Tag Archives: journalism pet peeves

Journalism pet peeves

Posted on April 8, 2011 | 6 comments
  • Web sites where the only contact is a busted general email address
  • trying to spell your email address to someone over the phone (they never get it right)
  • Threats of subscription cancelations
  • People who say “nice to meet you” via email when we have never actually met
  • Presumptive emails that demand something along the lines of “add this to your coverage plans”
  • Presumptive emails that demand something along the lines of “add us to your links”
  • PR people who don’t have any information
  • Anonymous internet commentators who make claims of  inaccuracy
  • Bad newspaper websites
  • Reporters Employees of other media outlets who call you asking for your source contact information or other inside details
  • Journalists who think revealing their political beliefs absolves them of bias (or has anything to do with anything)
  • Content thieves
  • Content farms
  • Not getting any calls back all day then getting five during a 10 minute bathroom break at 4:30.
  • Press conferences (hell is other reporters)
  • Reporters who don’t use both sides of their notebook paper
  • Reporters who gorge on free food at events they’re covering
  • Being forced to be a “personal brand” now instead of just a faceless byline
  • Person-on-the-street interviews who have strong opinions about America but refuse to give their name
  • People who think there’s no value in occasionally writing for free in today’s market
  • Response-less pitch letters
  • Response-less job applications
  • Writing cover letters
  • All that paper I wasted sending out dozens and dozens of clip packets when applying for newspaper jobs (largely response-less)
  • People who only get their news from the teevee
  • Pens that go dead mid-interview
  • Breaking news that always happens on a particularly brutal hungover Friday morning
  • Constant hand-wringing over the future of the industry
  • Readers who don’t give you a head’s up about (easily fixable) typos online
  • Anyone who can’t see how you could be endlessly curious about the community, town, people and world you see every day.

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