when is it time for the axe to fall?

From the perspective of a first-time beat writer: He should know about spellcheck, AP style, fact-checking and writing for deadline.

I've only logged a few months as a full-time beat writer, but I haven't fucked up that bad yet. My only pitfall is that I was given too much freedom in my coverage and writing and it only got me in trouble when a player's parent bitched at the ME.

But I had to deal with these types in college. They think that it's a breeze of a job that doesn't require any hard work or innovation or, well, hard work. I know these people didn't last too long in the business after we graduated. Just saying.

 

tide - not being wise by any means, but, stop using your college experience to set any bar in what you do in your (real) professional life.

the day you as much, not only will you find you've gained new-found respect from your peers, but you'll also learn you've become a true professional.

how many vets in your workplace start a sentence while referring to the task at hand with a, "when i was working at my college paper ..."? none. the reason? college newspapers aren't real newspapers and as long as you believe they/it are/was, you'll continue to make rookie mistakes.

again, not being wise, just sharing what i think is an important point you should know.

 

Do you have a mechanism at your paper to put someone on probation? That puts it out in the open. Give them a list of goals they have to achieve over 3 months ... spelling, punctuality, deadline. At our shop, this is done in consultation with the editor and HR director.

Above all, document, document, document, document. Make sure you have concrete examples of the problems and, if you do put him/her on probation, document even more.

 

AP Style - is he being told what mistakes he is making? I know that I tend to make the same mistakes over and over, until someone says "Hey, you keep doing that. Stop it."

Hours - Is he putting in 40? Because if not, then you can tell him he needs to be. But it's a precarious thing to tell someone to work extra hours because "everyone else is."

Deadline - He has to make those and you need to beat him until he does. We went sent our newbie, about two weeks in at that point, to a local college presser. 40 minutes before deadline I tell him I need the story in 10. He says he needs 20. He took 25 and he got reamed for it. Now he knows what a deadline is.

 

I've never worked anywhere that didn't start with a three-month probation ... is this not common practice in the States?

 

flash - in most of the states in the states, the three-month probation period is no different than any other time during your employment other than your boss is telling you up front s/he will be watching you closely and probably documenting your screw ups along the way. there's no more of a magic "we can fire you for any reason we want" during those three months than there is in your fifth year of employment.

if employers want to avoid lawsuits, they always must have (documented) reasonS to fire someone other than insubordination or just flat out not showing up to work/assignments. most places i've been at had three strikes and you're out policies.

hope this (kinda) answers your question.

 

Actually, it happens, well, a lot. Only four people in our newsroom is over 30, and two of them are obit clerks. All of the experienced writers bailed not long after the new bosses (who could give a shit if we have any direction as long as we work for cheap) took over a while ago. Think it's a sign?

 

well it sounds as though you guys already are doing a bang-up job and i'm positive your newsroom's collective college experience makes your paper a quality read each and every day. never fails to amaze me just how fucking intelligent recent college grads can be.

carry on.

 

At a game I covered yesterday, I happened to overhear a coversation between to kids ready to graduate from a prestigious J-school, one interning for the major metro.

It's so funny how these kids think jobs are going to fall into their lap.

I was kind of jealous, remembering when I thought that's how things were going to be, until I remember that the kid used 'destiny is spelled P-O-D-U-N-K' in his gamer last week.

 

Wait, so the intern at the "major metro" used that horrible lede, and it ran?

 

I've only ever known one person who didn't make 'probation,' but a bag of hammers was smarter than this girl. Love it when kids show up for a day at the office, highlighted by a trip to city council and such, wearing flip-flops and belly shirts.
Oh there was one other guy but he kinda saw the writing on the wall and just stopped showing up.

 

destiny was it.