why doesn't my intern know how to stfu?

"Widely read by all those in the profession"? Uh, you sure?

Anyway. There are a few differences, Hoops.

One: an intern complaining about objectively incorrect grammar (see Exhibit A on the first page here) is vastly different from an intern complaining about an assignment that is "below him." Complaining about the former demonstrates an expectation that one's superiors will have skills most entry-level people in his profession have -- an objectively legitimate gripe, I'd say. Complaining about the latter demonstrates arrogance, an appalling sense of entitlement, and a lack of basic respect.

Two: there's an obvious difference between venting about one's frustrations to one's friends -- basically what I did here, since I lack real-life journalist friends who could empathize - and making those objections rudely to a superior himself. Again, basic respect for person and position.

 

Umm, yeah...check out how many members there are here sometime.

Safe to assume they're not all cutlery salespeople.

 

You never know, JME.

No, obviously many sports journalism people lurk or post here. I was just being a jerk about the words "widely" and "all".

 

It's very popular.

 

You're going to short-message me into submission, aren't you.

I concede the popularity of this wonderful meeting place, but you can't tell me that allllllllllll the people in the profession read it. That's all I was saying in my jerkishness.

 

I had an excellent internship at a small weekly last summer. This is an exact quote from the editor on my first day: "I'm going to give you some valuable advice. Go into PR and never look back." I got to write every day, went on several slurpee runs to a number of exotic convenience stores, and enjoyed amazing steak sandwiches for lunch a couple times a week. I didn't make a dime, they never referred to me as anything other than "intern", and they stuck me at a computer that frequently lost power for no reason at all, but it was a great experience. I loved being an intern, but it soon came to an end and I had to move on to much better things.

The staff would write down memorable quotes and post them around the office. I came up with five during my two-month internship.

1. (after watching two male co-workers compliment one another on something): "Why don't you two put on your Bridges of Madison County and drink some Southern Comfort?"

2. Editor: What would you do if you had to chop off both your hands?
Me: I'd get a hook for one hand, and an ice cream scoop for the other.

3. (making a phone call to the office): "Hello (editor's name)? This is the intern."

4. "I can't drink Big Bear without smelling campfire."

5. "This is the worst internship ever."

 

Now THERE is someone with a sense of humor.

 

Laughter is pretty overrated.

 

It would have been tempting to respond: "Then I guess it doesn't matter if I do any work during this internship."

RE: other industries not putting up with the same BS -- Other industries don't have gutless, spineless, brainless managing editors who do nothing other than cower in their offices doing critiques and trying not to piss off the publisher.

The shit starts at the top and "rolls downhill," according to one fucktard I worked with. Probably the only semi-sensible thing he said in months.

 

Dye, would you please clarify?

You're saying that spineless MEs produce spinelessness in other editors, who put up with intern crap because of their weakness?

I think I might be misunderstanding.

 

That's pretty much what I'm saying. It's a combination of that and newsrooms hiring people who won't challenge anyone. Those people become editors, and they allow a lot of crap, including the comments mentioned above.

 

A good thing to remember for all interns and people starting out: there is a big difference between confidence and arrogance. Confident people gain respect. Arrogant people are assholes. It's simply a matter of someone bitching about something petty, when another person would suck it up and keep working.