Jan. 16th, 2004 11:02 am
Those BAKAS down in Alabama
Grrrr....
When I was down in Alabama last month, I visited the Selma Times-Journal. In my mind, it was a confirmation that I did the right thing by moving. I am so glad I did, especially after hearing all of the policy changes that had been made by Jesse after I left.
Today, I found out one of those policies affects me.
I asked Dale to let me know when the award contests for the Alabama Press Association, etc. would be. He said he would and the other day, I received an e-mail asking what I wanted to submit. I dug through my portfoilo and News Page Designer, created a list of stuff and submitted it.
This morning, I found out that another one of Jesse’s new policies is that former STJ employee’s work can not be submitted for any contest. In other words, all of the work I did from January 1- July 21 last year has just been a shot down the tubes completely.
And I KNOW there was award-winning material in there, especially in the design category.
I am furious. I may not look like it, but boy am I annoyed. I know why Jesse did it. He doesn’t want any of the work by former editor Paul Dunn to be submittied. Paul was the editor of the paper from Feb. 27-July 5. He was fired the day I was in Bristol interviewing for the job here. Jesse greatly disliked Paul and so by allowing me to enter contests, he would have to allow Paul to do so as well. And Paul is a fantastic photographer. He would blow folks away in that category.
This was not the policy before now, this I know. Dale entered stuff from former STJ employees last year. It’s not fair that my work has to be discredited simply because the publisher has a grudge against a former editor. I also asked Susan, the metro editor here who handles our contest entries, what her policy is. It’s the same as the one Dale used last year on contest entries.
But, I was able to submit my work done from July 28 - December 31 in the Virginia Press Association and Tennessee Press Association contests. So maybe I’ll have some luck with those. Winning these contests aren’t everything, but it is rather nice. I know my work’s good - I’ve gotten two honorable mentions in the Media General MegaAwards in the five and a half months I’ve been here. It’s just the principle behind the matter. If I had left Selma on bad terms with the paper, I could understand. I understand that the current employee’s work should be given merit ahead of my own. But don’t punish me and say that the work I spent seven months of blood, sweat and tears doing is worth nothing at all. Folks out there like
ely_chan,
theloneping and
kitesareevil know that the paper nearly drove me to burnout and a breakdown. I gave the paper a lot of respect when I left. It’s only the same that Jesse gives me the same courtesy.
When I was down in Alabama last month, I visited the Selma Times-Journal. In my mind, it was a confirmation that I did the right thing by moving. I am so glad I did, especially after hearing all of the policy changes that had been made by Jesse after I left.
Today, I found out one of those policies affects me.
I asked Dale to let me know when the award contests for the Alabama Press Association, etc. would be. He said he would and the other day, I received an e-mail asking what I wanted to submit. I dug through my portfoilo and News Page Designer, created a list of stuff and submitted it.
This morning, I found out that another one of Jesse’s new policies is that former STJ employee’s work can not be submitted for any contest. In other words, all of the work I did from January 1- July 21 last year has just been a shot down the tubes completely.
And I KNOW there was award-winning material in there, especially in the design category.
I am furious. I may not look like it, but boy am I annoyed. I know why Jesse did it. He doesn’t want any of the work by former editor Paul Dunn to be submittied. Paul was the editor of the paper from Feb. 27-July 5. He was fired the day I was in Bristol interviewing for the job here. Jesse greatly disliked Paul and so by allowing me to enter contests, he would have to allow Paul to do so as well. And Paul is a fantastic photographer. He would blow folks away in that category.
This was not the policy before now, this I know. Dale entered stuff from former STJ employees last year. It’s not fair that my work has to be discredited simply because the publisher has a grudge against a former editor. I also asked Susan, the metro editor here who handles our contest entries, what her policy is. It’s the same as the one Dale used last year on contest entries.
But, I was able to submit my work done from July 28 - December 31 in the Virginia Press Association and Tennessee Press Association contests. So maybe I’ll have some luck with those. Winning these contests aren’t everything, but it is rather nice. I know my work’s good - I’ve gotten two honorable mentions in the Media General MegaAwards in the five and a half months I’ve been here. It’s just the principle behind the matter. If I had left Selma on bad terms with the paper, I could understand. I understand that the current employee’s work should be given merit ahead of my own. But don’t punish me and say that the work I spent seven months of blood, sweat and tears doing is worth nothing at all. Folks out there like
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