I sometimes wonder what it would be like if we were all so cavalier to introduce our grievances about topic X as soon as we learn about someone’s allegiance to said topic. Or how inappropriate it would be if we talked about a stranger’s recently deceased relatives the way we talk about their recently laid-off colleagues.
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RELATED:
I’m sure you’ve heard about the mishap with the iPhone alarms by now:
When a bug kept iPhone and iPod touch alarms from sounding on Jan. 1 and Jan. 2, Apple suggested that those having trouble should set recurring alarms, and that the alarms would fix themselves by Jan. 3, the first work day of 2011.
But users are still reporting problems with the alarms Monday morning. The term “iphone alarm problem” was trending high on Google as those who overslept stumbled to their computers to figure out what was wrong.
If this is the worst thing in 2011, I think we’ll be fine. More than fine.
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UPDATE
I just tested one of my alarms that’s set up to go off every day, and it worked. I also tested a one-time alarm that’s set up to never repeat, and it also worked. So, in Pat Garvin’s world, the alarms work once again.
It’s been a month and a few days since I moved to Boston. It’s a great city, with a golconda of opportunities. There’s an active arts community. The umpteen colleges and universities provide no end to the conversations I get to overhear on the bus and at coffee houses. And the Red Sox are discussed every day, even in the off-season.
But one thing trumps those things in the perception of Boston.
“Ya know it gets cold, right?”
I’ve long hated “Ya know (fill in the blank),” but now, I fight the urge to scream whenever I hear it. Because it gets cold here, ya know.
So, on Monday of this week, I got a Facebook message that one Roger Ebert posted one of my web comics on his Facebook page. It was the one where I took Jill Geisler’s 10 Reasons to Hire a Journalist and added some of my own personality.
I’ve gotten lots of feedback on that comic, and have been so humbled by it. But to get a living legend such as Roger Ebert to even see it, let alone re-post it, was pretty satisfying.
I still can’t tell if he liked it — all he wrote was, “This is not a joke. A trained newspaperman thinks a great many other people are not…real…sharp.” But hey, he posted it. So, thanks, Roger!
Special thanks to my friends Katie and Josh for tipping me off. If you’re looking for freelancers in New Orleans (or elsewhere), look up Katie Ide and Josh Crank. SEO, copy editing, writing, saving the world… they can do it all.
And, of course, Jill Geisler continues to be awesome. And really sweet and nice.
By now you’ve heard about the Facebook privacy breach in which certain apps had been transmitting user IDs to advertising and Internet-tracking companies. And by now you’ve probably heard that the cochairmen of the House Bipartisan Privacy Caucus have some questions for Facebook about said privacy breach.
In essence, though, for those of you who missed it:
…the 10 most popular applications on Facebook transmitted users’ IDs to outside companies. Advertisers and other companies could then use such information to build databases on the users and target advertisements to them or sell that information to a third party.
Even careful Facebook users who restricted access to their accounts were affected if they used these apps. It is unclear how long the problem has existed.
Got it? Good.
Today, Oct. 11th, is National Coming Out Day in the U.S. (It’s tomorrow, the 12th, in the United Kingdom). Rob Eichberg and Jean O’Leary, who began National Coming Out Day in 1988, encouraged all people, of all sexual orientations, to “take your next step” in living openly and powerfully.
A lot has happened since that first Coming Out Day. Many college campuses have pride groups that have made it a huge event. They offer support to people in all stages of coming out, and encourage those still in the beginning of the process by telling them that they are not alone.
In researching creating this web comic, I found several sources, some of which overlapped:
I stuck primarily with the top link, but did branch out a few times. I take no political stance with this, and any views you’ll find elsewhere on those sites are not mine.
So, without further ado, enjoy!
I discovered through research (and personal experience) that these stages can be experienced in this general order, but can be experienced multiple times and in different orders. Thus, I did not put them in a numbered order.
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The comic is in jest, but this stage can be painful. From EmptyClosets:
At the beginning of every person’s coming out process is a period where that person begins to question his or hers heterosexual identity. This typically happens when a person realizes that he/she is attracted to members of the same sex. They begin to ask themselves the question, “Am I really straight?” It takes some people years to answer that question, where others take less time. Most people are shocked and scared to think that they are not be straight and, therefore, many people deny that they might be lesbian, gay or bisexual. Some people never move on from this stage and live their lives as heterosexuals.
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Most of the resources agreed that this stage is marked by loneliness. More questions come: “Am I really gay? What would that mean? What does being gay look/feel like?”
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The individual begins to come to terms with who he or she is, but might not fully identify with a label, if at all.
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From Psychpage.com:
This stage entails feeling good about oneself, seeking out positive relationships with other gays or lesbians, and feeling satisfied and fulfilled.
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This. Is. Terrifying. But hopefully, it will be only because of your fears and not because of how people react. The reactions can span the spectrum from anger and disbelief to total acceptance. You might be surprised as to who is accepting and who is shocked.
