I got word last night that this 60-day period of inactivity (professional inactivity, at least) is about to end. I've landed a spot as city editor at a mid-size daily not far from here.
What's a "city editor?" Well, the job can change a bit from paper to paper, but basically, that's the person who hands local news - "city" news, as opposed to regional or national news. It's the person who works closely with reporters to make sure that everyone is following assignments and that the resulting stories contain what they need to contain, and that those stories read in a reasonably literate fashion.
As you may know, these are difficult times for print media. Lots of people have been laid off, papers are closing and the damage is far from over. So during this time of contraction, I consider myself incredibly lucky to have landed this gig. Especially since this is basically a day job. Some newspaper jobs - such as the editing gig I had a few years back at LA Times Community News - are night gigs. Swing shift, I guess you'd call it, with hours that can run from 2pm to 11 pm Tuesday through Saturday. Hard.
Newspapers constitute an incredibly satisfying way of making a living. So I'm thrilled and am anxious to bet started.
- JFT
Congrats! [I "bet" you are!]
Posted by: norskmaid | March 20, 2009 at 09:17 PM
Nice one, matey!
Posted by: Mut | March 25, 2009 at 02:19 PM