being cruel to a "beloved educator in the community" when, in actuality, we're just doing our jobs and listing the facts so our readers, many of whom have children she "watches over", can make up their mind on the story.

So, please, next time you feel compelled to lecture me on what good journalism is and what bad journalism is, make sure you actually know the difference first.

Oh, and before I forget ... be sure to tell the principal that the easiest way to keep your name out of the paper for getting arrested for a DUI is NOT TO GET ARRESTED FOR A DUI.

Hugs and kisses

-SchiezaInc

 

When I worked at my first small-town daily, we did photos the old-fashioned way, with a dark room and tray-to-tray with chemicals and such. Our one photog would develop the film, I'd pick out the one or two shots for the day, and she'd print them.

I'd get parents all the time asking about giving them extras. I'd explain to them about our developing method, and how long it would take. Most parents, surprisingly, were OK with it when I'd tell them we'd be able to do nothing else if we were selling photos all day.

But what would drive me nuts was the paper would sell reprints of the photos in the paper. Heck, we'd make $100 a week on photo reprints. Did the photog or I ever get a percentage? Hell no!

 

Ouch...that stinks.

 

Yeah, although there was one funny moment one time. A woman asked my wife if I would photograph her daughter's wedding and get paid for it. I declined because 1. I didn't know how to develop the film, and 2. I didn't feel comfortable being responsible for a couple's lifetime memories.

 

You should've learned. Wedding photographers charge prices that make mafia rackets blush.

 

and many wedding photogs are hacks...it's a crazy racket.

 

Dear American Legion coach,
We probably won't be staffing your third game of the season on the other side of the state when the local high school team is playing a state semifinal at the same time. Especially considering I've asked you for a schedule and gave you my email address and still haven't gotten one. But you know, bitching about it on our facebook page really makes you come off as a winner in life.

 

Yeah, I saw that...I honestly think he was joking...he's usually not that much of a tool. Sarcasm doesn't translate well in facebook posts methinks.

 

It doesn't translate well on the internet, period. That's why I use smiley faces and LOL's.

 

When I was in high school I was hired by a friend's mother to shoot her parents' 50th wedding anniversary party.

Showed up in jacket and tie, all happy and trying to be professional. Totally fucked up the film, the settings and everything. They had maybe five photos out of three rolls. I felt like parasitic dogshit and never agreed to shoot anyone's wedding, anniversary or anything like that ever again.


Love this, too:

(OK, back on topic.)

 

Yep, my last shop did that, too. Photog would go shoot an event. We'd run 2-3 shots in the paper (we're not a really large section) and 10 more online. Public allowed to purchase prints for a jacked-up price. Public loves it, buys a bunch of them regardless of being overpriced. No one in newsroom ever sees a dime of any of it.