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For happy journalists only

I wrote about angryjournalists.com a couple times.

Now, here’s something more up my alley: HappyJournalist.com.

I can dig that. (Actually, I even mentioned that someone should create a site to ask the question “Why are you happy today?” in my original Angry Journalists post. I’m just sayin’.) So thanks to Joe Murphy of the Denver Post for fulfilling my wish.

I just posted an item. Not much up yet, but there will be, surely. At least I hope. The more I read aj.com the more depressing I realized it was that so many people hated their jobs and this industry. I mean, we all need to vent, but surely if you hate it that much you should consider switching jobs.

Here’s one big difference between happy and angry journalists: Happy journalists leave names. Obviously, it’s not a forced id system, but so far I’m recognizing many of these people.

Here’s my post:

Meranda 4:58 pm on March 3, 2008 | #
I’m happy today because my package on A1 tomorrow is among my favorite I’ve written in the last year. It was fun to report, too, and an interesting topic. Plus, there’s a photo page and soundslides online. So it should be a fun story for the readers, too. Gotta love that.

The story, by the way, is about the Hoosier Youth ChalleNGe Academy. I spent last Thursday down there (it’s a National Guard run “quasi-military” school to help at-risk teens — basically those who’ve dropped out of school) with a photographer kind of shadowing some local kids being touched by it. Plus, I did a sidebar about a local cadet who graduated in the inaugural class. (The academies are in about half the U.S. states, but the one in Indiana just opened in summer 2007.)

I don’t know if it was being away from the office, being in a brand new very different setting or just that I know beyond a doubt we’ve never written this story before, but for whatever reason I really enjoyed it. It made me happy. And the story is something I’m actually proud of and will most definitely add to my clips.

(P.S. When the story is posted Tuesday, I’ll come back and update with a link.)

UPDATE: Here’s the link to the main story about the academy, the sider about the recent graduate returning, and the soundslides the photographer put together.

So, why are you happy today?

This entry was posted on Monday, March 3rd, 2008 at 8:14 pm and is filed under Commentary, Fun, Journalism, News, Offline. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.

5 Responses to “For happy journalists only”

  1. matt king Says:
    March 3rd, 2008 at 11:17 pm

    just posted my happiness over the IRE CAR conference.

    The reasons to be angry are too many to count, but I dont get the value of the constant moaning that goes on, mostly because the moaners dont seem to have any ideas about improving things.

    My attitude is to work hard and make myself the best reporter I can, and if I still can’t make a decent living in a few years I’ll do something else.

  2. Joe Murphy Says:
    March 4th, 2008 at 12:52 am

    Thanks for the link, Meranda — just for a heads-up, your link to your original AngryJournalists post is broken…. also, if you want MildlyEnthusiasticJournalist.com, I suggest you register it before somebody else gets it.

  3. Meranda Says:
    March 4th, 2008 at 8:51 am

    @matt — Kind of like your philosophy… I’ll move on when I quit having fun. I don’t get paid enough to hate my job.

    @joe I just checked all those links and they seem to be working fine from here? Which link were you referring to? — Also, re:mildlyenthusiasticjournalist, it’s a bit long. We need some cool Web 2.0 name for it to really catch on. I’ll get on that. ;) Thanks again for creating this.

  4. Jim Smith Says:
    March 4th, 2008 at 12:05 pm

    Dear Meranda:

    As a recently “bought-out” reporter with 30 years experience I would say that much of what is being listed as anger is really frustration.
    Frustration with:
    Editors who are clueless to confront the emerging new media.
    Editors and managers who believe gutting a newsroom of its most experienced writing talent is the way to success.
    Editors and managers who believe American Idol and movie premiers rank about investigative reporting that uncovers corruption and public official wrong doing.
    Features have their place, I’ve done thousands in my career, but there is nothing like a breaking news story – murder, fatal car and industrial accidents and a “good” tornado – to really garner readers and interest.
    When I started my first reporting job in 1977 I had a stormy, but respectful relationship with my editor. That continued through much of the 1990s when that older generation of editors began to retire.
    Now what we have are pretty boys in empty suits (I know there are girls too, but I’ve only had boy bosses) who are stumbling in the dark trying to figure out what the next best trend is.
    Trend newspapering is a joke. Get back to basics and tell people what happened in the accident or fire they drove by this morning. That’s why I buy a newspaper.
    Online efforts will have to be led by younger, brighter minds. Right now older newspapers assign incompetent reporters and editors to the “Internet desk” to find a place for them. That is precisely the wrong way to fix what is ailing newspapers.
    Anyway, I’m not angry. I had a wonderful fulfilling career and am now drawing a nice retirement check two years earlier than I planned.
    I’m not angry for me, I’m frustrated for the young people to come.
    I like your site and would like to link to it from my site: Freefromeditors.blogspot.com. With your permission, of course.

    Jim

  5. Mood swinging journalists — SOJo: Student of Online Journalism by Megan Taylor Says:
    March 9th, 2008 at 6:37 pm

    […] Meranda Watling wrote about both sites, even going so far as to make a study of what makes journalists angry. […]