Entitlement

OK, I'll just come out and admit it.

I don't understand the first post of this thread at all.

Broadway Joe? pe?

 

You'd have to go look at the last few pages of the oppressed white males thread, SF. And I wouldn't blame you at all if you decided not to bother.

 

I read enough, and now I understand.

Diversifying as a concept should be a goal of every newspaper and media department. As somebody else said, the numbers speak for themselves.

Specific circumstances often make it harder than it should be in theory. One good example from many in my career: More than 10 years ago, I had an excellent Latino editor lined up for a job at a major metro. Then they said the hire had to come from within -- to an Anglo male.

PAPERS (or whatever) have to be committed to the concept as a whole -- through recruiting, job fairs and, of course, allowing openings to be filled by qualified minorities from outside -- or specific departments have little chance.

 

and you're entitled to that broadway.

 

Couldn't agree more. And that attitude persists, at least in my experience, even at very large papers. For some, their job is never good enough. And while I love someone who's never complacent, being driven doesn't mean one has to be unhappy with where they're at.

If you're good enough, you'll get promoted or get a better job. If it takes six years instead of six months for you to get the job you think you deserve, either you're not as good as you think you are...or, you're just unlucky. Either way, patience and hard work (and a willingness to move) are the only things that are going to get you anywhere.

I had a friend who was an energetic, upbeat person working in finance. Bitched extensively pretty much every single day for several years about how horrible her job was and never wanted to listen when I or anyone else tried to tell her to be patient. Now, she's doing much better and has a fantastic job and is happy, but I can't help thinking...you didn't have to miserable for several years before you landed this job. What a waste of emotion, killing yourself over a situation that was bound to improve and eventually did.

 

The "entitlement" thinking can be particularly vexing at a really big paper where people aren't going anywhere anytime soon. You'll have a bunch of prep and smaller college writers who might for the most part be extremely talented and want to move up -- but the people above them aren't leaving.

The catch for the younger writers is it's a great paper and they're paid extremely well, so they don't want to leave, either -- perhaps take a bigger beat at a smaller paper, maybe even for less money. So bitching is inevitable and self-perpetuating. It can be a very difficult situation to manage.

 

Well, that's why that document says "life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness."

Entitlement, my ass. I just ask that I be able to pay the bills and get a few weeks off every year. I'm not so much worried about moving "up" in the business as finding someplace that doesn't treat me like shit. It's still wishful thinking

 

If you haven't found someplace that doesn't treat you like shit, I'd say keep looking ... hard. After a few years of getting beaten down, some people get the idea that there's no place which treats employees fairly. And that's not true. You just have to find it.