To hear Susan or read the transcript:
http://www.wcpn.org/index.php/WCPN/news/15634/
Wednesday, December 10, 2008
Tuesday, December 9, 2008
The recent losses to The Plain Dealer are great. I don’t know quite what to make of the exodus, some voluntary, some not. Everyone deserves a special recognition but I would like to take a moment to reflect upon a reporter I much admired and tried to emulate. I am going to miss David Briggs and so will Cleveland.
Few writers knew us or our readers so well. As religion writer, David covered our most powerful institutions--the houses of worship. A cultural rainbow. It was a marvel to watch him work. Tall as a gazelle, with a deep voice and a soft, ministerial bearing, he stood out and he blended in. I saw him prostrate himself on the floor of the grand mosque to join the prayer ranks facing Mecca. I saw him bow in proper prayer-like Hindu greeting in the South Asian community.
He knew the Jewish High Holy Days from the Catholic holy days of obligation and treated them all with respect and intellectual curiosity. As a colleague observed, David wrote about the forest not the trees.
I was a regular reader of his Saturday essays. They always provoke thought, whether he was describing the nightmare of growing up with an alcoholic parent or explaining why American Indians are humiliated by Chief Wahoo. He insisted we could all be better, as journalists, as a city. I think it’s because he believed in us. Really, he’s irreplaceable.
Bob Smith
Few writers knew us or our readers so well. As religion writer, David covered our most powerful institutions--the houses of worship. A cultural rainbow. It was a marvel to watch him work. Tall as a gazelle, with a deep voice and a soft, ministerial bearing, he stood out and he blended in. I saw him prostrate himself on the floor of the grand mosque to join the prayer ranks facing Mecca. I saw him bow in proper prayer-like Hindu greeting in the South Asian community.
He knew the Jewish High Holy Days from the Catholic holy days of obligation and treated them all with respect and intellectual curiosity. As a colleague observed, David wrote about the forest not the trees.
I was a regular reader of his Saturday essays. They always provoke thought, whether he was describing the nightmare of growing up with an alcoholic parent or explaining why American Indians are humiliated by Chief Wahoo. He insisted we could all be better, as journalists, as a city. I think it’s because he believed in us. Really, he’s irreplaceable.
Bob Smith
Thursday, December 4, 2008
Venting, laughing, crying
Hey,
In case you haven't heard of this, there's a great blog where Gannett employees are venting fear, anger, etc about layoffs. I've included an E&P story below.
One of the blog entries, I"m told, goes like this: A reporter who worked at a paper 25 years received the dreaded call -- he was out. The reporter didn't seem surprised, anxious or worried. And when the editor told him the paper had arranged a time for him to come in and clean out his desk, the reporter said there was no need. He had cleaned it out himself in anticipation of being let go. Well, when management went to check the desk, it was locked. They had to get new keys. And when they finally opened it, every drawer was filled with Xeroxes of the reporters bar arse. And across the cheeks of each Xerox, the reporter had scribbled the name of a different manager. The stuff of legends.
Here's story about blog (link to blog is in story):
In Fraught Week For Gannett Employees, Hopkins' Blog Provides a Comfort Zone By Mark Fitzgerald Published: December 04, 2008 12:47 PM ET
CHICAGO Jim Hopkins was a business writer and sometime-investigative reporter for Gannett Co. papers for 20 years, but he says he's never done more rewarding work than what he's doing now -- providing a forum for anxious journalists as Gannett swings the axe at its more than 80 dailies.
In November, Gannett announced it would pare its workforce by 10% by the beginning of December.
With the layoffs apparently being compressed into this single week, the chopping, Hopkins' "Gannett Blog" (http://gannettblog.blogspot.com/) is the one place amid the chopping that Gannett employees can go to find out what's happening around the chain.
"The company has not even formally acknowledged this layoff is underway," Hopkins said in a telephone interview Thursday from his San Francisco home. "And they have not responded to any of what I've written for a couple of weeks now."
