Finding Greener Pastures
8:29 AM - Link to this article.
At some point, the phrase "Little Saigon" won't resonate with the magic it does today, and the Mercury News' Josh Molina, by then a desolate shell of his once proud self, will move on, unneeded. But, as a tipster notes, there are plenty of jobs out there for former Merc writers.
The tipster points to yesterday's Internal Affairs column as an example. The column quotes no fewer than three former Merc reporters at their current gigs. First is former Merc editorial board member Phil Yost, now mouthpiece for Carl Guardino and some organization Carl works for. Then there's Larry Slonaker, a former reporter who now does PR for the County Office of Education. And, finally, Khanh Weinberg, laid off in 2007 and now working for the union SEIU, again as a PR maven.
(An aside: apparently the learning curve leading from objective journalism to subjective public relations spin ain't that steep.)
Many more Merc-ers have landed on their feet in the public sector. Barry Witt, the tipster notes, has found his true calling as an investigator for the City Attorney's office. At long last, he can start direct punitive action against his enemies. Janice Rombeck, too, works for the Redevelopment Agency. Rodney Foo, average citizen, does press for Assemblymember Beall. And Deborah Lohse got lucky - she was hired by Santa Clara University, who apparently never read her shoddy writing.
In April of 2007, we looked at the high turnover among political reporters. Of the folks on that list, Woolfolk is still plugging along in San Jose, and Mike Zapler still works for the paper in Sacramento. Kate Folmar used to, but was laid off last year and now works (doing PR!) for the Secretary of State.
The question mark there is Aaron Davis which, it turns out, is a pretty common name. I feel pretty confident, though, that he's probably the division manager for Builder's Supply in Seattle, who, in this article, is bullish on doorknob sales.
(An update from a tipster: Davis works for the Washington Post. This presumably means that doorknobs aren't as strong a market as I assumed.)
All jokes aside, the sustained death rattle of the newspaper industry has a real impact on the folks who, with only some exceptions (Molina), are conscientious and committed journalists. And those who still stick around on Ridder Drive are like people who bought Lehman Brothers stock three weeks ago: optimists.
But doomed.
Labels: The Mercury News
2 Comments:
Well, the problem with the Merc is that its editors and writers have come to believe that it has a social, political, and moral role above and beyond reporting the news. Somehow the editors and writers have persuaded themselves that they are entitled to pronounce on all major social issues even though they lack all personal experience with what they discuss.
There should be a requirement that, before one can style oneself as a journalist, at least one year be spent in working with one's hands on the ground with real people who do the real work of America. (I wouldn't say "meet a payroll" because not many could even approach that earthly level of qualification.) Too many of these jumped-up editors and writers go from journalism school or, worse, from an English lit program straight to telling the rest of us how to think, live, and feel.
If the Merc had the professional status it claims, it would have done at least annually a lengthy series on the bizarre extremes in the world of high-flying Wall Street finance, and would have already provided an analysis of the $700B bailout bill so we could study the issues. A real paper would have kept us up-to-date on the antics of Wall Street and subprime mortgages. The best they can do is today's whining front page story about how $700B is not enough. Our community has been let down badly by the mediocre Merc.
By the way, Deborah Lohse was fair, reputable, accessible, and a very good researcher and writer until the week that DA Kennedy filed criminal charges against Mayor Gonzales. She changed into a Yost or Witt clone that week. I don't know why she changed, but she could have been one of the few really great writers at the Merc.
And kindly take it easy on Josh Molina. He has to cover the stories he is assigned, but he writes well and I haven't noted any prejudice or bigotry in his writing to date. He gets an A in my grading.
Mike Zapler is a total tool, but Rodney Foo could have been a highly regarded writer given more time.
Dale Warner beat me to it...Mike Zapler is a total TOOL and an asswipe. He has no business being a journalist.
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