| Topic Name: |
Atlanta assignment editor turned anchor |
| Message Name: |
Well said, Baxter |
| Date Posted: |
05/14/2005 |
| In Reply To: |
about this post is the general disregard for desk people. I mean most in the newsroom already think the job is only one step above the janitor anyway and folks are "amazed" when a desk editor goes to the anchor desk???WOW. Lemmie tell you folks, as someone who started out as an anchor and reporter for 8 years and then spent time on the desk to gain "management wings", the desk is the toughest job in the bldg. No respect from the reporters/producers or management. The desk many times is treated worse than dogs, grilled over missed stories while nothing is said to reporters/anchors/producers who miss stories daily. I've worked desks in market 117 to market 5 and it's the same total disregard and crappy attitude towards assignment editors. To many, the desk is nothing more than a group of indentured servents, there to make calls for the reporter, look up map grids or break the news to management when three of your four reporters call in sick. And who feels the wrath of the angry News Director then? Not the "sick" reporters but the desk editor who get's a snarl from the boss for simply passing on the message. So next time you walk by the desk and the assignment editor has two phones up to his/her ears, how bout pickin up the other line that's ringing off the hook?..or how bout giving the desk person an attaboy/attagirl? It is just unfortunate that many, not all, but many in newsrooms don't realize or appreciate the work the desk performs daily. I think it's great that someone escaped the phones/faxes/emails/attitudes and is going back to anchoring. I'm willing to bet, now, this guy will always bring a story to the table and tackle any assigned story without having to be spoonfed information. |
| Message: |
I worked one year (early on) on the desk before settling into a grove elsewhere in the newsroom. It's amazing how few people "get" what a tough job that is. The handful of people who man the desk really well deserve big-time credit.
|
|