By early Thursday, the site had documented cuts of some 1,770 jobs at 57 of Gannett's 85 dailies. “This is the continuation of that, it is about 10%, which results in about 2,000 positions,” Gannett spokesperson Tara Connell told E&P Thursday. She noted the layoffs had been announced previously, and that all papers except the Detroit Free Press and USA Today would have cuts. While Gannett’s been quiet, Hopkins has heard plenty from Gannett employees, those who have already received the bad news from their paper's HR department and those who wonder if they're next. His blog, which normally gets about 2,500 visits a day, recorded more than 31,000 on Wednesday. Hundreds of comments have also been posted -- many thanking Hopkins for the blog itself. "Without Jim ... all this emotion would NEVER be felt or allowed to be heard," one anonymous poster wrote at the end of a first-person account from a reporter laid off from The Indianapolis Star. "God bless him too." "I hope everyone sends him $5," another wrote, referring to the contribution Hopkins asks for.Giving Gannetteers a place to get together is the point of Gannett Blog, says Hopkins, who actually created it in September 2007."More than two years ago, I started becoming concerned about the company's direction, and where it was going," he said. Gannett's strategic plan, he thought, seemed unlikely to work. "So I wanted to make a place where (Gannett employees) could share inform about the company so they could make smarter choices about their careers," Hopkins continued. "Most Gannett employees work for small newspapers. They're scattered across the United states, physically separated from each other."At the time he was working as a business editor and reporter for USA Today out of its San Francisco office. "For four months I blogged anonymously," he says. "It wasn't until January [of 2008] that I put my name on it." That was when Hopkins, 51, took a buyout from Gannett. The severance payments ran out this October, and Hopkins has been living on savings and the occasional contribution to the blog.The layoffs, he says, are "tragic -- and I don't say that lightly." Hundreds of people "are being thrown out of work in the worst economy any of us have seen since the Great Depression." Most Gannett employees, he said, are shocked. After all, Gannett was a company that rarely downsized, because it always ran lean. "I'd been anticipating these layoffs for a long time," said Hopkins. "But they were extraordinary for this company, (and so) people were not used to it, and many of them didn't see the warning signs." Hopkins says he never hears from Gannett's corporate executives and only rarely from its spokesperson, although he's sure it's read in the McLean, Va., headquarters."I don't hate Gannett," Hopkins said. "I liked what I did there. ... But none of the work I did in my first career was anything like this. It's been the most rewarding exprience of my career. I get a lot of nice notes from people thanking me -- I should be thanking them, I think, for the opportunity to help them through this."
In case you haven't heard of this, there's a great blog where Gannett employees are venting fear, anger, etc about layoffs. I've included an E&P story below.
One of the blog entries, I"m told, goes like this: A reporter who worked at a paper 25 years received the dreaded call -- he was out. The reporter didn't seem surprised, anxious or worried. And when the editor told him the paper had arranged a time for him to come in and clean out his desk, the reporter said there was no need. He had cleaned it out himself in anticipation of being let go. Well, when management went to check the desk, it was locked. They had to get new keys. And when they finally opened it, every drawer was filled with Xeroxes of the reporters bar arse. And across the cheeks of each Xerox, the reporter had scribbled the name of a different manager. The stuff of legends.
Here's story about blog (link to blog is in story):
In Fraught Week For Gannett Employees, Hopkins' Blog Provides a Comfort Zone By Mark Fitzgerald Published: December 04, 2008 12:47 PM ET
CHICAGO Jim Hopkins was a business writer and sometime-investigative reporter for Gannett Co. papers for 20 years, but he says he's never done more rewarding work than what he's doing now -- providing a forum for anxious journalists as Gannett swings the axe at its more than 80 dailies.
In November, Gannett announced it would pare its workforce by 10% by the beginning of December.
With the layoffs apparently being compressed into this single week, the chopping, Hopkins' "Gannett Blog" (http://gannettblog.blogspot.com/) is the one place amid the chopping that Gannett employees can go to find out what's happening around the chain.
"The company has not even formally acknowledged this layoff is underway," Hopkins said in a telephone interview Thursday from his San Francisco home. "And they have not responded to any of what I've written for a couple of weeks now."
