Pasadena, CA – Lots of jobs have been out-sourced overseas: manufacturing jobs, then services like technical support and airline reservation lines. But this one is a bit out-of-the-ordinary.
It’s a job posting looking for “a newspaper journalist based in India to report on the city government and political scene of Pasadena, California.”
The posting was placed by a Web site called pasadenanow.com. Editor and publisher James Macpherson acknowledges that it sounds strange to have journalists in India covering news in Pasadena. But he says it can be done that way, now that the weekly Pasadena City Council meetings can be watched over the Internet. And he says the idea makes business sense because of India’s lower labor costs.
More news for less money.
He says it doesn’t matter if you’re in Pasadena or Mumbai, “You’re still just a phone call or e-mail away from the interview.”
The plan has its skeptics. A journalism professor at USC who lives in Pasadena calls it a “truly sad picture of what American journalism could become.”
Geez…is there anything that isn’t outsourced these days?
You may be surprised just how common this actually is John, although I don’t think I’ve seen an outsourced journalist covering local government and politics before.
This really shows how naieve the newspapwer managers are. Unless the reporter is just redeading questions off a script, s/he is going to have no idea what to even ask on many issues.
How do you ask an intelleget follow-up question about a freeway project when you’v never driven, ridden-on or even SEEN a modenr freeway? Yet, lots of South Asians have never been on a modern piece of roadway like is so central to California life.
If you have ever moved to India or some other siginificantly different culture, you know exactly what I’m talking about. You’re first couple of years are spenr trying to fathom just how wrong you were going into the culture, despite all the book you read to get prepared!
To make matters worse, many Indians I me believe they understand everything about America when, in fact, all they really know is TV. How close is TV to reality? Preconceptions are actually worse that total ignorance.
But this is not a criticism of Indians — there is NO WAY an American could report on India without living there full-time.
I was living in Pakistan after 911 when all the press came flooding in. To my knowledge, no American news sources keeps a reporter in Pakistan, let alone it’s largest city, Karachi.
It was widely reported in the local press that lots of guys spent a couple bucks and had press credentials forged. Then they told ABSOLUTELY LIED to the western reporters … . I mean, they just totally made all the stories up, totally out of their imagination, and it was reported on CNN, Fox, New York Times, etc etc.
These reporters were at least physically in the country. How easy a mark would you be if you were reporting from another continent?
#2 hits it right on the head. One of a journalist’s greatest tools is analysis in context. It is impossible to understand the ramifications of an event if one does not understand the society, community, and context it occurs in.
A better idea for Editor Nimrod is to allow any journalist to apply, and then maybe he’d get an expat living in Omaha who’d do a better job abd be reasonably cheap, too. But it’s obvious that asshat wants a journalist for pennies, not dollars, a day.
He should have his job outsourced as it doesn’t appear to require any intelligence or sensitivity to perform.
#2 hits it right on the head. One of a journalist’s greatest tools is analysis in context. It is impossible to understand the ramifications of an event if one does not understand the society, community, and context it occurs in.
A better idea for Editor Nimrod is to allow any journalist to apply, and then maybe he’d get an expat living in Omaha who’d do a better job abd be reasonably cheap, too. But it’s obvious that asshat wants a journalist for pennies, not dollars, a day.
As Pedro said, he should have his job outsourced as it doesn’t appear to require any intelligence or sensitivity to perform.
#2, Greg,
Great post.
What’s really starting to get to me is who continues to push the outsourcing envelope; the very ones with the greatest ability – and obligation, considering what American society has done for them – to pay the going rate to keep the American worker and economy afloat.
I mean, is this some poor little burg with no tax base, crumbling infrastructure, &c? Jaysus, no – it’s Pasadena.
The contempt and ingratitude that America’s rich have toward the very people and economy that facilitated their wealth is a never-failing source of amazement to me.
Needless to point out, Pasadena is a Republican stronghold… They might as well put it on the city flag: “Fuck America, I’m Doin’ Great!”
Just remember: income redistribution is an unspeakable Commie evil – except when the upper class is it’s beneficiary.
If Mr. Macpherson decides to have a kid, will Mrs. Macpherson go along with his outsourcing plans too?
I’m now waiting for JCD to outsource this blog.
This great irony. The media has been such cheerleaders when the out-sourcing wasn’t their jobs. Let see how they like it now.
This blog has always been outsourced. It comes from all over the place.
Muppets!!
You missed the chance to post a pic of John wearing a turban, or whatever comical ethnic headgear they wear over there. 🙂
Agree with gregallen. Most of our impressions of America is shaped by the media and Hollywood. For instance, one of the common perceptions in India is that family is totally non existent in America and every marriage is bound to end in divorce. But, when we interact with our American colleagues, we realize that this is totally untrue and a myth formed out of watching crap like the Bold and the beautiful!!!