For the most part, journalists have the same daily routines as their office civilian counterparts. Sneaking pass the boss after 8 a.m., avoiding the chatty receptionist on the way to the can and including 60-mile personal trips on mileage reports.
But between noon and 1 p.m. is when the similarities end. As people from other offices make their way to the nearest T.G.I. Friday's for lunch, journalists are out there reporting the news. Or worse yet, stuck at their desks.
Inside the confines of newsrooms, the lunch hour doesn't exist.
The concept of lunch is completely alien to journalists.
The “L” word isn’t part of the journalist’s vocabulary. In a world of tightening deadlines, decreased staffing and increased workloads, lunch in the formal sense, doesn’t really exist for journalists.
If a journalist is fortunate enough to get a lunch on any given day between police reports, fires, council meetings and court then it usually takes place in one of two places: a desk or a car.
Such a “lunch” usually consists of something in a can or bag that can be purchased from the ever popular newsroom vending machine.
Staple favorites of the journalist are Ramen noodles, Easy Mac, Soup in a Can, Pop Tarts, leftover anything, fast-food and of course, coffee.
If a journalist isn’t wolfing down something from a greasy paper bag while speeding from one assignment to the next, then he or she is glued to their desk anxiously awaiting the call back that will make or break their story career.
The one time someone from the ad department talks a journalist into taking a legitimate lunch break where actually utensils are used is the time when the alleged adulterous mayor decides to return the journalist's call. In fact, it’s an unspoken rule with journalists that if you want the phone to ring just run to the bathroom for 30 seconds.
The only time time you'll see a journalist actually enjoy a meal and freely leave his or her desk while waiting for a callback is when the circulation gals have their potluck (the potluck that journalists conveniently forget to bring anything to).
Perhaps this is why journalists like free food so much. When journalists are covering their fourth event of the day and hearing the same speech they heard at 7 a.m., a stale bagel and ripe banana can start to look pretty tasty.
Oh, and there is one more reason journalists like to dine at their desks – they can’t afford the lunch specials at T.G.I. Friday’s because of their pay.
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I’m sitting in front of my computer right now in the newsroom shoving a sandwich in my mouth! I stopped by your Web site because I decided that I’m on my “lunch break,” so why sit here doing my actual work, which consists of my very important intern duties of typing up elementary school lunch menus (which actually makes you very hungry and also makes you crave the nachos grande the school cafeteria is serving on Friday.)When I saw “desk dining” I screamed with agreement and laughter, the same “so true” I say every time I read a new post. I’m rushing to eat because I have to run up to the police station before 4 p.m. so I can type up all the loud music complaints that the police department received yesterday, because thats the news I break. An by the way, my lunch consisted of a peanut butter sandwich from mom’s house, which as an unpaid intern is all I can afford…at least it’s preparing me for my future career as a journalist!
Speaking for myself, I miss the days when lunch was something liquid in a pub with a contact on expenses. My first editor told me off for not buying enough booze on expenses.
Just ate a burrito at my desk. It was very tasty, but now I must get back to work.
Uh, yeah. We don’t like desk dining; we do it because it’s the only way we can eat, if we eat at all.
Desk dining is pretty much the only eating you can do on the job…unless you’re getting free food at an event!