Behind the News, The Unemployed Life

Fear and loathing in the newsroom: How one editor copes

Great column from Tom Huang over at Poynter Online. Huang is an editor for the Dallas Morning News, and recently had to deal with layoffs at his newspaper.

A snippet:

A few days after the layoffs in Dallas, I talked with Jill Geisler, who runs Poynter’s leadership program.
We agreed that it’s hard to be a newsroom leader in these times. Not that we deserve much sympathy, or expect to get it. Reserve that sympathy for those who are forced out of jobs they love, as well as for those who remain and feel trapped.

What I told Jill is this: Every time I mask my anger and sadness with feigned calm and confidence, I lose a bit of my integrity. Every time I feel numb, I lose a bit of what makes me human. Every time I say goodbye to a friend, I lose a piece of my heart.

It’s our human side that makes us good journalists, isn’t it?

And so, it seems to me, our greatest challenge is that we stay human, as flawed as we may be, even as we walk toward our uncertain future.

3 thoughts on “Fear and loathing in the newsroom: How one editor copes”

  1. Khadar says:

    以收到你的邀请,非常感谢,提交以下feedback。我现在在houston用校园网看(平时下载有3M/s),从图象,声音,速度,内容来看都非常好。唯一不爽的是我的本本有点老了,软件的基本配置内存要512mb,我的正好512,所以启动的时候有点卡,硬盘灯狂跳,过会才正常。总体来说非常好,虽然内容不像ppstream的那样招人眼球,但软件的视觉设计和易用性都要好过同类软件(相应地,系统配置要高些),如果能提供ppstream那样的内容的话(如300,ghost rider, or whatever 新的火爆电影)就无敌了。忘记说了,这个软件播放的时候进度条是可以随便拉的,不像电视错过了就错过了,而且感觉缓冲比youtube还快,这点老的ppstream是不可以比的。

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