Happy Friday, friends – Although for a lot of you who work in newsrooms, this may not be your “Friday” depending on your work schedule. My journalism students had a discussion this week around the Fourth of July holiday on expectations around various newsroom shifts, working on holidays and what are “standard” schedules.
I don’t know if there is a “standard” any more!
So I thought I’d skip the planned newsletter and try something different this week to ask for your input. What was YOUR first newsroom schedule? Or your worst or best schedule? What were the pros and cons, personally or career-wise? Did you ever spend a memorable holiday in a newsroom? Or what would be your dream work week scenario?
I’ll share my nightmare-ish first schedule in the discussion thread as well, but I can’t wait to hear yours.
My first full-time job in journalism included working roughly 4 p.m. to 1 a.m., with my “weekend” as Tuesdays and Wednesdays. There were many downsides professionally and personally to this weird schedule – I had to work harder at communicating with daytime managers, I was out of the loop on some editorial discussions, I had no personal life… . But the upside to mostly working nights and weekends was more independence, more experimentation without bosses or bureaucracy in the way and more leadership opportunities. (Plus, I didn’t have to abide by the antiquated dress code and I could meet any friend for lunch on any day of the week!). This lasted about two years before I moved to a different job and a different schedule. I’ve never looked at Tuesdays and Wednesdays the same!
My favorite was 6 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., Tuesday through Saturday. I got accustomed to early morning shifts from working back when at evening dailies, not many of those publications left. I liked overnight shifts when I was younger if they were four days a week. Hated evening shifts always because I'm an early riser and I was petered out by the time I got to work. One of the great things about working at CNN was that I was assigned to work enough shifts that took in every hour of the week.
First newsroom schedule: 4a-noon, Saturday & Sunday, as an intern at WRC-TV (NBC) in Washington DC and 10a-6p M-F as an intern at Newschannel 8 in Springfield VA (at the same time/both unpaid!)
Worst schedule: I hated all PM schedules and any start time before 5a
Best schedule: early mornings and overnights. I did three years of overnights which was a JOY for anyone (like me) who loves working international news and doesn't like meddling bosses (:
Memorable holiday in a newsroom: Christmas 2004 - the Indian Ocean tsunami. I walked into my overnight shift and the handoff was, 'Oh there's a big earthquake near Indonesia but it might be nothing.' I will never forget the video -- a tsunami is not a big, tall wave like in the movies - but a deceptively fast-moving push of the ocean onto land. This was the early days of mobile phone videos which allowed people to actually witness what things really looked like as they happened. In the end, a staggering 230,000 people died in more than a dozen countries making it one of the deadliest natural disasters in history.
I don't know how you did both internships at the same time but I guess we can do anything for a little while at least! Overnights do seem to be the Wild West, for good and bad. And thanks for sharing about the Christmas/Indian Ocean tsunami -- that must have been a tough one.
First full-time journo job was the 5:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday shift for me, similarly to Joe. Made friends with the security guard and turned on the lights to the newsroom when I walked in, catching a really nice sunrise from the office windows.
I was a cub breaking news reporter and the material was brutal at times (kids shot in gang crossfire etc.) so I made a deal with my local bartender to cut me off every night at 7 because I'd often head over there after work around 3 or 4 to decompress. I remember getting into arguments about letting me stay past 7, but he held strong and we're still friends now some 14 years later.
Ideal shift was years later in one of the biggest US newsrooms from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Friday. Never quite knew how I'd scored such a great shift. Of course I messed it up by naively volunteering to help out on Saturdays for 3 months which turned into 3 years. Go figure.
haha "temporary" and "volunteering" -- I learned those mean different things to different people! And thanks for the insights about the people you meet working non 9-to-5. Definitely one of the pluses!
I'm adding a few good ones that I received in other places. To me they illustrate all the pros and cons (but never boring!) life of a journalist:
From Shelby E: I think one of the worst schedules I ever worked was my first TV news job, I had been in radio news for about 5 years already. I was hired to produce a morning show in Lansing when I lived in metro Detroit. My day started at midnight and ended at 9 am. To say it was rough, is an understatement. But it led to my next gig and on from there.
From Lea Ann L: Sun-Thurs, 4am start. ... it was so early that I once had to go through a late night driver DUI checkpoint ... on way into work. Freaking about getting in there on time!