From EmptyClosets:
If you feel that you are currently in this stage, do not feel obligated to come out to everyone yet. Take your time and think before you tell. Throughout your coming out process some people will take the news well and some will take it harshly. During the first few stages of coming out harsh reactions to your news will hurt worse than if you waited until later. Again, this site is just a set of general guidelines. It is important that you listen to your intuition and only do what feels comfortable to you. Play it safe, but be sure to find support somehow.
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With the sense of shame gone, the individual will approach what makes him or her different with a sense of pride. Some will be taken aback by this new sense of confidence in the individual and accuse him or her of being “militant.”
From EmptyClosets:
You will most likely be less shy about your sexuality… You will begin to feel more comfortable talking about your sexuality and will most likely come out to more of your friends. In this stage you will also begin to meet and become friends with other lesbians, gays and bisexuals. You will most likely begin to explore gay and lesbian culture by visiting bars, clubs and other hangouts.
In most of these later stages, the resources mention the continued importance of gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender people seeking comfort in others like them.
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From Psychology Today:
At this stage of integration, the “them and us” concept breaks down. Gays and lesbians begin to understand that not all heterosexuals are homophobes.
Although, that understanding can from in earlier stages.
After a while, you’ll think of yourself as being more than just LGBT. From About.com:
You might have a more holistic view of yourself and feel equally comfortable in straight and GLBT environments. Your identity is integrated with all aspects of yourself.
The process won’t completely end, as your life’s cast of characters is never static. From EmptyClosets:
In this stage, being lesbian, gay or bisexual becomes just another part of who you are. There will always be new people in your life that you will have to come out to, so in a sense the process of coming out never really ends. However, in this final stage coming out becomes less of an issue and more of a part of life.
These steps only scratch at some of the emotions and situations experienced when coming out. Each person does it differently, and in different orders. Most of these resources all say that there’s no “right way” to do it. So, if you’re beginning your process or further along in your “coming out” journey, these are just fluid guidelines.
Happy St. Francis of Assisi Feast Day!
Who’s he, you ask? Well, he’s the patron saint of animals, of course! Every year on October 4 (or the weekend closest to it), many churches offer ceremonies to bless animals. At my parish growing up, people mainly brought dogs, but I’ve heard that other churches have people bringing cats, birds, iguanas, fish, turtles, frogs, wookiees and more. Perhaps a sarlacc or a rancor, even.
Anywho, in honor of those of you who have pets, I brushed off my very first web comic that I created in January but never posted. Until now, of course.
Additionally, I don’t have animals/aminals because:
When I settle down with someone, I imagine we’ll get a dog or something so our kids won’t hate us later. Until then, I’m without a pet.
As I mentioned in my earlier blog post, 18-year-old Tyler Clementi was outed on the Internet, leading him to jump off the George Washington Bridge to his death. What I didn’t explain, though, were the details of how he was outed.
Not that you need me to explain, as it’s been on the news. But, a brief recap: Clementi’s roommate at Rutgers secretly recorded Clementi having sex with another man and then streamed it on the Internet.
People across the country have responded with vigils, tributes, anti-suicide campaigns, etc. But they’ve also responded with hate directed toward Clementi’s roommate and the roommate’s friend who helped him stream the video. Just do a search for their names on Facebook, and you’ll see some tolerance, but you’ll also see some pretty hateful stuff:
I can’t say I would ever stream someone’s sexual escapades on the Internet, so I can’t say I understand where these kids are coming from, or that I’m particularly happy with them. But if their cyber-bullying was a problem, why is it appropriate to respond with more cyber-bullying? Just sayin’.
Nothing will bring back Tyler Clementi. Nothing will ease his family’s pain now. Certainly not hate speech directed at these two students. The last thing we need to do is drive two more kids to suicide. The best thing that can happen is that these two become advocates against bullying and use their experiences to prevent more situations like Clementi’s. But we need them to be around for that hope to come to fruition.
In March 2009, Jill Geisler of Poynter wrote an open letter of recommendation to potential employers with 10 reasons why they should hire journalists. Specifically, the letter was aimed at getting jobs for those who had been laid off.
I don’t have to tell you how it hasn’t gotten better for the newspaper industry in the year and a half since that was written. Paper Cuts tracks layoffs, furloughs, cuts, etc., and after a while, they’ve all seemed to blend together.
Thus, I had some motivation to dust off Ms. Geisler’s words and turn them into a web comic. If you were recently laid off, here’s some ammunition to use with your potential new employer. If you’ve got a resume from a former journalist, here’s why you need to hire this person yesterday.
Jill Geisler writes:
When journalists volunteer for church, school or civic organizations, they are inevitably asked to work on communications projects. Their writing is clear and succinct; their photography and design skills make whatever they’re working on look more polished and professional. They’re sticklers about copy editing and will raise the quality of even your internal memos.
Journalists are anal-retentive perfectionists who can’t turn off their brains. Try watching a documentary with a reporter. Show a designer a menu with Comic Sans and count how many seconds it takes her to cut you. Ask a copy editor what his favorite word misuses are. These are people obsessed with quality and correct execution of their crafts.
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Jill Geisler writes:
Their work lives have been defined by deadlines. Blowing a deadline is a cardinal sin in the newsroom culture. Tell them when something is due and you’ll get it — or you’ll get a bulletproof reason from a nonetheless-contrite employee.
Journalists will eat at their desks – or not eat at all – if they’re worried about a deadline.
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Jill Geisler writes:
In recent years, journalists have been required to do more with less. Reporters and photographers took up videography, editing and blogging. They file stories for print, broadcast and online, some while also tweeting.
And journalists are always working on at least two or three projects, all while having to answer to editors and interview sources.
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Jill Geisler writes:
Imagine a job in which you have to learn things every day, then turn around and teach those things to others. That’s exactly how I’ve described the challenge and absolute joy of journalism at student career fairs. That skill set demands that journalists take in and process information with extraordinary efficiency and clarity, a benefit in any line of work.
By necessity, journalists have to know at least a little about a lot. They have to take complex tax laws and condense them so that people can process the issues in the time it takes to read 20 inches. And they have to do this while also figuring out how to explain proton therapy, red light cameras and new council regulations. All for stuff due in the next day or two.
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Jill Geisler writes:
They’ve been trained that “If your mother says she loves you, check it out.” Journalists know that asking why and why not, looking at multiple perspectives, digging beneath the surface, challenging conventional wisdom, discerning patterns, finding context and thinking about “what’s next” improves any story. Just as it improves job performance in most any field.
Journalists have to call “bullshit” on conventional wisdom. They have to be able to explain every choice they made in their story in case a news editor calls at 10 at night with a question about some quote or arcane piece of legislation.
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Jill Geisler writes:
Even in social situations, you’ll find friends rely on their journalist buddies to gather information. Scout the restaurant. Get the background on the car I’m thinking of buying. Vet the new school superintendent. Help me find the best doctor for my condition. Journalists know how to do research — fast.
They can Google-stalk potential boyfriends like nobody’s business. Give them a name, and they’ll be able to get you a list of every traffic ticket that person has ever had. By the second date, my friend Joe knew more about his now-husband than Chris probably knew about himself.
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Jill Geisler writes:
Your organization may or may not have embraced all of its online opportunities, but journalists know firsthand why the Internet matters. Sure, some news folks adopted an online mindset more slowly than others, but now many are well-equipped to help you execute online strategies — blogging, creating video and audio, connecting through social networks. They’ve been brought up to speed in the past several years as their newsrooms expanded their horizons.
Remember how we said journalists are multitaskers and quick studies? They’ve had to become web Jedis without the help of a Yoda or Obi-Wan Kenobi. Many of the web skills you’ll see out of these people were gleaned from newsroom experience. These were things they had to learn, whether it be because someone else left, or because they wanted to make themselves indispensable the next time layoffs came around.
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Jill Geisler writes:
If you’ve ever complained that your team has a 9-to-5 approach to the job, hire a journalist. Some may think they’re crazy, but they’ve often followed stories, not schedules. They’ve dropped everything for breaking news. They’ve gotten up in the middle of the night to catch a perfect picture of the moon or listen to a source who could talk only in darkness. They took on the work of laid-off colleagues while still doing their own, for as long as they could. And they still have energy.
I know journalists who’ve canceled vacations because of breaking developments in huge stories. There have been times when I’ve seen editors in a newsroom on every day of their vacation. I’ve seen reporters come in multiple times on weekends, just to double-check things and answer questions for the copy desk.
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Jill Geisler writes:
Imagine signing on to a job where you promise not to accept gifts that others could, must take pains to avoid real or perceived conflicts of interest, should keep your opinions to yourself, are expected to question authority while respecting the law and to recognize that your work carries the opportunity every day to do good or harm.
Journalists didn’t just sign some statement saying they’ll comply with the organization’s policies, file it and forget it; they chose a profession that embraces a code of ethics and wrestles with its obligations daily. You might think they’ve fallen short over the years. But if you want to ask a great job interview question, ask journalists about some of the ethical minefields they’ve successfully walked and how they made it through while minimizing harm.
You would think you’d get into writing about sports or entertainment to get free perks, but a journalist would rather starve than do something he thinks would compromise his integrity. Some journalists don’t even like accepting a soda from a source.
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Jill Geisler writes:
That’s why they’re hurting right now. The journalists you may hire have been faithful to their vocation, even when the going got more than tough. They’ve adapted, learned new skills, added duties, taken pay cuts and furloughs, mourned the loss of colleagues and coverage, and kept on doing work that mattered. What does that mean to you? Speaking as a management coach, I say it means this: hiring journalists presents you a terrific opportunity. Give them a job they believe in and they’ll work like hell to help you succeed.
Journalists have taken jobs in towns you’ve never heard of just so they could work in newspapers. They have skills applicable to many jobs where they could make much more, but they’ve chosen to stay in journalism, even when it meant working weekends and odd hours. They’ve missed birthdays, weddings and other important milestones because of their devotion to journalism. They’ve lived hundreds of miles away from family and dragged spouses across the country just so they could continue working in journalism. This is not a job, this is not a marriage, and this isn’t even a vocation. To a newsie, journalism is something much bigger than all of that.
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UPDATE: Congratulations to Lisa, who found the typo in #6. See, everyone needs a copy editor.
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RELATED:
Web Comic: The conversation many journalists hate having with strangers
