I'm a managing editor at an office with a string of weekly newspapers. I've been in the biz for 10 years now and love what I do. The papers I've edited have repeatedly pulled in major awards from regional press associations, and I'm known for being innovative and driven.
The only problem is, I'm burned out. Over the past year I have, at times, had to cover for up to four vacancies in addition to my usually busy job -- newspapers without editors, newspapers without reporters, or worse, newspapers without either.
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I know this is an industry-wide problem and I am by no means the only one in this predicament, but it's to the point that there are days that I just dread heading into work. I long ago figured out how to punch out some quality work even under the tightest of staffing, but now even that seems near impossible some days.
Lately, I've given thought to leaving the business. My question is, can you come back? I think I'd sooner hand copy "The Iliad" than work a PR gig, but I have found communications jobs posted for companies that really do the type of socially conscious work that has always engaged my journalistic juices as an editor.
I'm very tempted to take one, but I don't really want to leave this business permanently. I've been producing some sort of journalism since fifth grade and can't imagine ever stopping. Ideally, I'd really just like to take a year or two off (at this point, a vacation won't cut it). Is this career suicide?
Right now, I'm probably poised for a higher-end job in our company, but they only come about once in a great while. (I've been a finalist for a couple of them over the past few years and was edged out by some pretty talented competition.) Do newspapers take former colleagues who've taken a hiatus at a high-paying job outside the biz seriously?
Crispy Around the Edges
Your plight is not unusual for editors of weeklies, though it sounds as if you're at the far end (the one near the edge of the cliff).
Despite all the stress, you worry that you won't be able to get back into journalism if you leave. So don't leave yet. Give it one more shot. Ideally, you'll recover some sanity and do what you love and what fulfills you.
I'd pitch myself as an editor -- they often are in high demand -- and I would try to make the transition to a daily so that you'll be doing a new kind of editing.
If a new journalism job on a new publishing cycle doesn't ease the pain, then you'll be much clearer on what to do.
Coming Thursday: This veteran big-city journalist wonders what options there will be if the ax falls.