From Jamie A: My first year internship at a small CBS affiliate station in north Georgia Saturday/Sunday 4am - 1pm. Literally the only person there for 3 hours and responsible for playing the morning feeds. My first day the entire station went dark because I’m certain I fell asleep and forgot to switch the tape!
My first full-time job in journalism included working roughly 4 p.m. to 1 a.m., with my “weekend” as Tuesdays and Wednesdays. There were many downsides professionally and personally to this weird schedule – I had to work harder at communicating with daytime managers, I was out of the loop on some editorial discussions, I had no personal life… . But the upside to mostly working nights and weekends was more independence, more experimentation without bosses or bureaucracy in the way and more leadership opportunities. (Plus, I didn’t have to abide by the antiquated dress code and I could meet any friend for lunch on any day of the week!). This lasted about two years before I moved to a different job and a different schedule. I’ve never looked at Tuesdays and Wednesdays the same!
My favorite was 6 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., Tuesday through Saturday. I got accustomed to early morning shifts from working back when at evening dailies, not many of those publications left. I liked overnight shifts when I was younger if they were four days a week. Hated evening shifts always because I'm an early riser and I was petered out by the time I got to work. One of the great things about working at CNN was that I was assigned to work enough shifts that took in every hour of the week.
Yes, overnights if they were four days a week! I found that evening shifts always messed with my sleep more than the overnights. Thanks, Joe
First newsroom schedule: 4a-noon, Saturday & Sunday, as an intern at WRC-TV (NBC) in Washington DC and 10a-6p M-F as an intern at Newschannel 8 in Springfield VA (at the same time/both unpaid!)
Worst schedule: I hated all PM schedules and any start time before 5a
Best schedule: early mornings and overnights. I did three years of overnights which was a JOY for anyone (like me) who loves working international news and doesn't like meddling bosses (:
Memorable holiday in a newsroom: Christmas 2004 - the Indian Ocean tsunami. I walked into my overnight shift and the handoff was, 'Oh there's a big earthquake near Indonesia but it might be nothing.' I will never forget the video -- a tsunami is not a big, tall wave like in the movies - but a deceptively fast-moving push of the ocean onto land. This was the early days of mobile phone videos which allowed people to actually witness what things really looked like as they happened. In the end, a staggering 230,000 people died in more than a dozen countries making it one of the deadliest natural disasters in history.
I don't know how you did both internships at the same time but I guess we can do anything for a little while at least! Overnights do seem to be the Wild West, for good and bad. And thanks for sharing about the Christmas/Indian Ocean tsunami -- that must have been a tough one.
First full-time journo job was the 5:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday shift for me, similarly to Joe. Made friends with the security guard and turned on the lights to the newsroom when I walked in, catching a really nice sunrise from the office windows.
I was a cub breaking news reporter and the material was brutal at times (kids shot in gang crossfire etc.) so I made a deal with my local bartender to cut me off every night at 7 because I'd often head over there after work around 3 or 4 to decompress. I remember getting into arguments about letting me stay past 7, but he held strong and we're still friends now some 14 years later.
Ideal shift was years later in one of the biggest US newsrooms from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Friday. Never quite knew how I'd scored such a great shift. Of course I messed it up by naively volunteering to help out on Saturdays for 3 months which turned into 3 years. Go figure.
haha "temporary" and "volunteering" -- I learned those mean different things to different people! And thanks for the insights about the people you meet working non 9-to-5. Definitely one of the pluses!
I'm adding a few good ones that I received in other places. To me they illustrate all the pros and cons (but never boring!) life of a journalist:
From Shelby E: I think one of the worst schedules I ever worked was my first TV news job, I had been in radio news for about 5 years already. I was hired to produce a morning show in Lansing when I lived in metro Detroit. My day started at midnight and ended at 9 am. To say it was rough, is an understatement. But it led to my next gig and on from there.
From Lea Ann L: Sun-Thurs, 4am start. ... it was so early that I once had to go through a late night driver DUI checkpoint ... on way into work. Freaking about getting in there on time!
From Jamie A: My first year internship at a small CBS affiliate station in north Georgia Saturday/Sunday 4am - 1pm. Literally the only person there for 3 hours and responsible for playing the morning feeds. My first day the entire station went dark because I’m certain I fell asleep and forgot to switch the tape!