Are you an angry web producer?
Cory Bergman February 22nd, 2008
I have to admit I’ve been spending a little too much time reading AngryJournalist.com. It’s sad, really, because in a way it’s a running diary of an industry in the throes of painful change. “I’m angry because our newspaper is dying and our leaders are more concerned with rules that say we can’t wear jeans to work, eat at our desks or tape anything on the file cabinets,” writes one. “I am angry that when I go home at night and turn on the television and look up news online it doesn’t look like I’ve done my job to provide a service to this country,” writes another. “I’m angry because we all talk about our industry tanking and the things we could do, but we don’t actually DO any of them,” says a third. After reading a hundred of these, I feel like a drink.
But I’m finding wisdom between the rants. A few newspaper journalists focus on the lack of leadership to invest in the internet and adapt to changing times. TV journalists lament the lack of quality. And nearly everyone rants about management’s lack of communication and receptiveness to new ideas.
All of this makes me wonder what online journalists are angry about, because if we take a constructive approach, perhaps we can learn a few things. So I’m resurrecting “The Circuit,” Lost Remote’s forum, with a thread that asks if you’re an angry web producer. If you are, tell us why, but also suggest how it can be fixed. This is probably the wrong way to jump-start a forum, but I think it’s time we start talking honestly from an online perspective about the very real challenges facing journalism… before it’s too late.
5 Comments Add your own
1. Barney Lerten | February 22nd, 2008 at 10:52 pm
Can’t remember my dang sign-in, been so long, and don’t want to reset my password, so…
I’m not an ANGRY Web producer, just a tired one. Long hours, when combined with other jobs involving the area of our endeavor that pays the bills -on-air.
I’m no sales person, but like everyone else, we’re highly dependent on their efforts. We’re small-market TV, trying to… I’ll save the rest for whatever goes on at the forum.
2. Fed Up | February 23rd, 2008 at 1:11 pm
Well, if you are to focus on journalism in local tv, the post immediately below this one (the S.I. one) mirrors what you probably see in your local market on a nightly basis during sweeps — fluff and T&A.
How soon will the day come when even local car dealers transition to online advertising only, eschewing the print of newspaper?
3. oakling | February 23rd, 2008 at 8:04 pm
On the angry journalist side, I think there’s an encouraging silver lining here. Seems like what we’re seeing is that the dysfunctional control-freak bureaucracies can’t support themselves when things change… which makes sense… so maybe this will help move society past a place where that kind of corporate behavior is acceptable, or at least where it’s considered to be an option at all.
4. Contrarian | February 24th, 2008 at 5:46 am
More than a deacde ago, you could be an “Angry TV person” on Mike James’ “NewsBlues” site and leave angry anonymous posts about how bad you management was.
That ability resulted in a massive change in the corporate behavior of TV owners and the managers in those companies….
…oh, wait. No, it didn’t.
Anonymous bitching on an internet site had no effect whatsoever.
5. shawn smith | February 25th, 2008 at 4:24 pm
Although I am not an advocate of anonymity in most cases, this might be one where the angry journalist model works
- Why are producers unhappy, I’m guessing it’s because of their place in the news world and timeline. They are stuck being the internet evangelists when many people at news orgs still don’t want to transition. They also likely have some love for newspapers the way news was once done, and seeing its decline can be bothersome, especially when they are bridging the old and the new. What would make web producers more happy? - having an outlet, like a blog.
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