Are bloggers an at-risk population?
April 8th, 2008 by Kim
A New York Times article yesterday about bloggers, and the stress associated with creating and maintaining round-the-clock content on the web, had a lot of interesting observations about the 24/7 news cycle. It relates to what we’re increasingly trying to do at the Advertiser with breaking news, blogs and the 24/7 news room, where an editor must be on duty all the time, even through the night.
The story touched on the recent deaths of two tech bloggers, both of whom died from heart attacks, and other health worries from jobs that require you to become obsessed with breaking news and your computer:
Other bloggers complain of weight loss or gain, sleep disorders, exhaustion and other maladies born of the nonstop strain of producing for a news and information cycle that is as always-on as the Internet.
To be sure, there is no official diagnosis of death by blogging, and the premature demise of two people obviously does not qualify as an epidemic. There is also no certainty that the stress of the work contributed to their deaths. But friends and family of the deceased, and fellow information workers, say those deaths have them thinking about the dangers of their work style.
OK, I’m not seizing this opportunity to tell you about personal stress or ask you to make a donation to the “Save the Bloggers!” fund. But I do think it’s interesting how the nature of the news room and the news cycle has changed to include nearly instantaneous information available at your fingertips, and how the need to be tethered to every piece of information happening out there has created this anxiety about “breaking news” and being in-the-know about everything.
I’ll use my job as an example: a couple of years ago, the Advertiser introduced “mobile journalists” — or “mojos” as we’re more commonly called. (This, btw, was apparently a Gannett creation.)
The idea? Instead of having everybody operate out of the news room on Kapiolani Boulevard, send several reporters out into the community to watch, listen, talk to residents and gather stories. It’s an approach that emphasizes “hyper-local” news, although we’re always looking for community stories that have broader implications for the island and the state as a whole.
The technology aspect of the job is what I think relates most to the NYT article. The mojos are given a laptop computer, a Sprint wireless card and a cell phone and sent out into our respective communities. We’re also often equipped with video cameras. I’ve written stories from Starbucks, from my car and while sitting on the cafeteria floor during neighborhood board meetings. I communicate with my editor through phone and email primarily, checking in throughout the day. While I was still getting the hang of the job, a lot of my time was spent working from home. (That’s my “office” pictured above.) I also maintain this blog and try to write a post daily.
All in all, when you think about it, it’s an exciting job. I could be stationed behind a desk somewhere stapling cover sheets to my TPS reports. Instead, I’m out in the community, driving around, talking to people and generally enjoying the beauty of the place where I grew up.
There are downsides. For one, it’s a very individualistic sort of thing, even more so than the traditional reporting gig, and you have to enjoy that. When working from home, it’s also sometimes difficult to separate work hours from non-work hours. Let’s face it — if you’re a journalist in this age, you have to keep your finger on your beat at all times. News is not a 9-to-5 gig. When two planes struck the World Trade Center towers early that Tuesday morning seven years ago, if all the journalists in Honolulu had rolled over and gone back to sleep — well, you can imagine what would have happened.
This reality is what every wide-eyed young journalist entering the field has to be aware of. The news room is not what it was five years ago, and I am sure that it will be completely different five years from now. Since joining the staff of the Advertiser, I’ve personally enjoyed learning new skills — shooting video, filing a story while out of the office, using the blog software. But it’s difficult for many who have been in the field a long time to adjust to what journalism is becoming, that is, a juggling act.
While blogging isn’t threatening to do me in anytime soon (I hope), it’s becoming an increasingly complicated world out there for journalists. And that can make anyone a little stressed out.
Tags: blogs and new media, journalism, work
April 8th, 2008 at 1:59 pm
I found your blog on google and read a few of your other posts. I just added you to my Google News Reader. Keep up the good work. Look forward to reading more from you in the future.
Stacey Derbinshire
April 8th, 2008 at 2:20 pm
Hmph. I KNEW I was on the right track in not starting a blog. BWWHAHAHAHAHAA AH AHAHA AHA!!!!
