Latest News Rant

You've heard me several times rant on the news media, also known as the hand that feeds me. Check this one out.

A friend at a TV station back in the midwest told me that a fellow reporter there was getting jerked around by station management as his contract was up. It's funny how young reporters, in their effort to get to the top of the industry -- a job in a city like New York, Los Angeles, Washington, etc. -- have to eat so much shit in the small markets. Every network correspondent started in a shitty little town, and most likely worked for a jackass or two along the way. But in their younger years, it seems like once they see the light at the end of the tunnel that's also known as the end of the three-year contract, it's time to get the resume tape together. Few and far between are the occasions when I've heard a reporter say, "Wow, I can't wait until my contract comes up so I can quickly re-up for a 3 percent raise and stay here for three more years. That's gonna be awesome."

Anyway, this midwest reporter is no exception. He had a job offer in a nearby state -- bigger market = better job -- and when he took that message to the dickheads who were screwing with him about whether they were going to want to renew him, they suddenly started to lay on the guilt trip, about how the November book is just days away and how dare he turn in his two weeks in October.

It's unbelievable how the business exploits the shit out of about 85 percent of those who work in it. Pretty much all departments outside of sales are chronically understaffed and equipment is shoddy. Local stations are like retail stores; there are directives coming down from corporate all the time, none sounding like, "Attn: Management -- Let's really take care of our people this quarter, and be as flexible as possible when considering holiday and vacation requests."

In actuality, every memo reflects a decision that was made by a 50-year-old white man in a suit who will never meet the people such a decision aversely affects, with only how-many-more-dimes-can-we-squeeze in mind for Media Giant X. Yet when the individual takes the same step to try to further his own career and perhaps his own bottom line, he's the dickhead?