Jan. 22nd, 2004 10:00 am
The Sinking Ship
I got to work this morning, checked my e-mail and saw one from Alan, one of my friends from the Selma paper. He’s still looking for a job, which I knew of. But when I read it, I nearly had a heart attack.
Jesse, the low-down, rotten, no-good bastard, fired Dale.
There’s a lot of you who weren’t reading my LJ when I worked in Selma, so let me explain the importance of Dale James. He was the news editor of the Selma Times-Journal when I was hired and probably the single, greatest influence on my writing to date. He has written some of the most beautiful pieces of journalistic work that really rival many of the Pulitzer Prize-winning pieces I have read. I did my best to learn all I can from him because I realize that no matter what happened in Selma, I was meant to learn from this man.
And so I did. I soaked up all the information I could and he told me stuff he probably had no right telling a 22-year-old fresh out of college. We’ve sat watching war movies and he told me of his days in the Army. The few, precious times I got to watch him report, I noticed how non-intrusive he was. His beautiful attention to detail, the way he was able to capture the pure emotion of the story, is just incredible.
He helped me get what I could from the Selma job and knew that when the opportunity came along from Bristol in June that I needed to get out of there. I learned all I could from him and he could see that the job was stifling me. Dale gave me the recommendation I needed to get my present job. And I have been able to take what he’s taught me, spread my wings and fly.
I learned two very valuable things:
- No matter how stressed you are, get up and walk away for awhile. Take a walk. Take a nap. Listen to some music. Come back in a hour and your attention will be sharpened.
- In a story, the people always come first. That is the anchor, the thing that will draw readers in and leave them hooked.
Alan told me that Dale’s last day is on Feb. 5. I hope he can find another job soon. He has child support to pay on for two of the sweetest kids you’ll ever see. You know, I seriously hope that Jesse gets fired next. He’s ruined the lives of so many people since he took Robb’s place last June. David, one of the photographers here, told me that if I had been still at the paper, I’d probably be in the position to become the editor or managing editor.
No thanks. You couldn’t pay me enough to run that sinking ship.
Jesse, the low-down, rotten, no-good bastard, fired Dale.
There’s a lot of you who weren’t reading my LJ when I worked in Selma, so let me explain the importance of Dale James. He was the news editor of the Selma Times-Journal when I was hired and probably the single, greatest influence on my writing to date. He has written some of the most beautiful pieces of journalistic work that really rival many of the Pulitzer Prize-winning pieces I have read. I did my best to learn all I can from him because I realize that no matter what happened in Selma, I was meant to learn from this man.
And so I did. I soaked up all the information I could and he told me stuff he probably had no right telling a 22-year-old fresh out of college. We’ve sat watching war movies and he told me of his days in the Army. The few, precious times I got to watch him report, I noticed how non-intrusive he was. His beautiful attention to detail, the way he was able to capture the pure emotion of the story, is just incredible.
He helped me get what I could from the Selma job and knew that when the opportunity came along from Bristol in June that I needed to get out of there. I learned all I could from him and he could see that the job was stifling me. Dale gave me the recommendation I needed to get my present job. And I have been able to take what he’s taught me, spread my wings and fly.
I learned two very valuable things:
- No matter how stressed you are, get up and walk away for awhile. Take a walk. Take a nap. Listen to some music. Come back in a hour and your attention will be sharpened.
- In a story, the people always come first. That is the anchor, the thing that will draw readers in and leave them hooked.
Alan told me that Dale’s last day is on Feb. 5. I hope he can find another job soon. He has child support to pay on for two of the sweetest kids you’ll ever see. You know, I seriously hope that Jesse gets fired next. He’s ruined the lives of so many people since he took Robb’s place last June. David, one of the photographers here, told me that if I had been still at the paper, I’d probably be in the position to become the editor or managing editor.
No thanks. You couldn’t pay me enough to run that sinking ship.
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