DALE BASS RETIRED THIS MONTH after nearly two decades at Kamloops This Week.
I don’t know Dale very well, but I’m well enough aware that she has been a champion of journalism in Kamloops, and her absence will leave a noticeable gap at the city’s only newspaper.
And from what I’m led to believe, Dale has gone out on her own terms.
And that’s good, because it is increasingly rare for our business.
Doug Collins, my boss for the past 12 years, is going out on his own terms, too.
He’s sticking around to help out with the morning radio news run, but is giving up his management responsibilities, instigating a stepped transition into full retirement.
I’m glad he has that luxury, because if we’ve learned anything in local journalism recently, it’s that ending your career on your own terms is not a given.
For every Dale and Doug, there are as many or more who have their careers ended abruptly by faceless executives in far-off media headquarters.
Those execs don’t know their own employees, much less the communities they serve.
Those forced from their longstanding media jobs have little choice but retirement, as similar jobs are few and far between.
They could try retraining, but that requires time, expense and energy they may not have, for a new career that may end up shorter than their training time.
And even uttering the word “retraining” is easy for me, but much more difficult to actually do.
To some degree, this phenomenon is seen in many other industries.
It’s become very prominent in media, however, because of how volatile our industry has become.
The media sector is changing so rapidly – and many of those changes involve getting “leaner,” corporate speak for doing more with fewer resources and fewer people.
I’m not one for nostalgia, and generally I’m of the belief that good ol’ days weren’t actually that good on balance.
But in this case, there is some reason to say it was better way back when.
Way back when you could work your way a few decades into a career and be afforded the option of retiring on your own terms.
More and more, though, those who can are the lucky ones.
Cheers to them.
