I'm Not Kidding...

The End

This is possibly the last newsmcnabb post. I’m hanging it up. I say “possibly the last post.” Something may be so juicy or troublesome that I could feel compelled to write, but I think four years of periodic posts is possibly enough.

At the outset, I wanted the blog to be more than a recitation of comings and goings. That can be accomplished in much the same manner as “Transactions” in the sports pages of the Austin American-Statesman. Comings and goings seem to be more and more frequent nowadays for a variety of reasons.

I wanted to go deeper, digging into all media in the market, and I think I did.

This doesn’t mean that there is no longer anything to write about. Just look at the almost daily “corrections” on Page 2 of the American-Statesman. Some of them are glaring. The most common and possibly the most heinous are misidentifications. Misidentifications can sometimes result in lawsuits!

I thought about writing something about the new owners of KEYE TV, and Sinclair’s history in politics. I decided to take a “wait and see” approach. If you are curious, just Google Sinclair Media.

New owners and TV news consultants are also an interesting subject. Many think what worked in another television market will work in Austin. It probably won’t. Austin is not a “cookie-cutter” market. Yet, these managers who “ain’t from around here” will keep trying until the audience/the ratings prove it to them.

Consultants would be more useful in coaching new staff members some of whom seem to be working their first TV jobs. Somebody needs to tell them to stop yelling at the audience; just talk. Be conversational. Your voice in your live shot should match your delivery in the voice track. It would be mean and possibly hurtful to be specific, so I didn’t write about that.

I could have written more about the online, hyper-local media such as CultureMapAustin, Austin Post, the Austinist, and several others. I’ve wondered if folks glean their news from these sites as much or more than so-called “main stream media.”

Taking stock, my 272 posts over four years is probably plenty.

When I started writing newsmcnabb, I felt like I was filling a void. There is still a void, but it is smaller. Gary Dinges of the Statesman, whom I’ve never met, is doing a good job of covering local broadcast media now. No, he’s not going to criticize his own newspaper, and he’s not going to take a point of view, but he is doing good reporting. It’s his full time job.

Writing newsmcnabb is not my full-time job. Right now, I’m more interested and even obsessed with the coming semester at St. Edward’s University. For the next nine months, my energy, creativity, and priority will be focused on preparing solid content for my students. It must be said, it is so very, very satisfying when those students succeed!

So, “newsmcnabb” will remain in cyberspace for archival purposes for a while, but it’s time to turn the page. Turn the page without even so much as creasing the corner.

One final and important thing: To those who followed or subscribed to my missives, thank you!

Wage peace.

-30-

© Jim McNabb, 2012

You Know a Journalists' Chaplain

There is a Need

“Maybe journalists need a chaplain.” I posited in a post a little over a month ago. The response was all over the place, which is to be expected when you ask the question directly to journalists. “No,” they say. “I’m fine.”

The journalists working the Paul DeVoe murder trial at the time may be fine, all the graphic photos and testimony notwithstanding. They may be fine because they have found ways to compartmentalize and remove themselves from the moment as they report the trial. Having covered capital murder trials and crime scenes, I get it. Also, however, having covered horrific events, I still can conjure up pictures, even “movies” in my mind from those moments.

I can recall many times standing with cops in the dead of night, talking, laughing, and joking while a dead body was just yards away. It’s part of the job. While you’re talking, laughing, and joking, you are also gathering information that may be part of the story.

When I asserted a month ago that journalists may need a chaplain, the response on Facebook and to this medium was mostly positive, although there is some confusion. One journalist wrote, “Definitely, and a counselor too.” A chaplain is not necessarily a counselor. Most of the time, they are two different people. A trained and licensed counselor is a professional who may sort through difficult circumstances to a healing conclusion. A chaplain is a person who is a presence—someone who is there for someone else who is hurting. The chaplain may offer suggestions or advice if it is appropriate. Further, a chaplain is there for people of faith, of little faith, or no faith at all.

Journalists’ comments to this concept found after the “newsmcnabb” post were profound. You can see them in full after the September 28, 2009 post “A Moment on Murder’s Row”:

“I'm sure the news affected everyone. I'll never forget how my Chief Photog, a tough as nails West Texan, looked coming back from old 620, when a car full of teens shot off the curve on the dam, and rolled 700 feet.”

“Jim is absolutely right that reporting on violence and death week after week takes a toll. It does sometimes lead to despair. .. Of course that has an effect. There are some images you can never shake.”

“Yes, the carnage that covering the events from day to day does leave scars on all of us in ways seen and unseen... and I do believe that there needs to be some kind of support system... religious, or secular, for the unbelievers... for all of us. “

“I think there is a place both for professional counseling services to be provided to reporters by their employers, but also a need for associations where people of like-minded faiths, and even across faiths, can gather to encourage each other. “

There are some people who disagree. Their comments are also included after the September 28^th newsmcnabb post.

I believe that all people are “called” in life. Some people don’t buy into that, and they don’t hear or answer the “call”. They may be happy anyway. Others may hear multiple “calls”. I think, arising out of an individual’s talents, training, beliefs, and opportunities, there is a call to specific work. Journalism must be a calling. Why would people do this work if they were not called? Also, calls may also change over time.

Before writing the post a month ago, I’d set in motion the process of becoming a chaplain, a chaplain to journalists. I am now an ordained and licensed chaplain.

I have a web site. (Of course, every initiative must have a web site, http://www.journalistschaplain.net.) It speaks to the need for a journalist chaplain. This is not uncommon. There are chaplains for the military, the emergency services, and in corporations. All of these are stressful. There is stress in a newsroom too, right? And it bleeds over into journalists’ personal lives. I’m going to let the site explain.

Am I going to stop writing this journalism/media criticism and news blog? No. Am I going to cease communications consulting and publicity? No. Am I someone other than the person you have known for years? No. Am I now going to take a vow of silence or something? No. Am I suddenly pious and judgmental? No, of course not. Years ago, when my pastor approached me about being a deacon, I responded saying, “You know I’m not very pious.” He knew that.

So, before making hasty judgments, I ask you to check out the web site above.

Further, yes, I’m a chaplain to journalists, but I’m a chaplain, period. No, I’m not a counselor, but I know some good ones.

For those who know me personally, this does not a big change. This is pretty much who I have been throughout my career. People who know me know that I care. Yeah, I can be grouchy in the mornings, but I care. Where is this going, if anywhere? I don't know. It's a little frightening.

Yes, there should be a chaplain to journalists, and you know one.

© Jim McNabb, 2009