Doing non-journalism piddling while working

(sits back, enjoys the unfolding of this particular thread)

 

When did writing become mutual-fund sales or widget manufacture?
A lot of writing involves sitting around, staring into space, which is what many people refer to as "thinking" and doing things that Don't Look Like Work.
Jesus, it all went downhill when some editor went to management school.

 

I must be really bad. I was covering a FB game Saturday while the basketball team from the same school was playing a game in a different state. I check on that score frequently and after the football game wrote up an 12-inch 'gamer' on it from afar based on the online boxscore and play-by-play recap since we didn't send a writer to that game and I knew the AP and/or SID wouldn't be sending more than four or five paragraphs.

Oh, and I updated my fantasy football roster lineup.

 

I don't care if my reporter is stemming the rose in the pressbox. If the job gets done, it doesn't matter. I'd be a boss, not a nanny.

 

Bringing it back around, I was wondering with my initial post what ever happened to "covering the game" instead of doing things that Don't Look Like Work. Because I *know* what "covering the game" looks like, in its many forms.

rb

 

Well, I trust the reporter wouldn't be playing solitaire on his laptop while doing interviews in the locker room. And very few plays really mean much. Those that do? Can watch them on replay ad nauseum. Again, the end result is what matters. I think deep down you know that there are tons of successful exceptions to your rule.

 

If it meant this much to you, why didn't you ask the two guys privately how they were getting their work done while playing solitare or checking other sites?

 

Because then he might have received a logical answer he'd have to pay attention to, instead of being able to gloss over the majority of the responses here like he has.

 

When I covered baseball, I'd search the Internet and take care of some other stuff while I was keeping score. It's called multi-tasking.

Now if the guy's playing solitaire when he should be filing, it's a problem. Or if his/her game playing interferes in your ability to do your work, you should let him/her know. But if it's happening in the second quarter of a football game, then you're letting yourself get distracted. The writer isn't distracting you.

 

Damn. It isn't a MATTER of him nosing into other people's business. It's an OBSERVATION. Lord knows we've never made observations about other people and their work habits on this friggin' message board.

You know, why don't you all just face this for what it is -- you're zealously protecting your right to goof off while on the clock.

(I know I've passed rb's original premise, so you all can lambast me instead.)

 

It's a judgmental observation. Nobody's telling you how to work or even interested in your critique of their work habits. Most of us would appreciate the same benefit of the doubt.

 

When I covered baseball, I'd lose track of at least an inning per game because I was deeply contemplating driving a nail into my head.