I suppose that most people who actually follow my blog already know I’ve joined Twitter. But I thought I’d post an official announcement — at the risk of sounding too self-absorbed.
I resisted the trend for so long. I figured it was a fad — it probably still is. But, I must admit, it’s a pretty cool fad. I’m liking Twitter.
At this point, I’m only using it for personal use. I don’t want to further blur the boundaries between my professional and social lives. Also, I haven’t signed up for any media organization Twitter feeds, because I have a feeling my Twitter timeline would get cluttered up pretty quick.
For some reason, my profile doesn’t show up on Twitter’s user search. My username is njeaton, FYI.
I may just be the luckiest person alive. A few weeks ago, I wrote about the closure of the Seattle P-I and how sad it made me, how it had a special place in my heart, and how depressing the journalism industry is.
Well, I work there now.
It all happened so fast. Two weeks after I wrote that blog entry, the P-I’s executive producer (yeah, that’s the new name for editor-in-chief) asked me to come in for an interview. I had written her an e-mail a few weeks before, curious if there were any opportunities for full-time or freelance. I was exceptionally surprised to actually hear back from her with positive news.
She contacted me on a Tuesday. I went in for my interview Wednesday. And they offered me the job Thursday.
Huh? What had just happened? I had been sitting around home, freelancing and whatnot, for five months. Companies were taking weeks — months — to get back to me about possible jobs. And my luck turned around just like that? In three days?
Well, I accepted the job. It is very exciting to be a part of this experiment. I feel that journalists across the country are keeping an eye on the online-only P-I, to see if it works and is economically viable. We’re the Guinea pigs. But I like that — we’re traversing uncharted ground.
My job is half online producer, half reporter (or, as my official title says, “news gatherer”). I actually haven’t started the producing side — that starts today, Easter. For reporting, I’ll mostly be covering education — both higher ed and K-12 — and a bit of e-retail (or e-tail), such as Amazon.com. I work Sunday through Thursday.
I’ll keep you guys posted as I settle in to this exciting new job. I’ve been there four days, so far, and it is quite busy.
Crazy things can happen.
Filed under: Basketball
Oh, OK. I’ll post my final, horrible, ugly NCAA Tournament bracket. I picked Louisville to win it all. Damn Tar Heels.
Filed under: Basketball
I should have posted this yesterday. My tournament picks:
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UPDATE 3/21: I know no one really cares, but here’s how my bracket is faring after the first round. I’m 22 for 32. That’s 69 percent — not all that great.
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UPDATE 3/22: We now know the Sweet 16 lineup, and only Arizona is representing the Pac-10. Gonzaga’s in there, which is nice. I’m 11 for 16 in my picks — still 69 percent.
I’ve been avoiding this topic on my blog, partly because I’ve been too lazy to write about it and partly because I’ve been trying to ignore it. But, obviously, the time has come. It’s time to post a tribute to the Seattle Post-Intelligencer.
This morning I spent an hour and a half reading the closure coverage in the P-I. Sipping my coffee, it was a ritual I’ve repeated hundreds and hundreds of times. Only this time it was my last. Tomorrow morning, the paper at the doorstep will be The Seattle Times. I’m not exactly happy about that — clearly I’d rather the P-I keep publishing in print.
But I must admit, I am excited to see what happens with the P-I’s transition to online-only. SeattlePI.com will be the nation’s first major experiment in whether a traditional newspaper can cut ties with dead trees and survive on the Web. Everyone in the industry is watching.
Pardon the upcoming romantic memoir.
The Seattle Post-Intelligencer was the newspaper I grew up reading. Like so many other people in so many other cities with so many other papers, the P-I was my conduit into the journalism world. I cut my teeth by reading the comics — called, in the P-I, “Coffee Break” — and Mariners coverage in the mid-’90s fooled me into actually reading the newspaper.
But before I even cared about the newspaper’s content, the Seattle P-I had cemented a place in my heart with — what else? — its big, revolving, neon globe. Way, way back in the day, my dad had an apartment in the Lower Queen Anne neighborhood. From his balcony you could watch the P-I globe spin. My dad would look out the window and tell me, quoting the globe, “It’s in the P-I.” Yes, there was so much wonder in that big ball of glowing metal.
It was the hometown newspaper. The Seattle P-I, for as long as I’ve been alive, was the underdog. The Seattle Times was the big, mean Doberman. The P-I always seemed closer to the hearts of Seattleites; it had a better finger on the city’s pulse.
I’ve often wondered if my early experiences with the P-I steered my future toward journalism. The allure of newspapers brought me into the Daily Evergreen newsroom at WSU, and though it took a semester for me to find my reporting legs, I ended up falling for journalism. After a year of working for the Evergreen, taking on more and more important stories, I applied for an internship at the Seattle P-I. And got it.
