In part one, I counted the blessings of working for 20 years for CMP (newspaper, magazines and websites in the technology industry) a job I almost didn’t get because Gerry Leeds, the owner, was still involved in hiring in April 1979 when I joined the company. He advised Al Perlman, the editor of Computer Systems News, not to hire me because I had four jobs in five years. Al hired me anyway, and I must have done something right. At Comdex in 1980, I mentioned to Gerry I had been at CMP longer than any other employer. He sent champagne to the CSN breakfast table to celebrate.
I started in 1974 with the Associated Press (international news service which provides information to the media) which, for a lot of reasons, wasn’t a blessing. I relearned again, the hard way, that crappy management makes for an unhappy work experience. I can only say that the late James M. Ragsdale laid me off by walking past me and sticking a note in my mailbox. Classy, and typical of him. My colleagues were great, but working for a cad doesn’t feel like a blessing. Of course, it was, in a way, because it gave me the experience I needed for my next job.
My second job was at United Press International (a now mostly-defunct AP competitor). It was, by comparison, the Disneyland of wire services. Look at Stories of a Young Journalist for details.
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