The Blog post was about the level of work that bosses and companies are placing on their employees and the negative affect that its having on staff moral and health. It was based on the premise that bosses either; a) don't realise how much work they are piling on their staff, b) can't read the signs of an employee under stress, or c) the boss already does long hours at work and can't understand that not everyone is capable or wants to do that.
I was replying to a guy posting under the tag of "Andrew". He said that he had/is working in the media industry and talked of the pressure put on him and what affect it had on him. I can sympathise with him. The media industry is nowhere near as glamorous as people imagine it to be.
I was severely under-prepared for what I was about to face and severely under-prepared for the lack of assistance if you are struggling. Mostly I wasn't helped because I was the bottom of the pile and those above me also had massive pressure on them from those above them.
Below is the post I left on the CubeFarmer blog:
"Oh Andrew, I can sympathise with you.
I was also in the Media industry. I also quit because of the massive work pressure. I was the only full time journalist at a small rural newspaper covering four shire territories. My office was a tiny shopfront that I shared with an advertising sales rep. My editor was in a town nearly an hours drive away and also edited three other papers beside my own. At the time I left I was classed as level 1 journalist (just completed cadetship). I was working 6.5 days a week, driving nearly 300km a week (my car but they paid travel) and frequently took work home. I wrote and photographed about 70% of the stories; from front page lead to socials to sports photos. There were 3-4 correspondents but they had far more freedom to pick and choose their stories.
I never went to university or did formal training in writing/journalism. I only have high school level English and Photography training. I was taken on as a cadet after being one of those correspondents simply because of my ability. The previous journalist had left and I was bumped straight in as second year cadet. I was promised all the training and support that I would need....that never happened. I was drowning and they were too far away to see it. Its hard to explain problems by phone/email and neither the editor or I had time to drive back and forward between our offices. I swam for as long as I could, nearly three years, and never found the shallow end. I turned to alcohol to shut off my brain at the end of the day, gained massive weight and suffered severe insomnia.
As a journalist you're expected to be alert, cheerful and on-the-ball but that's hard to do when your functioning on 4 hours sleep per night, eat at your desk and have to slap on thicker and thicker layers of make-up to cover the bags under your eyes. Even harder to cover the blood-shot and bleary eyes.
In the end I drowned under the pressure, had a massive car crash and ended up with PTSD, depression and Anxiety as well as legal and financial problems.
As a journalist you're expected to be alert, cheerful and on-the-ball but that's hard to do when your functioning on 4 hours sleep per night, eat at your desk and have to slap on thicker and thicker layers of make-up to cover the bags under your eyes. Even harder to cover the blood-shot and bleary eyes.
In the end I drowned under the pressure, had a massive car crash and ended up with PTSD, depression and Anxiety as well as legal and financial problems.
I got out. I now work in retail. It doesn't fulfill my creative drive but I get better hours and can switch off at the end of the day."
I have been left disillusioned with the industry as a whole. I loved the creative element and loved the people that I met. But I was also left jaded by what I heard, saw and had to write about.
No comments:
Post a Comment