April 8th, 2008 at 2:48 pm
What a stupid corporate concocted concept to cut corners. Mobile Journalist. Instead of hiring more reporters, Gannet gives a small staff of journalists a bunch of cute gadgets, and then piles the work on them until their brains explode. How the hell can a “reporter” truly understand a community if they are running around back and forth most of the time?
The paper is a business, and it has to please those who own stock in the company, but then again the paper has a deeper commitment to the community as being an agent for social justice.
April 8th, 2008 at 6:52 pm
I’m sorry, but I have to laugh at bloggers who take themselves too seriously and worry about the ill health effects. When I was an intern I was working 80-100 hours/week, pulling 36 hour shiffts with no sleep every 3-5 days while covering over a hundred patients and running cardiac arrest codes during said overnight shifts. To somehow think that some bloggers complain that staring at a computer screen and typing causes their health maladies sounds ludicrous after what I went through. (Admittedly, those midnight cheesburger runs gave me love handles.) Blame their coping skills and lifestyle choices, not the http://WWW.
Although…I do have to say that people who stare and click refresh incessantly in order to comment, “FIRST!” need to get their heads checked for coconuts! =D
April 8th, 2008 at 6:53 pm
*cheeseburger. Sorry.
April 8th, 2008 at 7:52 pm
with side order cheese?
April 8th, 2008 at 8:01 pm
Blog from China.
April 8th, 2008 at 8:44 pm
so what’s with the elephant on your desk?
April 8th, 2008 at 11:55 pm
Blogging a health risk? Dunno about that.
But with technology in mind, I know a few hardcore online gamers who might possibly keel over because they play World of Warcraft for more than 100 hours a week.
April 9th, 2008 at 7:01 am
Maybe you wouldn’t be so surprised about the NEW newsroom concept if you have LEARNED those new skills BEFORE youy joined the Advertiser. obviously being a blogger is the concept most college grads think NOW is news/journlaism. It is…. but take away cell phones and all blogging is nothing more than a rant in a public forum.
(Blogging stated in Japan BTW).
So when you’ve mastered your “craft”….let us all know that you’re MORE than just an average JANE posting a RANT….
April 9th, 2008 at 9:50 am
Hi Learn:
I’ve actually been blogging since I was 15, so, no, blogging is not a new concept for me. Video is — I hadn’t had a chance to shoot video until I was out of college, with some experiences during internships.
I do not feel that blogging and video were skills that were required of people entering the field of PRINT journalism five years ago, although it’s likely that some enterprising college grads did posses these skills. When I talk to people about my job, many of them comment on how the Advertiser is becoming much more than a newspaper, so I thought I would share some details about my job, since I thought it probable that others might be interested in the subject as well.
Regarding the “rant”… did you miss the part where I said I enjoyed my work a lot?
I didn’t really understand the rest of your comment, so it was difficult to post a response.
Kim (not Jane)
April 9th, 2008 at 9:51 am
aaa:
He’s a souvenir from my trip to Costa Rica.
-Kim
April 9th, 2008 at 11:06 am
naminori: I dig your first sentence alliteration.
Learn: Did you even READ the blog and THINK about it before you COMMENTED? I don’t THINK you did.
eMH: Don’t knock it till you try it! (worldofwarcraft)
Kim: You’re more likely to die from a coconut attack than blogging. And where is the tofu?
April 9th, 2008 at 12:18 pm
The REAL issue here is that you failed (an needed) to COMPLETELY learn your trade (journalism as a broadfield) before becoming a blogger (read in your own blog here as a journalist).
When I became a journalist (i.e. Broadfield) I had aleady MASTERED all of the journalism skills - and did not have to learn them on the fly as a so-called “cutting edge” blogger (again read here as journalist). Having those necessary skills in your hip pocket before you venture out to thell everyone about what the real world offers gives you more creditablity - something totally lacking in this blog. (i.e. Topics)
Journalism - as confined to your blog - is NOT journalism. Nor is the Advertiser’s feable attempt to become a cutting edge mainstream media.