By early Thursday, the site had documented cuts of some 1,770 jobs at 57 of Gannett's 85 dailies. “This is the continuation of that, it is about 10%, which results in about 2,000 positions,” Gannett spokesperson Tara Connell told E&P Thursday. She noted the layoffs had been announced previously, and that all papers except the Detroit Free Press and USA Today would have cuts. While Gannett’s been quiet, Hopkins has heard plenty from Gannett employees, those who have already received the bad news from their paper's HR department and those who wonder if they're next. His blog, which normally gets about 2,500 visits a day, recorded more than 31,000 on Wednesday. Hundreds of comments have also been posted -- many thanking Hopkins for the blog itself. "Without Jim ... all this emotion would NEVER be felt or allowed to be heard," one anonymous poster wrote at the end of a first-person account from a reporter laid off from The Indianapolis Star. "God bless him too." "I hope everyone sends him $5," another wrote, referring to the contribution Hopkins asks for.Giving Gannetteers a place to get together is the point of Gannett Blog, says Hopkins, who actually created it in September 2007."More than two years ago, I started becoming concerned about the company's direction, and where it was going," he said. Gannett's strategic plan, he thought, seemed unlikely to work. "So I wanted to make a place where (Gannett employees) could share inform about the company so they could make smarter choices about their careers," Hopkins continued. "Most Gannett employees work for small newspapers. They're scattered across the United states, physically separated from each other."At the time he was working as a business editor and reporter for USA Today out of its San Francisco office. "For four months I blogged anonymously," he says. "It wasn't until January [of 2008] that I put my name on it." That was when Hopkins, 51, took a buyout from Gannett. The severance payments ran out this October, and Hopkins has been living on savings and the occasional contribution to the blog.The layoffs, he says, are "tragic -- and I don't say that lightly." Hundreds of people "are being thrown out of work in the worst economy any of us have seen since the Great Depression." Most Gannett employees, he said, are shocked. After all, Gannett was a company that rarely downsized, because it always ran lean. "I'd been anticipating these layoffs for a long time," said Hopkins. "But they were extraordinary for this company, (and so) people were not used to it, and many of them didn't see the warning signs." Hopkins says he never hears from Gannett's corporate executives and only rarely from its spokesperson, although he's sure it's read in the McLean, Va., headquarters."I don't hate Gannett," Hopkins said. "I liked what I did there. ... But none of the work I did in my first career was anything like this. It's been the most rewarding exprience of my career. I get a lot of nice notes from people thanking me -- I should be thanking them, I think, for the opportunity to help them through this."
Monday, December 1, 2008
Grief counseling?
As a possible counseling resource, Jennifer Gonzalez had mentioned River's Edge on Rocky River Drive in Cleveland.
I spoke with Jacqueline Goodin, CSJ, about our situation. As a licensed independent social worker with River's Edge, she thought they might be helpful for our dealing with the emotional impact of this life transition.
I got the impression that they have less flexibility to negotiate rates than they might have had in the past. Yet, in checking around and comparing various other similar services, River's Edge rates sounded reasonable.
Below is a URL leading to more info about them. Phone numbers are below the URL.
(copy and paste the below URL into your browser, including the end bracket)
http://riversedge.nonprofitoffice.com/index.asp?Type=B_BASIC&SEC={189F2B5B-8A10-447A-8BD4-AB5CFA690D09}&DE={75711AB9-1C8F-4954-9D41-1C2F1F543149}
or call
216-688-1111, x321 or 322 or 329;
Any suggestions for same type of resources East or South?
- J E C
I spoke with Jacqueline Goodin, CSJ, about our situation. As a licensed independent social worker with River's Edge, she thought they might be helpful for our dealing with the emotional impact of this life transition.
I got the impression that they have less flexibility to negotiate rates than they might have had in the past. Yet, in checking around and comparing various other similar services, River's Edge rates sounded reasonable.
Below is a URL leading to more info about them. Phone numbers are below the URL.
(copy and paste the below URL into your browser, including the end bracket)
http://riversedge.nonprofitoffice.com/index.asp?Type=B_BASIC&SEC={189F2B5B-8A10-447A-8BD4-AB5CFA690D09}&DE={75711AB9-1C8F-4954-9D41-1C2F1F543149}
or call
216-688-1111, x321 or 322 or 329;
Any suggestions for same type of resources East or South?
- J E C
Tony Brown's song choice
In an email response for song suggestions for our current situation, Tony Brown had two recommendations:
WARREN ZEVON: LAWYERS, GUNS AND MONEY
Well, I went home with the waitress
The way I always do
How was I to know
She was with the Russians, too
I was gambling in Havana
I took a little risk
Send lawyers, guns and money
Dad, get me out of this
I'm the innocent bystander
Somehow I got stuck
Between the rock and the hard place
And I'm down on my luck
And I'm down on my luck
And I'm down on my luck
Now I'm hiding in Honduras
I'm a desperate man
Send lawyers, guns and money
The shit has hit the fan
Send lawyers, guns and money...
THE CLASH:
WORKING FOR THE CLAMPDOWN
WARREN ZEVON: LAWYERS, GUNS AND MONEY
Well, I went home with the waitress
The way I always do
How was I to know
She was with the Russians, too
I was gambling in Havana
I took a little risk
Send lawyers, guns and money
Dad, get me out of this
I'm the innocent bystander
Somehow I got stuck
Between the rock and the hard place
And I'm down on my luck
And I'm down on my luck
And I'm down on my luck
Now I'm hiding in Honduras
I'm a desperate man
Send lawyers, guns and money
The shit has hit the fan
Send lawyers, guns and money...
