Q. My question doesn't relate to finding a job. It, instead, relates to keeping one while maintaining my sanity.
Our newspaper, like countless others, was bought out and our newsroom is decreasing in size. The remaining reporters feel overworked and morale is at an all-time low. Despite the cutbacks, we are expected to do more and more in a 40-hour work week.
What I'm telling you is not news. But I'm hoping you can help. After looking at the number of stories expected by our reporting team, the number of hours we work each week and the supplemental tasks we complete every day, we just don't see how we can get it all done without requesting tons of overtime (which, of course, is frowned upon in these economic times).
How do we approach our editors about this without appearing like whiners? We have devised some ideas to fix our workload issues, but they all involve at least a little bit of money or compromise on the part of our editors on the number of local stories they expect to see every day.
Is it possible to approach editors about these problems and expect any change, or should we just see this as a sign of the times? Many of us work off the clock to get things done, but it doesn't seem right to have to do that. We also fear that if we're too vocal on our complaints, our jobs could become jeopardized.
What do we do?
Overworked
A. First of all, speaking up to your bosses about working conditions is not whining. Talking to each other but
not the bosses -- that's whining.
Forced to cut staffing and trying to hold the line on quality, the editors have gone too far with asking the rest of you to make up the difference. They face poor morale, attrition, mistakes, lousy content and a further erosion in quality and readership. At some level, they know this.
Enlist a few well respected staff members to go to management on behalf of everyone and lay out the issues -- with solutions. Consider every possibility: restoration of staff, a smaller paper, overtime, more wire copy, running more press releases. Looking at the situation from the editors' perspective, you might not like some of the very things you propose. They will simply be lesser evils.
You also have to be open to the idea that some people or processes simply take more time than the paper can tolerate anymore. You may have to deal with that.
Stick to your need for more humane work conditions, but stay out of jeopardy by avoiding an ultimatum and positioning yourselves as allies in the struggle to keep the paper as good as you can -- while working hard, following the law and respecting each other. Expect this to take some time. Be ready for changes. Be ready for hard choices about what gets left out.
Journalists have always worked off the clock. But what is happening today goes beyond what we have ever seen before. It requires change and courage.
The recruiter asks back: Help us out this Labor Day. Have you had any success dealing with this situation in your newsroom? Click on the "Comment" link below.
Coming Tuesday: A graphic designer is demoralized after a string of good job interviews characterized by no follow-up. How does she get people to tell her how she did?
At the daily I work at (13,000, M-F & Sun.,...
