18 or so months
I’ve now officially passed the 18-month mark for my tenure in Kingman. It seems an appropriate time to update interested individuals in my progress.
I’m still a reporter at the Kingman Daily Miner. I started out as the law enforcement reporter, then the law enforcement/business reporter, followed by the county/state government reporter and now am a general assignment reporter. I’ve tackled the latest beat for the past two weeks and am trying to establish myself.
My editor has also moved me back to copy editing and layout twice a month.
A big change has been the revamped Web site. I am responsible for checking that stories and photographs are posted online by 7 a.m., and if, not do so. This task is similar to what I did as a news assistant with the Arizona Republic.
My relationship with journalism is the same: love-hate. There are times when I imagine there is nothing more I could want to do in life and there are times when I want to do anything else in my life.
I’m thoroughly convinced my work environment has a significant impact on my job satisfaction. At the Arizona Republic, I was doing tasks I often found frustrating and unfulfilling, but found solace with my coworkers. Here I listen to my iPod and sometimes leave the headphones in even when it has run out of juice so my coworkers do not attempt to talk to me.
I have been applying for jobs since the beginning of the year. The industry (as many others) looks rough right now.
Looking for work at a bigger paper is beyond the personal motivation, and quite professionally driven. I planned to be here one to two years and one year seven months falls right in that range.
Also, with the prospect of be laid off from the paper due to decreasing advertising revenue, I’ve been put in a contemplative mode. As much as I enjoy journalism, I refuse to put myself in a similar situation living in an area I loathe.
There is a prospect with an opening at the Daily Courier in Prescott. Western Newspapers owns the Courier as well as the Miner. Hopefully I’ll hear something about the position by the end of the month.
So, I set a July 1 deadline. If I cannot find employment at a newspaper by then, I will bid reporting goodbye. The only consolation from that move will be the fact I will not move back in with my parents. That will never happen.
I’ve been looking at other industries, and the higher pay all seem to have over journalism, and realize I can find something. I just don’t know what.
I think moving back to the Phoenix metropolitan area, should provide more options than my current lifestyle.
My days consist of work, gym and television. My weekends are spent outside the city, with fuel costs draining my budget. I have spent two to three whole weekends at most in Kingman since Thanksgiving.
But, hey, at least I have the gym. What I don’t have is a girlfriend anymore.
January saw the end of my nearly four-year (off-again-on-again) relationship. Without any justifiable cause, I did not protest its end. While it had its ups and downs, it overall was a learning experience.
Now I’m back into the single world - in Kingman. Let repeat that with more emphasis: I am a college-educated 25-year-old single male living in a “city” where people (not necessarily those in relationships) have children because they are bored.
That’s Kingman. It rarely has shown sparkles I’ve mistaken as gems, though I realize the city really has nothing for me. Well maybe something, but I think it’s too early to cast judgments and make predictions.
That’s the story of my life: bad timing. Whenever something seems to be working out, fate (I use that word loosely) throws a fork in my path. And if unfortunately circumstance won’t cut it, I’m sure it will take minimal personal effort to fuck everything up.
I’m still a reporter at the Kingman Daily Miner. I started out as the law enforcement reporter, then the law enforcement/business reporter, followed by the county/state government reporter and now am a general assignment reporter. I’ve tackled the latest beat for the past two weeks and am trying to establish myself.
My editor has also moved me back to copy editing and layout twice a month.
A big change has been the revamped Web site. I am responsible for checking that stories and photographs are posted online by 7 a.m., and if, not do so. This task is similar to what I did as a news assistant with the Arizona Republic.
My relationship with journalism is the same: love-hate. There are times when I imagine there is nothing more I could want to do in life and there are times when I want to do anything else in my life.
I’m thoroughly convinced my work environment has a significant impact on my job satisfaction. At the Arizona Republic, I was doing tasks I often found frustrating and unfulfilling, but found solace with my coworkers. Here I listen to my iPod and sometimes leave the headphones in even when it has run out of juice so my coworkers do not attempt to talk to me.
I have been applying for jobs since the beginning of the year. The industry (as many others) looks rough right now.
Looking for work at a bigger paper is beyond the personal motivation, and quite professionally driven. I planned to be here one to two years and one year seven months falls right in that range.
Also, with the prospect of be laid off from the paper due to decreasing advertising revenue, I’ve been put in a contemplative mode. As much as I enjoy journalism, I refuse to put myself in a similar situation living in an area I loathe.
There is a prospect with an opening at the Daily Courier in Prescott. Western Newspapers owns the Courier as well as the Miner. Hopefully I’ll hear something about the position by the end of the month.
So, I set a July 1 deadline. If I cannot find employment at a newspaper by then, I will bid reporting goodbye. The only consolation from that move will be the fact I will not move back in with my parents. That will never happen.
I’ve been looking at other industries, and the higher pay all seem to have over journalism, and realize I can find something. I just don’t know what.
I think moving back to the Phoenix metropolitan area, should provide more options than my current lifestyle.
My days consist of work, gym and television. My weekends are spent outside the city, with fuel costs draining my budget. I have spent two to three whole weekends at most in Kingman since Thanksgiving.
But, hey, at least I have the gym. What I don’t have is a girlfriend anymore.
January saw the end of my nearly four-year (off-again-on-again) relationship. Without any justifiable cause, I did not protest its end. While it had its ups and downs, it overall was a learning experience.
Now I’m back into the single world - in Kingman. Let repeat that with more emphasis: I am a college-educated 25-year-old single male living in a “city” where people (not necessarily those in relationships) have children because they are bored.
That’s Kingman. It rarely has shown sparkles I’ve mistaken as gems, though I realize the city really has nothing for me. Well maybe something, but I think it’s too early to cast judgments and make predictions.
That’s the story of my life: bad timing. Whenever something seems to be working out, fate (I use that word loosely) throws a fork in my path. And if unfortunately circumstance won’t cut it, I’m sure it will take minimal personal effort to fuck everything up.