i bleed news

It was another holiday yesterday and I still have work (take note: no salary increase whatsoever). I have already experienced a lot of holidays in the past 2 months wherein I am at work. In short, with my job i really don't have any holidays at all. Whether or not Pres. Arroyo declared one hundred holidays in a year, it will not affect me. In fact, we do have work even on Christmas. I guess I just need to get used to it.

I came to realized after almost 2 months at work, what my job really is. Delivering news or being part of a news organization is not really work in a sense. I mean, it is first and foremost a service or a vocation. We serve the public by giving them accurate information that is also relevant to them. We try to cater to their needs and wants by giving them the thing they must know. We deliver national issues, political news, economic stories, and everything under the sun and the moon. Well, I don't exactly feel it that way as of now. But seeing the veterans in the industry, I could see the passion these people put into their work. I mean, they would really try to make sure we broadcast it first and of course more importantly, we broadcast it right.

It also dawned on me that working for news is like working for a hospital. We are like doctors and nurses. First, as mentioned, we do not have holidays! Second, our holidays are in fact the busiest of all days. Example on New Year, we work, doctors work too. Even if there is a Signal # 4 typhoon, we still have work and I am assuming doctors also work harder that day because of possible accidents that may be brought by the storm. So you see, we are like doctors, working almost 24 hours a day, doesn't have holidays at all and works harder during time sof calamities and disasters. Did I also mention that we are ON CALL 24/7. If a breaking news arises and we are already sleeping at home, our bosses can still contact us and ask us to be at the office asap.

On the same manner, we are also like the police, army, lawyers and to some extent like priests and nuns. All of these profession are in a sense a vocation, a calling. And ON CALL all the time.I mean, if you are a journalist, you must bleed news. It is not just a job, but must be a vocation. It is a 24/7 job and not just an 8-hour job. When you get home, you are still a journalist and is on call always. It is a life.

As of now, I'm happy where I am. But I am sad thinking that I will never have a holiday in my life. I am not yet that passionate for the job. I stil have many rants. I still do not have the thing that drives the veterans to succeed and exceed their potentials. I hope I can be. But that we can't tell for now.