I have about 5.5 years left until I can take early retirement. I'm sure my smalltown newspaper will still be viable in the amount of time I have left.
But I need a fellow newspaper person to chat with... anyone out there?

OMG, you mean to tell me I'm all alone out here?
Now I'm even more apprehensive......

I'm here! I work for a large newspaper. I've been here 6 months now and love it, and I am planning on moving up the food chain.

I used to work in newspapers as a reporter, though not for very long (about three years). As one of the more junior staff members, I was among the first to be laid off when the recession hit in 2009...

Sometimes I miss it, but overall, not really. After I was laid off, I made a conscious decision not to apply for any other newspaper jobs since I feel it is a doomed industry that tends to treat its employees badly, especially in this sort of economy (I was told by editors constantly to "do more with less," aka crank out four stories a day for a rapidly declining and apathetic readership.)

I instead went into marketing and technical writing (and was recently downsized again from a position in this field, but that is a whole other story!)

Originally Posted by Alana1981

I used to work in newspapers as a reporter, though not for very long (about three years). As one of the more junior staff members, I was among the first to be laid off when the recession hit in 2009... Sometimes I miss it, but overall, not really. After I was laid off, I made a conscious decision not to apply for any other newspaper jobs since I feel it is a doomed industry that tends to treat its employees badly, especially in this sort of economy (I was told by editors constantly to "do more with less," aka crank out four stories a day for a rapidly declining and apathetic readership.) I instead went into marketing and technical writing (and was recently downsized again from a position in this field, but that is a whole other story!)

How did you get your foot in the door as a reporter? Although I guess my feet are already inside... LOL I'm in the editing/copychecking areas though.

Luckily, our company treats us like gold... high standards, but as long as you live up to them, they are more than fair.

I started out first as a freelancer. I wrote so many articles on a freelance basis for my hometown paper and established a reputation as a good and reliable writer. When a staff position opened up, I applied for it and got it (I think because many of the editors already knew me and were familiar with my work). The job was only a six month contract position, but the experience I gained there as a staff reporter opened the doors to my first permanent reporter job later on at another daily newspaper.

Originally Posted by SunglassLove

How did you get your foot in the door as a reporter? Although I guess my feet are already inside... LOL I'm in the editing/copychecking areas though. Luckily, our company treats us like gold... high standards, but as long as you live up to them, they are more than fair.

You are so lucky that your company treats you well.
I sell advertising- can you imagine? And work for a small town newspaper. I scrape for every cent I earn.
Our newspaper is locally owned. The owners are very good to me.
I feel blessed to have this job.
Oh, I also sell to our websites. That's so much easier than the print edition. But as someone with a life-long newspaper reading habit, I hate the thought of the printed paper's demise.....

[QUOTE=gacats;19850775]You are so lucky that your company treats you well.
I sell advertising- can you imagine? And work for a small town newspaper. I scrape for every cent I earn.
Our newspaper is locally owned. The owners are very good to me.
I feel blessed to have this job.
Oh, I also sell to our websites. That's so much easier than the print edition. But as someone with a life-long newspaper reading habit, I hate the thought of the printed paper's demise.....[/QUOTE]


You and me both.

I have friends in our outbound advertising department - we're a large paper in a major city and own other papers in other large cities, and they scrape for every sale they make. So I feel your pain.

It's good that the owners of it are good to you, otherwise I can see how this would be a hard industry to handle staying in.

I just hope to make living for the next 5 and a half years.
If you're a writer, you have so many options!

I am! Courts/Legal Affairs reporter for a mid-size daily. I've made it through three rounds of layoffs now, and my desk is lucky to have only lost 2 staffers (in the newsroom, our sports and copy desks were hardest hit).

My paper has been fortunate b/c we're still making a decent profit and our daily circulation just went up 11 percent. But we're part of a huge chain, so when the other papers in our media group suffered, we had to undergo cuts, too.

I don't work for a newspaper but I write for a trade newsletter on a free lance basis part-time

I really like it but we are often news aggregators rather than true reporters -- I think a reporter would go crazy in this job but for me it is a good way to earn some money on the side working from home (I also work full time at another job too)

I worked as a reporter for a small weekly paper for a year- but it didn't pay very well, sadly, and I moved on. I wasn't cut out for it either, I don't think. I'd consider it again if I didn't need the money, as it was a fun job in many respects.