Being a deskperson sucks. We are the ones who toil away at the uncut stone of 'bad writing' and nurture it into the diamond of good newpaper reportage. We are the ones who deserve the byline, not Mr I-got-the-news who just gave us a couple of flashes from his news sources. After all, we are the ones who fashioned his crap into a full-fledged story.
I know you think this is the grouse of a deskperson who's just had a bad day at work. Maybe you are right. But don't you agree we should at least get some credit. And not remain some faceless entities in the background while Mr and Ms I-got-the-news soak up the adulation and adrenalin rush involved in hands-on news gathering.
I have a compromise formula. How about a double byline for news stories? Maybe Mr I-got-the-news and Mr I-made-it-into-a-story could share the limelight together. Isn't that a reasonable demand? But then who listens to a deskperson.
I am not complaining. I have had my share of reporting (the once-in-two-months-go-on-a-junket kinds) and the results are what you see on the right-hand side of this blog.
People often accuse me of looking for publicity by putting up stuff I have written on my blog. That may be true. But then, these 30-something stories are all that I have achieved in three years of journalism. Reporters notch up 300 bylines in the same timeframe apart from all the 'unbylined' stories they dish out.
Don't you agree? Anybody buying that 'double-byline' theory of mine?
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you said it bub.
ReplyDeleteunfortuntely, we in no pozison 2 do anythng about it for th time being.
I know this is a late comment, but... dude, you should join tv. You get a byline for just voicing a story :P
ReplyDeleteWe'd be happy if you took a byline.. just as long as when you kick someones ass in a story, you also call them back two days later and ask them to give you another story.
Or when the rejoinder comes in, you should be ready to have your name in it too:)
Boogers: You said it
ReplyDelete4wd: Well, I think nothing really beats a print byline - it's there "in your hands" unlike a fleeting TV byline which hardly anyone would notice.