Here’s How I Survived My First Week As An Unemployed Reporter

Posted on by Andrea V. Watson

I first posted about how I felt when I was laid off.  (Check it out here.) The owner of my company decided to abruptly pull the plug. After a full day of reporting, I checked my email like I habitually do every few minutes, and learned that my job was no more. Any story that I was working on wasn’t going to get published by DNAinfo because it was gone. The website took me straight to a message from the owner expressing himself and saying goodbye. All three years of my work had literally disappeared (the site is temporarily back up). There wouldn’t be a phase out period. It was over.

As I expressed in my first post, I was devastated. I love reporting and I worked at a really cool place that let me cover neighborhood stories. I cried, a lot, but then I felt myself get stronger. So here I am a week later. How have you been? I get that a lot. Well, I’ve been great. Like, seriously. I’m alright.

Some of you may have noticed that I’m still writing. Yes, I am. I haven’t taken a break yet. I lost my job a week ago yet I’m still working all day. Nothing has changed except that my editor isn’t asking me for updates throughout the day. I’ll be honest, when I showed up to a press conference on Tuesday, I felt a little self-conscious. I wondered if people would look at me strange or ask awkward questions. As I got ready that morning I wasn’t sure if I still wanted to go. I thought about staying home, but I realized that I had an opportunity to continue sharing good news happening on the South Side. So I went.

Popacorn_me

[I toured the new facility for Popacorn Popcorn Thursday. The owner, Micah Smothers, was great!]

I’m glad I went. I did receive questions, but they weren’t awkward. I received lots of love and hugs. Here I was reporting for free, for this little website I created at the last minute (I’m working on improving it). I wasn’t sure I would receive the same respect, but it was the opposite. People respected me that much more because I was doing something because I wanted to, not because I had to.

The rest of the first week went the same. I did another story. This time an exclusive with a local business. The source hugged me at the end and thanked me for still providing coverage in areas where not enough positive stories are told by the media.

Then today I covered the opening of a new South Side clinic. I stumbled at first when people asked who I was with. I hadn’t quite figured out what I wanted to say, but as I stood around and mingled afterwards, it became easier and easier to answer.

I  realized that for too long I’ve been attaching my name to different companies, most recently DNAinfo, for validation and respect. But no more. I’m sure I’ll end up reporting for another news organization again, but that name isn’t what makes me. People respect me because of who I am and the great work I produce. And if someone sticks their nose up at me because I say I’m currently an independent journalist and I’m not affiliated with a prestigious news outlet, oh well. I’m doing this for me. I’m doing this for the South Side.

You don’t expect a dog to stop barking or a cat to stop licking itself so don’t expect a reporter to stop writing. I’ve been doing this since high school. I did this through college. Before I became a freelancer, I contributed just to get my name out there. I got into this news game working for free because I had drive and passion. That didn’t die with DNAinfo. I don’t know how to stop finding stories. Honestly, they find me. And when they do, I can’t turn my back on them. I can’t turn my back on the people who have gotten used to checking their timelines or morning e-newsletter for my stories about their neighborhoods. Reporting is in my blood. I can’t just stop. Sorry.

99 thoughts on “Here’s How I Survived My First Week As An Unemployed Reporter”

  6. Kudos to you for being authentic, passionate and inspiring! Your article makes a valid point about how we validate our self identification which we define our self images and personhood by. We feel the grief of loss when no longer affiliated with the social groups we use to be part of. It’s human to do so and it sounds like your on a healthy path toward reevaluating and redefining who you are. Meanwhile your talent, passion and grit shine through!

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    1. Thank you. These posts are 100% genuine. I wasn’t sure if I wanted to put my emotions out there for the world but I hope that through my transparency, I’m able to inspire and encourage others.

      Like

      Reply

  17. Hi there, I am a new blogger..been a bit stressed lately so I wrote what I feel being unemployed. Hope you check mine as well I know there are tons of people that can relate.
    missdlblog.wordpress.com

    Like

    Reply
  19. Pingback: Here’s How I Survived My First Week As An Unemployed Reporter — Andrea V. Watson – STILADIVITA

  20. I’m so glad to read this! I heard about DNAinfo closing down everywhere not too long after a new owner bought it, supposedly because of union issues, and it sounded suspiciously like a rich conservative deliberately buying up little liberal news outlets and then closing them down. (I may be wrong, but it’s hard not to be paranoid about this right now.) I was hoping you all would somehow find a way to keep going. Maybe find a new owner, a liberal rich person who understands the value of independent, local reporting, especially in the age of Trump? Or some kind of co-op? Anyway, good luck with your reporting!

    Like

    Reply

Leave a Reply to worldwar507 Cancel reply

Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in:

Gravatar
WordPress.com Logo

You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. ( Log Out /  Change )

Facebook photo

You are commenting using your Facebook account. ( Log Out /  Change )

Cancel

Connecting to %s