Journalists gather for vaguely uncomfortable parties.
I went to the wake for the King County Journal (formerly the Valley Daily News, formerly the Bellevue Journal American). And it was wonderful, in that I got to see some former colleagues who are still dear to me. People like Curt Milton, for example. (Here are some pictures he took: http://www.flickr.com/groups/kcjparty/).
It was cool to meet people I'd heard about from my dear Cheryl, who shared many wonderful stories of joy and oppression at Valley.
But it was sad in that for every story about the joys of leaving journalism, there was at least one and probably more stories of people who have found themselves lost and lacking options in the no man's land between middle age and retirement.
It made me glad I left journalism. Don't get me wrong: I'm glad that I was a member of the club. But leaving has forced me to push myself in new ways. I've actually even flirted with the idea of getting my MBA. Which is scary. But working at a newspaper, for all of its challenges, can make one myopic. Like newspapers are all there is, and for some people, print newspapers are all there is.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment