Job Shadows: What You Saw, Part 2

Here's a sampling of some of the various job shadows done by you all. Take a look and see what you can learn from everyone's visits. There's a lot of good stuff here to help you decide what you want to do with your lives; what you need to be doing to get there; and what to expect when you do get there.

We will add more job shadow reports to the blog as they are completed. Please give each one of these a quick read, will you?

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It had already been a busy morning for Abigail Welsh Alusheff when I arrived at the main building for the Livingston Daily Press and Argus, located in downtown Howell.

To be honest, for the paper’s only education reporter, it had been a busy week.

Abigail, a twenty-five-year-old college graduate from the Lansing area, began working for the Press & Argus when she was twenty-three. Over the past two years, the company has faced significant downsizing in both the writing and advertising departments. For much of my visit, we explored the state of the newspaper.

Just twenty-four hours before my arrival, executives from Gannett (the conglomerate that owns the Press & Argus, as well as the Lansing State Journal, the Detroit Free Press, and dozens of other newspapers across the country) had fired both main editors, several writers, and advertising staff.

The cuts left the newsroom empty, dark, and depressing. For the several hours I shadowed Abigail, I met one photographer and three other reporters. Half of the lights in the building were off – I assume to save electricity. Offices were empty. Desks were cleared off. And remaining staff members were still in shock.

With only sixteen full-time staff members left in the main building, Abigail explained, the company will probably look into downsizing to a smaller location. Evidently, executives have been looking to downsize since February, and reporters have had their desks ready.

Over lunch, Abigail and I talked about the possibilities for the future of the newspaper. Ultimately, Abigail believes Gannett will eliminate the Press & Argus and make Livingston County a beat in the Lansing State Journal. As it is, Abigail works at the Lansing office several times a week to avoid the commute.

Unlike most professional newspapers, the Press & Argus reporters don’t place their own stories or come up with their own graphics. Rather, they send their stories to another state to be processed and placed on a template. Printing is also done off-site. Only advertising is handled in-house. This means, for many staff members, knowing how to use InDesign is unnecessary. And, since nearly all stories are published in print and online, the writing format is generally the same for every story.

At the moment, Abigail and other reporters at the newspaper have no chain of command. If you notice on their Facebook page, many shared stories are simply stories written by sister newspapers. With no in-house editors, the employees are struggling to find their voice – and their job security.

While shadowing Abigail, I was able to see her job firsthand. We traveled to Hartland to interview Chuck Hughes, the new superintendent of Hartland Public Schools. I was able to see professional reporting up close, and I was surprised at some of the differences between what I’ve been taught and what actually takes place.

Abigail has a method of shorthand that she uses during interviews. This means her quotes are not always word-for-word. Rather, she writes down important nouns, verbs, and adjectives – then assembles sentences from there. I’ve been recording interviews since high school to ensure that every single word is exact. But I realized, in the field, this isn’t always realistic when two or three stories need to be written per day and some interviewees would prefer not to be recorded.

As someone who grew up with the Press & Argus (and knew the integrity of the paper before Gannett took over), my visit had a huge impact on me. I’ve always pictured a newsroom as hectic, stressful, and overwhelming. Though the Argus is going through changes, Abigail assured me that the environment has always been comfortable. For that reason, my visit made me rethink my decision to remain a freelance writer.

However, seeing the state of the newspaper and the frequent cuts made by Gannett, I was also coldly reminded of the risks involved in being a reporter. At least, the risks involved in the state of Michigan, where the majority of large newspapers are owned by the same company. For me, this takes the personality and character out of news. It takes away the local aspect. And I think, ultimately, it will end up eliminating the paper I grew up reading.

What I saw during my job shadow was far more newsworthy than I ever could have guessed. It makes me wonderful where small town newspapers will go from here – and what I will decide to do in response.