THE CLASH:
WORKING FOR THE CLAMPDOWN
Free blog accounts for laid off journalists (NYT article)
from Sabrina Eaton, via Harlan:
... a NYTimes story titled "For Laid-Off Journalists, Free Blog Accounts."http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/24/technology/internet/24apart.html?_r=1&ref=internet
... a NYTimes story titled "For Laid-Off Journalists, Free Blog Accounts."http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/24/technology/internet/24apart.html?_r=1&ref=internet
Thursday, November 27, 2008
Saying goodbye
The other day I had to say goodbye to a reporter who I have worked with as an editor for almost a year. She had taken the voluntary layoff and was headed out to a new job.
It was not the happiest day of my working life, especially knowing more departures are to come. I will sorely miss my co-worker personally and professionally.
At the same time, I'm excited that she will have a new job in a field that interests her.
It was not the happiest day of my working life, especially knowing more departures are to come. I will sorely miss my co-worker personally and professionally.
At the same time, I'm excited that she will have a new job in a field that interests her.
End of an era anthem
"Closing Time" by Matchbox 20 -- i heard it the other day and thought it was very appropo to Right Now ---
Closing Time, open all the doors
And let you out into the world
Closing time, turn on all of the lights on
Over every boy and every girl
Closing time, one last call for alcohol
So finish your whiskey or beer
Closing time, you don't have to go home,
But you can't stay here
I know who I want to take me home,
I know who I want to take me home,
I know who I want to take me home,
Take me home
Closing Time, time for you to go out
To the places you will be from
Closing Time, this room won't be open
Til your brothers or your sisters come,
So gather up your jackets, move it to the exits,
I hope you have found a friend
Closing Time, every new beginning
Comes from some other beginning's end
Yeah
I know who I want to take me home,
I know who I want to take me home,
I know who I want to take me home,
Take me home
Closing Time, time for you to go out
To the places you will be from
I know who I want to take me home,
I know who I want to take me home,
I know who I want to take me home,
Take me home
I know who I want to take me home,
I know who I want to take me home,
I know who I want to take me home,
Take me home
Closing Time, every new beginning
Comes with some other beginning's end
Closing Time, open all the doors
And let you out into the world
Closing time, turn on all of the lights on
Over every boy and every girl
Closing time, one last call for alcohol
So finish your whiskey or beer
Closing time, you don't have to go home,
But you can't stay here
I know who I want to take me home,
I know who I want to take me home,
I know who I want to take me home,
Take me home
Closing Time, time for you to go out
To the places you will be from
Closing Time, this room won't be open
Til your brothers or your sisters come,
So gather up your jackets, move it to the exits,
I hope you have found a friend
Closing Time, every new beginning
Comes from some other beginning's end
Yeah
I know who I want to take me home,
I know who I want to take me home,
I know who I want to take me home,
Take me home
Closing Time, time for you to go out
To the places you will be from
I know who I want to take me home,
I know who I want to take me home,
I know who I want to take me home,
Take me home
I know who I want to take me home,
I know who I want to take me home,
I know who I want to take me home,
Take me home
Closing Time, every new beginning
Comes with some other beginning's end
Saturday, November 22, 2008
Shopping for health insurance
www.ehealthinsurance.com
www.insureonebenefits.com
The above sites were suggested by Jack Schmitt, an editor in sports.
These sites help compare options for individuals seeking health care in the future.
www.insureonebenefits.com
The above sites were suggested by Jack Schmitt, an editor in sports.
These sites help compare options for individuals seeking health care in the future.
Grateful to have worked in the news biz
One concern about this blog has been its objective ... is it about negativity that might become a liability? NO.
This is a place to help, not to rant.
I cannot speak for everyone, yet I'm guessing most of us have loved working for a newspaper which is why it is so heartbreaking to see others go or maybe in the future, be the ones leaving.
Help, such as offered by Marge and Rosie, Harry Liggett and Jack Schmitt, is what this blog is about.
Thanks to those who "get it" and are helping their news siblings.
This is a place to help, not to rant.
I cannot speak for everyone, yet I'm guessing most of us have loved working for a newspaper which is why it is so heartbreaking to see others go or maybe in the future, be the ones leaving.
Help, such as offered by Marge and Rosie, Harry Liggett and Jack Schmitt, is what this blog is about.
Thanks to those who "get it" and are helping their news siblings.
Cryin' Time AND thoughts of THANKS
Friday was a time for goodbyes which brought to mind the song, Crying Time. And yes, it's crying time again, I know you're leaving. I can see that far away look in your eyes.
Many people admitted to their exit strategies on Friday.
