I just came across a bit of interesting news. A fellow I was to room with at the recent Associated Press Sports Editors judging for the national contest is no longer in the business. Chris Iott of the Citizen Patriot in Jackson, Mich., took a buyout recently. He and I met at the convention in Las Vegas in February, fully expecting to share a room. The assignments were changed, however, and that didn’t happen, but we had the chance to visit.
I read his farewell column recently and thought I’d share his perspective on what we do.
Chris opened thusly:
It was late fall. Fans were bundled up in their Carhartts. Children peered through their own clouded breath. People on the sidelines stomped their feet in an attempt to keep the blood flowing.
It was cold.
“A sports reporter turned to a coworker and complained briefly. The other guy put it in perspective.
“See those people?” he said, pointing to the bleachers. “They already worked an eight-hour day. They paid to get in.
“We spent all day with our kids. We’re getting paid to watch football. And we have the best seats in the house.”
My seat just got a little farther away.
He also wrote:
At 39 years old, I have too many years left in my career to try to outlast the newspaper business. So when someone handed me a parachute, well, I jumped. I accepted a buyout.
Who knows what’s in store for us still in it. A buddy whose daughter is in journalism asked me about it recently. I couldn’t tell him what form newspapers would take in the coming years (months?), only that there will always be a place for the written word. Hopefully, too, there will continue to be a place that demands the credibility and ethics that news organizations operate under. We shall see.