Having readily worked with several of the paper’s so-called cutting edge reporters trying to learn and master their “multi-media skills” on the fly leaves an extremely BAD taste in my mouth - especially as a fellow fully qualified journalist - about where and what the mainstream priorities of the Advertiser are. Learning on the fly is something you do in High school and college (see St. Louis egg throwers in Lanikai) - not while writing a blog for paper who thinks a hot blogger is someone they can take home to show mom.
The RANT refers to what a BLOG’s original prupose was on the internet - a place to RANT and RAVE about YOUR personal favorite subjects/topics - NOT what was/were/is in the public interest at the specific moment in time. Your blog is obviosly the latter and not the former. What you do outside the newsroom is not a JOURNALISTIC job… it’s a job to socialize with the masses while telling all of them later the socializing was not as social as it appeared. Hell I can sit a home and socialize with the masses (and get the SAME info) by writing in Blogs all day. Catch my drift?
April 9th, 2008 at 12:48 pm
learn:
newsreporting is a business.
i enjoy kim’s blogs. if she considers them ‘journalism’ or just random thought jotting is besides the point.
I visit the .com to read them. Advertiser makes money off of ads on their webpage.
go troll somewhere else
April 9th, 2008 at 12:49 pm
that’s quite a lovely built in desk you have there! where on earth did you manage to find a building that would have such an amenity?
April 9th, 2008 at 1:48 pm
j.
Yes I agree, Newsreporting is a business not a blogsphere….
In any case I’ll troll on U if U show yer face West of Manoa.
April 9th, 2008 at 3:17 pm
Learn:
Your claim that learning on the fly ends with college is almost as moronic as your egg throwing analogy. To truly be a master of what you do, learning on the fly and adapting to a changing environment is essential.
Also, how is it possible to master your trade before going into the field? Is it possible for a surgeon to master his craft before having job experience? Most people, unlike yourself (since you’ve already mastered everything), gain experience and continue to learn as they advance in their profession.
And finally, for your professional development, I’ll point out a journalism skill that you clearly have not mastered: writing.
April 9th, 2008 at 3:31 pm
Juh,
The point I was making is that this supposedly well-trained BLOG writer is masquerading as a well rounded journalist before walking into a job that requires it.
I also agree that experience is the best trainer… but not on the fly. Official, programmed, in-the-classroom instruction helps you PREPARE for the field before you get there. Once you get there, everything else is gravy.
Comprende KimoSabe?
And since I’m not writing my third thesis for college, I will write however the F*** I want. If you prefer “in-the-field” experience writing in cursive… how about STFU? Do you understand that?
April 9th, 2008 at 3:57 pm
Where’s the bikini pics? This is Hawaii after all and not Seattle or NYC. Sun, surf, babes, and babes. Everyone else is jealous of us here in paradise.
April 9th, 2008 at 4:00 pm
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/showbiz/showbiznews.html?in_article_id=557329&in_page_id=1773
From the last blog….THANK YOU
<>
April 9th, 2008 at 5:04 pm
Learn:
I didn’t understand the point you were trying to make the first time as you failed to translate the clutter in your head into a clear and concise argument. Comprendo, gracias! Now that I understand your point, I think you’re mistaken about Fassler’s journalistic credentials. This blog is neither her first job for a media company nor is it her only responsibility at the Advertiser.
As for me shutting up about your writing… I’m sorry and you’re right. It’s your choice to write as shoddily and haphazardly as you want.
April 9th, 2008 at 9:08 pm
learner:
Most of the blog readers that read this blog are not journalists. I’m not a journalist, so I don’t claim to know what you’re talking about. But if you are going to belittle someone then you should do it through email and you should use your real name.
April 9th, 2008 at 9:11 pm
Thank you, Kim, for your most interesting and important look at what it takes to be a journalist today. Because of the uTube generation’s expectation of “instant news”, one has to acquire both writing and photography (video) talent…and be on call 24/7. And you may be asked to write a blog. What seems to be sacrificed here is the long, in-depth feature story, which you rarely see online. In any case, as a former English teacher, I am delighted that writing–whether as a newsperson or someone posting on a blog–has become, more than ever, a highly useful skill.
