work rant--Am I wrong for being upset?

[spunkmaster]

Ok, so I'm a sports writer for the town newspaper where I go to school. I cover high school sports, and I absolutely LOVE it.

 

Yesterday I get a phone call from my boss, saying he got a phone call from the St. Louis Post Dispatch (aka one of the BIGGEST papers in the state). He tells me that they need someone to bail them out for the boys Super Sectional game tonight, and asked if I would like to write for them...OMG ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!?! Of COURSE I want that opportunity!! I don't even want to go into journalism, but I would still KILL to be published in a paper that big! So I tell him of course, I'll absolutely do it! And then, the fun begins...

 

Today rolls around, and he calls me this afternoon to tell me I need to call and reserve a seat in the press section at the place where the game is. He also says I need to call the St. Louis sports editor to find out my deadline. No big deal. Whatev. So I call and reserve a seat, then call the people in St. Louis, who tell me I have a 10:00 o'clock deadline! For a 7:30 game? Are you serious? For a regular, non-post season game, I won't even get out of the place until 9:15...but whatever. I tell myself I'll make it work.

 

So I go downtown to get to where I need to be. I get there half an hour early (I live in the same city as where the game is being held)...and of course, the place was already packed...so I end up parking like 3 blocks away. I go inside, sign in at the press gate, and go and find my spot...whatever. All is well. I get to where I am supposed to be and I look around...out of NINE newspapers and SEVEN radio stations...I am the ONLY GIRL there?! What is up with that crap?! So I get over being the only girl, and enjoy the game (it was a good game, by the way...Team A bought points in the first half by fouling and using Team B's inability to shoot in the first half, then that came back and bit them in the second half--they had two players foul out, while Team B went on an unanswered 12 point scoring streak-- and Team B came back to win, 44-38).

 

After the game, I am the FIRST person to get to the coach for an interview, and he's like, ok I'll talk to you as soon as I go talk to the kids. So I wait...and wait...and wait some more. Meanwhile, all the MALE reporters are going in and out of the locker room as they please! Finally, the coach comes out and talks to me, and is NICE enough to put everything into SIMPLE terms so I can understand it. I KNOW the intricacies, just because I am a girl, I'm not stupid!! So I finish his interview, and ask if I can talk to two of his players, to which he says "sure, I'll send them out when they get out of the shower"...so I wait, and wait some more, and finally, after waiting for 15 minutes, I give up and leave. I walk outside of the place, and behind the building, all the players are loading on the bus!! Are you KIDDING ME?! I'm writing a story about YOUR team for one of THE BIGGEST papers in the STATE, but because I'm a girl, you assume I don't know what I'm doing and ignore me? I don't think so!!

 

So by the time I get back to the office to write the story, it's already 9:40...my deadline was 10:00. So I scramble to throw a decent story together, and I send them the article 10 minutes late. Big woo...I call the Sports editor in St. Louis, and I get somebody different than I talked to before, and he's like, Hi, do you need to know the score to the game? And I tell him, no I just sent him the story for team so and so...this is followed by a long pause on his end, followed by an "Ooohhh" like he's thinking to himself, "A girl wrote a sports story?" and he checks to make sure he got it and what not, and he's all super nice- like "Thank you SOOOOO much for covering for us on this one, I'll get in touch with you if I have any questions!"

 

Needless to say, I didn't get a call back. Maybe that's because I KNOW what I'm doing! And to top it all off, I may not get paid for it, because the stupid story was 10 minutes late, even though they definitely set a crazy deadline. Boo to all that noise!!!

 

And to add insult to injury, I walked around downtown for nearly an HOUR trying to remember where I parked my car.

 

MORAL OF THE STORY: There needs to be more female sports writers! And I need one of those car alarm key thingies so I can find my car.

 

 

 

Sorry, just wanted to get that feminist rant off my chest!

[friscodj]

Hey spunk-

 

That was a great rant! I can definitely see this happening in the testosterone-driven sexist world of male-dominated sports like basketball.

 

But the deeper message here is that you sound like a motivated, passionate, and downright driven writer who LOVES her job. This situation above is only one situation among many but the basis seems to be in place for success for you. That is very obvious to me. You will go far no matter what I can tell. And I think sexist motivations like this will only provide more drive and focus for you to reach these heights in your profession.

[I_KicKed_keNNedy]

As someone else who works in news media (television), I can offer the following guarantees:

 

1) It will always be needed an hour before you can get it done. (Famous line: I want it yesterday so it'll run tomorrow.)

 

2) You can't rely on anyone.

 

3) In the sports division, females will never get the respect they deserve (except when they file their EEO report at the end of the fiscal year).

 

4) You want something done right? Do it yourself. But don't worry, someone else will tell always be there to tell you what you did wrong.

[lonely_me]

That stinks. I'm a female working in a predominantly male field as well, and while nothing quite so drastic has ever happened to me, I kinda know where you are coming from. It stinks that you didn't get the respect you deserve, but keep in mind that you got the job done anyway. Since they didn't call you back, it probably means you did the job well. That says volumes more than how other people treated you. The fact that you were able to do what you needed on your own says a lot, you should be proud of yourself!

[spunkmaster]

Hey spunk-

 

That was a great rant! I can definitely see this happening in the testosterone-driven sexist world of male-dominated sports like basketball.

 

But the deeper message here is that you sound like a motivated, passionate, and downright driven writer who LOVES her job. This situation above is only one situation among many but the basis seems to be in place for success for you. That is very obvious to me. You will go far no matter what I can tell. And I think sexist motivations like this will only provide more drive and focus for you to reach these heights in your profession.

 

 

 

Aww...Thanks!

[Jetta]

I thought they were past this locker room crap 10 years ago when female TV reporters finally allowed in. Looks like you have to quite being so nice and start pushing for equal treatment. You have some barriers to break.