We are happy for them ... sad for our own uncertainty and sad that if we stay, their empty desks along with the loss of their work and personal contributions will be notable.
Thank you to Marge and Rosie for their link to the PD alum page. Here is a link to theirs, http://pdalumni.blogspot.com/
Thank you to Harry Liggett for posting to the Beacon Journal alum site. http://bjretirees.blogspot.com/
It is just this kind of positive support that this blog hopes to pay forward.
Thanks for the song suggestions thus far ... Margie's very appropriate, "I will survive".
Another suggestion, "End of the World", by REM; http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zeo0_3gN190
A reporter suggested, "Way Down in the Hole".
From the comments to the first blog posting: Poi Dog (?) suggested Thanksgiving, "My song of the month: Thanksgiving by Poi Dog Pondering.
Nothing on youtube. Here are the lyrics, though:"
Somehow I find myself far out of line
from the ones I had drawn
Wasn't the best of paths, you could attest to that,
but I'm keeping on.
Would our paths cross if every great loss
had turned out our gain?
Would our paths cross if the pain it had cost us
was paid in vain?
There was no pot of gold, hardly a rainbow
lighting my way
But I will be true to the red, black and blues
that colored those days.
I owe my soul to each fork in the road,
each misleading sign.
'Cause even in solitude, no bitter attitude
can dissolve my sweetest find
Thanksgiving for every wrong move that made it right.
Many people admitted to their exit strategies on Friday.
We are happy for them ... sad for our own uncertainty and sad that if we stay, their empty desks along with the loss of their work and personal contributions will be notable.
Thank you to Marge and Rosie for their link to the PD alum page. Here is a link to theirs, http://pdalumni.blogspot.com/
Thank you to Harry Liggett for posting to the Beacon Journal alum site. http://bjretirees.blogspot.com/
It is just this kind of positive support that this blog hopes to pay forward.
Thanks for the song suggestions thus far ... Margie's very appropriate, "I will survive".
Another suggestion, "End of the World", by REM; http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zeo0_3gN190
A reporter suggested, "Way Down in the Hole".
From the comments to the first blog posting: Poi Dog (?) suggested Thanksgiving, "My song of the month: Thanksgiving by Poi Dog Pondering.
Nothing on youtube. Here are the lyrics, though:"
Somehow I find myself far out of line
from the ones I had drawn
Wasn't the best of paths, you could attest to that,
but I'm keeping on.
Would our paths cross if every great loss
had turned out our gain?
Would our paths cross if the pain it had cost us
was paid in vain?
There was no pot of gold, hardly a rainbow
lighting my way
But I will be true to the red, black and blues
that colored those days.
I owe my soul to each fork in the road,
each misleading sign.
'Cause even in solitude, no bitter attitude
can dissolve my sweetest find
Thanksgiving for every wrong move that made it right.
Tuesday, November 18, 2008
No Reason to Quit
This is meant to be our space of reinvention. Whether you stay or go, you are welcome here at 1801 Zoned.
This site will evolve with your help, suggestions and input. It is not meant to be a rant zone. It is meant to be a support for life transition.
Seeking help with finances or sharing a joke? Post it here. Health insurance advice? Helpful reading material? Know good advisors? Employment or schooling suggestions? Please post.
Nobody can avoid what is on all of our minds most of the time these days.
Admittedly, I'm not good about conflict or confrontation, I'd rather break the tension with a little levity. Here goes:
I'm hoping you'll send in suggestions for a THEME SONG.
Personally I like just the title of Willie Nelson's song, No Reason to Quit.
Email other song suggestions to libertyholden@gmail.com
More importantly, email if you would like to be a regular contributor to this blog. I will get you set up as an author. Your observations, experiences, and ideas may be just the ticket that help an 1801 brother or sister move on to a place of prosperity and/or peace of mind.
This site will evolve with your help, suggestions and input. It is not meant to be a rant zone. It is meant to be a support for life transition.
Seeking help with finances or sharing a joke? Post it here. Health insurance advice? Helpful reading material? Know good advisors? Employment or schooling suggestions? Please post.
Nobody can avoid what is on all of our minds most of the time these days.
Admittedly, I'm not good about conflict or confrontation, I'd rather break the tension with a little levity. Here goes:
I'm hoping you'll send in suggestions for a THEME SONG.
Personally I like just the title of Willie Nelson's song, No Reason to Quit.
Email other song suggestions to libertyholden@gmail.com
More importantly, email if you would like to be a regular contributor to this blog. I will get you set up as an author. Your observations, experiences, and ideas may be just the ticket that help an 1801 brother or sister move on to a place of prosperity and/or peace of mind.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)