There I was, just a year into my journalism career, working at the newspaper I grew up admiring. The internship did not disappoint — I took what I learned there, and my stronger passion for journalism, back to the Evergreen and ended up as editor-in-chief. That, in turn, landed me my job at The Spokesman-Review in Spokane. And I credit the P-I for all of it.
That’s why today’s closure of the P-I — at least as Seattle has known it for 146 years — hit me hard. It’s not like it was a surprise, since Hearst put the paper up for sale two months ago. And it wasn’t the first major newspaper to die this year, after the closure of the Rocky Mountain News in Denver last month. But the fact that it happened to the P-I — my newspaper — gives it a more personal sting.
I am sad for the 100-plus journalists who lost their jobs today. I know many of them, and many of them were mentors who helped me become a better journalist. I am more sad for Seattle, which has now lost its heart, and a voice. And I am devastated for the state of American journalism, both for its dwindling effectiveness and its incapacity to adapt to the digital age.
For most Americans, the demise of the P-I is yet another drop in the bucket. Many people are saddened at the loss of another important institution. Many people are disaffected, happy to see the Big Bad Media fall apart and excited for the future of online news.
I feel discouraged, only able to watch from the sidelines and so far unable to get another job in journalism. A significant piece of my life dissolved today. However close to home this downward journalism spiral has been, the P-I’s closure brings it closer.
But, as I mentioned above, I am still excited to see what happens. I’m rooting for the success of the online-only P-I. It would give struggling journalists like me, and so many people I know and care about, some much-needed hope in these dismal times.
So, rest in peace, P-I print. And welcome to the new world, P-I online. Godspeed.
Lisa and I took a day trip south to Alexandria, Va., on Valentine’s Day. Old Town Alexandria is a beautiful place with a lot of character. Restaurants and specialty shops line the main street, just every once and a while giving way to a chain like Banana Republic or Ann Taylor. For the most part, the town has done a great job preserving its colonial roots — George Washington went to church there and ran part of the Revolutionary War out of a tavern there, for example — while still being modernized. Gotta be crowded as hell during the tourist season, though.
It was a great afternoon destination. It is so choice. If you have the means, I highly recommend it. (Will anyone get that movie reference?)
Friday was a bit of an end-of-the-week whirlwind tour. Thankfully, my annoying visit to the National Museum of Natural History — kids, kids, kids EVERYWHERE — was redeemed by a Barack Obama sighting.
OK, that was the hook. The teaser.
My first stop that morning was the National Postal Museum — after a satisfying breakfast (with coffee, of course) in the lobby of Union Station. Don’t worry, the postal museum was much more interesting than it sounds. For the most part. I was a little annoyed that their drinking fountains weren’t working, but I got my money’s worth (it was free).
Now working with a Metro card I loaded with money, instead of a seven-day pass, I chose to walk the mile south to the United States Botanical Garden. Sounds a little fancier than it is, but it was certainly a much-needed change from so many museums. (I got pretty tired of looking at dioramas and document facsimiles.)
Next was a long walk across the National Mall to the natural history museum, the big one with the elephant in the center and the dinosaur skeletons. Well, they were all casts of dinosaur bones. Not much authenticity, unfortunately. But I pushed through the crowds — I had to at least attempt to see the whole museum.
(Sorry, I hate using flash.)
I had a good time in the mammals section — for some reason, seeing stuffed leopards and koalas still fascinates me — but I mostly wanted to just get out of there. It was more a display of the stupidity of mass crowds and children on field trips than it was an enjoyable exhibition of flora and fauna. But that was OK. What could I expect? I was in Washington, D.C., on a Friday trying to go to a museum very popular with the kids.
Now I sound like a grumpy old man. I felt like one, too. So I thought I’d bring myself a bit more down-to-earth with a visit to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. Another long walk to the end of the Mall, but Lisa had told me it was a beautiful museum. Unfortunately, once I got there I found a long line along the sidewalk, with people waiting to just get tickets so they could come back at a different time. Oops, I’d forgotten about that. I felt a little bad for skipping out on depressing Jewish history, but I’ve been to Dachau. That counts for something, right?
Good thing I left, because I headed toward the White House — mainly just for the hell of it. After a brief stop through its visitor center, I strolled up to a group of people who were being held up by police. The cops weren’t letting anyone in front of the White House or on the Ellipse. Everyone thought sometime was going to happen soon. Maybe a motorcade?
Then in swooped Marine One, the president’s designated helicopter. I got photos of it arriving, figuring Obama was on board. When the cops still had things blocked off, after the chopper had landed, I changed my mind. I walked to the far end of the Ellipse to get a better view of the event, and yes! I saw people — I suppose one of them must have been Obama — get into the copter. When it took back off, it flew right over my head.
OK, enough typing. That night, Lisa and I had dinner with my aunt, uncle and cousin who live in the D.C. area. But that’s not as interesting a story as anything Obama-related, so I’ll stop there.
