Visiting the Old Gray Lady
When I was in 8th grade, my science teacher signed my yearbook by writing "I'll be looking for your byline in the New York Times someday." I got some similar sentiments in congratulatory cards when I graduated from Colby. I don't have a particular desire to work at the notoriously hypercompetive and stressful NYT, but y'know, I wouldn't turn them down. Today I got my first chance to visit what people seem to jokingly think of as my destiny when I went on a tour of the Times building in (where else?) Times Square.
The trip was arranged by my classmate Sugi, who teaches journalism to high school girls at the Asian American Writers Workshop, and invited the rest of our arts seminar at Columbia to come along. Besides finding time to teach a class outside of J-School, Sugi is one of the people discussed in a post below who has a way more impressive resume than me. She graduated from Harvard the same year I graduated from Colby, was hired by the Atlantic Monthly right out of school, then wrote for the Wall Street Journal and the Chronicle of Higher Education, before getting a degree in creative writing from the Iowa Writers Workshop. A few days ago, she signed a two-book deal with Random House to publish her novels. To reiterate: I covered the school board.
Anyway, Sugi is friends with Times reporter Jennifer 8. Lee, who led the tour. (Yes, that's the number 8 in her name. You may have come across her "Man Date" story, which was one of the NYT's most emailed for a long time last year.) She was really great and had some fun stories about her experiences, but as she talked, I realized that working at the Times didn't sound all that different from working at the Gazette. The deadlines, getting called out to cover such-and-such at the last minute, having editors chop up your stories, etc.
I don't know what I expected her to say. Being a reporter for the Times seems so glamorous, but I guess the "reporter" part of the job description seems to be pretty much the same everywhere. Same with the office itself -- completely indistinguishable from the newsroom at the Gazette or anywhere else, with desks and papers and computers. The only major difference: the long, long hallway with pictures of every Pulitzer winner from the Times.
The trip was arranged by my classmate Sugi, who teaches journalism to high school girls at the Asian American Writers Workshop, and invited the rest of our arts seminar at Columbia to come along. Besides finding time to teach a class outside of J-School, Sugi is one of the people discussed in a post below who has a way more impressive resume than me. She graduated from Harvard the same year I graduated from Colby, was hired by the Atlantic Monthly right out of school, then wrote for the Wall Street Journal and the Chronicle of Higher Education, before getting a degree in creative writing from the Iowa Writers Workshop. A few days ago, she signed a two-book deal with Random House to publish her novels. To reiterate: I covered the school board.
Anyway, Sugi is friends with Times reporter Jennifer 8. Lee, who led the tour. (Yes, that's the number 8 in her name. You may have come across her "Man Date" story, which was one of the NYT's most emailed for a long time last year.) She was really great and had some fun stories about her experiences, but as she talked, I realized that working at the Times didn't sound all that different from working at the Gazette. The deadlines, getting called out to cover such-and-such at the last minute, having editors chop up your stories, etc.
I don't know what I expected her to say. Being a reporter for the Times seems so glamorous, but I guess the "reporter" part of the job description seems to be pretty much the same everywhere. Same with the office itself -- completely indistinguishable from the newsroom at the Gazette or anywhere else, with desks and papers and computers. The only major difference: the long, long hallway with pictures of every Pulitzer winner from the Times.
posted by Ryan Davis | 4:13 PM
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