Magzalez’s eyes on media

Sports columnist Greg Cote inserted a cute little quip about his newspaper in a column about the Florida Marlins, their game last night and their playoff push:

The buoyant crowd of 23,165, seventh-biggest home gate of the year, found warring factions of fans vying for supremacy in the stands as their teams worked the diamond — the home side winning both ways.

Cody Ross delivered what proved to be the winning RBI single to right field in the eighth as the crowd roared, “Co-dy! Co-dy!”

Apparently it was a chant for Ross. For a second, I thought the crowd was chanting “Co-te! Co-te!” so that I might be inspired to make deadline.

(By the way, I hope this column made it to you OK, as these are austere times for a newspaper industry beset by drastic cutbacks. For example, I was recently made to give up my laptop and etched this column on small stone tablets transported back to the paper by night-flying carrier pigeons).

Oh that crazy singing sports writer is a funny one. Greg Cote and I got locked out of the Dolphins locker room together once at Dolphins training camp last year, true story. He asked me how to get in. I gave him the best “are-you-serious?” look I could. We eventually found our way in and laughed it off.

Just sent out from the University of Florida Web Administration office:

WebAdmin is looking for a student Web assistant. This position is part time during school, and can be full time during the summer if you are so inclined.

You: Enjoy developing and managing HTML/CSS standards compliant Web pages, Web servers, etc. Aren’t afraid to use the command line to get things done. Would like to work closely with designers and developers on cool Web site projects. Are looking for a challenging job where you’ll have the opportunity to solve problems and learn new skills while maintaining production Web sites in a real-world team environment.

Us: The Office of Web Administration provides Web site support and development for the university’s Web presence and critical path Web sites including: ufl.edu, president.ufl.edu, news.ufl.edu, trustees.ufl.edu, and many more! We are looking for a student Web assistant to manage and maintain professional quality Web pages and Web sites.

If you think this is a great match, please email your resume and a brief description of your development skills to webmaster [at] ufl [dot] edu with subject “Student Web Assistant Position.”

This position is only open to UF students!

Thanks,
Joe Spooner
Web Developer
Web Administration

Check it out, I mean, I don’t mind it. Check out the Web Admin blog while I’ve got you here.

It’s something that we all have to come to grips with. We are graduating at a terrible time. The economy is in a slump, and our industry is suffering. I recently wrote about South Florida’s newspaper industry and how it’s in the crapper.

South Florida isn’t the only place feeling the pinch. Thousands of journalism-related jobs are being eliminated around the country. People are getting laid off, and positions are being eliminated.

Erica Smith at graphic designr made a map showing some of the journalism-related layoffs across the country. It’s pretty well done, all be it incomplete. I’m sure there are much more jobs than this that have been lost, but it’s testament to our fears of a tougher and tougher job market.

Here’s to hoping things can take a turn for the better, sooner rather than later.

Link came via my buddy at The Miami Herald, M.T.

Newspapers around the country are feeling the pinch of the same economic downturn that has gas prices going up and job availability going down.

My local connections:

• South Florida Sun-Sentinel: Managing editor retiring, position not being filled
• The Miami Herald: Miami Herald to reduce its staff by 250
• Blog Post from Bob Norman’s blog at The New (Broward-Palm Beach) Times 

I was looking through job postings today because, a) I like looking through job postings, and b) my cousin is moving to G-ville, and I am trying to help him find a job.

So, whilst I scoured the UF Jobs site, I found a very interesting post. Here it is word for word:

The College of Journalism and Communications seeks an innovative, interdisciplinary scholar for a one-year appointment as a Visiting Professor of Online Journalism.

Essential Functions:

• Teach up to three courses in both Fall and Spring semesters.
• Provide leadership in integrating new technology and techniques.
• Assist in program development, interdisciplinary curriculum, and other initiatives as appropriate and assigned.

Minimum Requirements:

• Minimum Requirements: A Ph.D. in Journalism, Mass Communication, Digital Media or a related field is preferred.
• Experience creating multimedia content for major news organizations
• Experience as a newsroom manager
• Expertise in industry best practices
• Intimate Knowledge of XHTML, CSS, video editing, audio editing and content-management systems
• Excellent command of written and spoken English including the ability to express ideas clearly orally or in writing
• Excellent human-relations skills

Preferred qualifications:

• Programming ability in applications such as Django and Python
• Experience in qualitative and quantitative research is preferred
• A track record of teaching at a the university level is strongly preferred

Where are they going to find someone who knows all this crap, has a Ph.D. and has experience doing all of it in a news room. That is without mentioning that it doesn’t seem to be an opening for a permanent job.

Other things I found while looking through these job listings:

• Job postings are a way to make you feel inferior. They want to give you the job and make it seem like they made an exception so that you feel obligated to work harder.
• I think I’m being underpaid. Other people with the same job seem to be making more.
• I could be making more money at this moment being a painter or carpenter, though I know it won’t work out that way in the long run.

Chime in my friends.