View unanswered posts | View active topics

Page 1 of 1

[ 6 posts ]

Print view Previous topic | Next topic

Author	Message
Powderhorn	Post subject: At least they come right out and say it Posted: Tue Jul 21, 2009 3:04 am
Joined: Fri Jun 07, 2002 12:01 am Posts: 840 Location: Ashland, Ore.	Position: Other duties as assigned I've had a couple of jobs for which this is likely the best description (not involving profanity).
Top

egable	Post subject: Re: At least they come right out and say it Posted: Tue Jul 21, 2009 12:16 pm
Joined: Thu Dec 01, 2005 10:24 am Posts: 310	What makes this a nightmare? Some people like to specialize, and some prefer doing "other duties as assigned."
Top

Editer	Post subject: Re: At least they come right out and say it Posted: Tue Jul 21, 2009 1:35 pm
Joined: Tue Jan 24, 2006 5:33 pm Posts: 1225 Location: Texas	Right, the ad makes clear that this is such a small shop that specializing is impossible and a narrow job description is a fantasy. And guess what? That's the reality these days. If you want to do just one thing for the rest of your life, get out of journalism.
Top

Wayne Countryman	Post subject: Re: At least they come right out and say it Posted: Tue Jul 21, 2009 2:00 pm
Joined: Mon Apr 08, 2002 12:01 am Posts: 1775 Location: Baltimore	It's the way a lot of us learned our craft, and the way many will pay their rent in years to come.
Top

gdcfa	Post subject: Re: At least they come right out and say it Posted: Tue Jul 21, 2009 8:27 pm
Joined: Fri Jun 02, 2006 10:16 am Posts: 190 Location: Canada, eh?	Point taken about the small shop, how we all got our start when the type was molten lead, etc. However, it seems to me that that is beside the point. Imagine you took this job as a full-time Other duties as assigned. And then imagine how your business card would read: Jow Blow, Other duties as assigned. Then imagine you fill out an application for a bank loan to buy a new house and the form asks for your current job title: Other duties as assigned. Then you go to the local bar after a long day following the stories rather than the clock and the patrons all point and say: There's Joe Blow, the new Other duties as assigned at the local paper. Then you get tired of that position. So you apply for a job somewhere else and list your last position as Other duties as assigned. Wouldn't it be simpler to call the position Journalist?
Top

Phillip Blanchard	Post subject: Re: At least they come right out and say it Posted: Wed Jul 22, 2009 2:07 am
Joined: Sun Apr 07, 2002 1:01 am Posts: 8342 Location: Bethesda, Md.	Editer wrote: If you want to do just one thing for the rest of your life, get out of journalism. Don't tell me to get out of journalism!
Top

Display posts from previous: All posts1 day7 days2 weeks1 month3 months6 months1 year Sort by AuthorPost timeSubject AscendingDescending  Previous topic | Next topic

Page 1 of 1

[ 6 posts ]

What They're Saying

"This is like group therapy with prisoners in the Poynter Institute's dungeon." ... "You take a vocation that the simple-minded consider to be mere drudgery, and you exploit every bit of fascinating and humorous nuance imaginable." ... "Delicious" ... "Ask your professors? The only professors whose opinions matter are named Walsh, Blanchard and McIntyre." ... "What I come here for, I can find ONLY here. Phillip, you've built a great place." ... "Nothing gets us hotter than reading bitchy discussion threads from over-exhausted copy editors endlessly debating the merits of "theater" versus "theatre." ... "I love this site. It's better than the Kool-Aid acid tests." ..."I'm awed at the efficiency with which matters of opinion get hashed out in this forum." ... "Phil is the bomb!" ... "I'd wager that it's exactly your sort of hidebound thinking that contributes to the problems newspapers are having attracting readers." ... "I'm totally obsessed with this site. It's like porn--if you get off on Scrabble." ... "It reveals the backstage carping and vindictive emotions that roil the souls of those trapped at the copy desks." "When they say "testy," they certainly mean it. Whether it's reporters, editors, or the general public, no one is above their savage snark." ... "An apparent crack in the thin grey line." ..."Testy Copy Editors is a bitchboard for journalism's underclass." ... "My desire to read 'Testy Copy Editors' is only rivalled by my desire to pop "Constipated Call Girls" in the DVD player." ... "Phillip Blanchard is not just a testy copy editor, but a prophet scorned in his own time, and those of us who defend wordplay will be punished for it come the Judgment Day." ... "Phil Blanchard is as dashing in person as he is at the TCE board." ... "As far as writing and editing go: Read this board, read Bill Walsh, memorize the style book, read William Zinsser, and read the New York Times. That's a good start." ... "You should let go of your bitterness. You were not the oppressed talent you thought yourself to be. You were a miserable, brooding, silent, joyless grind, lucky to have a job at the Sun-Times, and we're lucky now that you've moved on to afflict others."

Useful Links

Our 2003 ACES Handout
Our 2004 ACES Handout
Our 2005 ACES Handout
Our 2006 ACES Handout
Our 2009 ACES Handout
The Slot (Bill Walsh)
HeadsUp: The Blog
John McIntyre
Regret the Error
Banned for Life

TCE RSS Feed