Tag: Newspaper

A new job

This year has been filled with ups and downs, with the bigger share being downs.

One good thing has happened to close out this year, and that is that I have a new job. Actually, it’s not new at all, and that’s what is good about it.

I was hired as the news editor for the Dade County Sentinel, a weekly paper based in Trenton, Ga. My first job while living here was as the editor of the Trenton Daily News, a start-up paper, also located in Trenton.

Unfortunately, that job only lasted four months, as the publication had to shut down. I reported just long enough in the community to get to know everyone, and learn the ins and outs. Now I am back, and it feels good.

I actually was offered this exact same job back in March, but I turned the offer down to work in the marketing industry.

One big lesson I learned this year was that writing is what I do best, and I needed to get back into the journalism field as quickly as possible.

I was able to get started right away, and did not require any type of training period. It will feel good to see my first set of articles published in the paper, after a nine month hiatus.

In some of my past journalism jobs, I’ve been known to do it all, sometimes doing the job of two to three people. At this job, all I have to focus on is writing, which is a nice, and slower change of pace. My job is to fill up pages 1 and 2, or the front page and the article jumps. The Dade County Sentinel has a great partnership with the community. We have lots of local columnists, and people from different organizations who submit articles in each week, which helps fill up the rest of the paper. 

My two co-workers are nice and welcoming. They have both lived in this community for a long time, so they have given me lots of article ideas, which is helpful.

I am allowed to work from home on Wednesdays. The paper comes out on Wednesdays, and there are no meetings ever scheduled on that day, so it’s a slow day. I am thankful for the opportunity to work from home because it saves me gas money, but honestly I am happy for the opportunity to go into work the other four days of the week!

I am looking forward to the upcoming weeks, months, and hopefully years as news editor of the Dade County Sentinel!

Thankful for a job, and for living in Chattanooga

I’ll admit, Thanksgiving is not one of my favorite holidays, for various reasons that I won’t go into detail here. Judge me as you will, but I can do without it.

This year felt a little different though. Three weeks ago, I got a job.

Thinking that some form of a job needed to happen soon, I decided to post on Craigslist. I wrote a short post saying I was an editor and a designer seeking employment, with a link to my resume.

I am thankful that I decided to think outside of the box. I thought that Craigslist would mostly attract scammers, and it did, but it also landed me a job.

That night, my now boss emailed me. He is the publisher of the Trenton Daily News, a new paper that was started last spring in Trenton, Georgia.

I am both reporter and designer for the paper. It is a small magazine sized paper that is printed in our office on a large printer.

The first week on the job was a tough adjustment period. While I have always written in some capacity, I have not had to cover meetings and events full-time, for some time now. This means that I have to cover evening meetings and some other evening events that come up from time to time. After working an 8 a.m.-4 p.m. shift for the last three years, and only writing 1-2 stories a week, I found this to be difficult.

My first meeting was a commissioner’s meeting, and it lasted until 8:30 p.m.! Everyone told me that it went an hour longer than usual. Because this job is in Georgia, I had to add a half-hour commute home on top of that. I was not happy to get home at 9 p.m., eat a bowl of cereal for dinner, and go straight to bed. I understand that this will happen from time to time, but it was almost shocking to me that this happened my second day of work.

Because of the Thanksgiving holiday, one of the meetings got pushed up a week. Also, I went to the mall one evening to report on the high school students gift shopping for underserved children. So, to summarize, my first week I worked late three nights in a row. Since then, it hasn’t been like that though. I just need to take it day by day, and be thankful for the days when I can work an earlier shift.

My boss is impressed with my work, and has said so many times. It’s nice to go in to the office, do my job as I normally would, and have someone be thankful for the work I’ve put in for the day.

We also have a sports reporter and video guy, and we’re going to get two interns from UTC next semester. Things are looking up.

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My desk area at the office.
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The issue of the paper that we put out this week.

We were originally not going to do anything on Thanksgiving. Normally, I will try to make a somewhat special meal, like butternut squash soup or a gumbo, but I did not have the time to get the groceries or prepare due to being busy with the job.

I suggested Cracker Barrel, and it ended up being a good decision. The food was delicious and it made the day seem a bit more special. I have missed going to Cracker Barrel; there were not any nearby in the Houston city limits.

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My plate at Cracker Barrel. Not pictured is a big slice of pumpkin pie that I took home.

I am also thankful to live in Chattanooga, especially now that I have a job (in my career field no less), because it was the last part to be filled in order to be truly settled. This is what I posted on social media on Thanksgiving morning:

“This year I am thankful for finding a place to live that truly feels like home. I am thankful that Derek loves his job at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. I am thankful that I recently found a journalism job. I am thankful for the Walnut Street Pedestrian Bridge, I am thankful for the abundance of grits and I am thankful for drive times through the mountains. I am thankful for Clumpies Ice Cream and thankful for Coolidge Park. I am thankful for Tony’s Pasta Shop and Trattoria and I am thankful for hikes on Signal Mountain. I am thankful for Civil War history sites, the Mountain Opry, and the Chattanooga Choo Choo hotel. I am thankful for chai teas at Milk&Honey. I could go on and on! Happy Thanksgiving everyone.”