April 9th, 2008 at 11:39 pm
To “Learn your trade”:
You’re obviously nothing more than a troll. And a very lame one at that.
For someone who claims to have mastered journalism, you obviously don’t even have a grasp of rudimentary English grammar and composition. Did the Advertiser fire you because your masterful skills couldn’t handle the job?
May I suggest you start applying your finely honed skills on writing your third thesis. Your previous two treatises on “My Favorite Cartoon Network Villains” and “Why is Jello Orange?” were rejected by Montessori.
Catch my drift?
April 10th, 2008 at 9:52 am
Room Service,
Obviously its past your bed time… when someone should have earlier jack-slapped you with a koa wood outrigger paddle.
And may I also suggest that you not belittle ordinary Hawaiian’s for their lack of so-called superbly required writing skills in a NON-ENGLISH SKILLS-mandated forum. Rudimentary English? If that’s the case then why aren’t you using the original Rudimentray English… Called OLD ENGLISH?
Also, BTW, I never stated that I had mastered Journalism…. I said that I had mastered the skills necessary to function as a broadfield JOURNALIST before I entered the work force…. I didn’t become a blogger to to say “I am a journalist - so read my blog.” Lame, lame, lame. And BTW, trolling is something someone does in a bass boat while fishing… Catch my drift haole? Or is “trolling” just the newest “Buzzword” in the blogging world in Manoa?
( ’cause obviously we (Hawaii) have THE BEST school system in the country…. )
Later Cuz…
April 12th, 2008 at 10:53 am
Not that I don’t mind a little message board tussle, but aren’t we gettting a little off track? While shrinking ad dollars and “free” internet news means cutting any and all overhead in newsroom budgets, I don’t think the internet has really changed the fundamentals of news gathering…it’s still people going out into the community and relating to people. Surely the internet/blogging has picked up the pace of the newscycle, but what has really seemed to have changed to me is our (and by that I mean the public’s) ability to respond (even if our responses are…shall we say, crude and unusual).
Later Bruddah,
Dwight Schrutte aka Journalism MASTER aka Troll Assassin
April 12th, 2008 at 7:19 pm
Troll Dog Dwight (hey isn’t Eltob John’s real name Dwight?),
Right you are on many comments…. however my point still flies…. learning your trade on the fly and then calling yerself a journalist, doesn’t hold water….
But then again, you troll the blogs to stay in touch with your so-called mainstream media….
Ahh… the day is ours….
See ya on the curl brah, v/r JM/TA Arse kicker
April 14th, 2008 at 4:39 pm
Journalist: a person engaged in journalism; especially : a writer or editor for a news medium b: a writer who aims at a mass audience: a person who keeps a journal
It kinda sounds like this might apply to the blogg, but then again…
I don’t think people are expecting the quality of the New York Times Op-ed from a local newspaper out in the middle of nowhere, and anyone could benefit with more practice in the “art” of journalism. But the point is, try to ease up on the personal attacks, they take away from the credibility/objectivity of your posts.
P.S. I knew you were an Elton fan after your first entry, all that angst! I’m more a Bob Marley/Jack Johnson type myself. By the way…you pitch or catch???
Sorry, everybody couldn’t help myself
Dwight Schrutte
Assistant Regional Manager, Dunder Mifflin Inc.
April 15th, 2008 at 1:47 am
Blogging is something I volunteered to do when I joined the staff of the Advertiser. As far as I know, most of the staff members who blog do so within the hours they log every day and aren’t paid extra for writing blog posts.
I see this blog as more of a personal journal than an insider news source or gossip column. Part of the reason why a lot of the time it just seems like random musings is that it’s difficult to find time to sit down and write something thought-provoking, attention-grabbing and intelligent every day.
So this space just features my thoughts on things — take it or leave it. If it’s not your cup of tea, well, we have more than a dozen other blogs you can check out. And if none of those suit you — hey, you can start your own!