From Low Pay to Layoffs, A New Site Reveals The Stuff Journalists Like

David Young and Christopher Ortiz, founders of "Stuff Journalists Like"

You've probably heard of the website "Stuff White People Like," a wickedly funny satire on, well, just what the title indicates (stuff like having black friends, organic food and David Sedaris.)

Now two ex-newspaper reporters, Christopher Ortiz and David Young, have started "Stuff Journalists Like," a blog that riffs on all the things reporters say they hate but must secretly love, given they way they keep coming back for more (stuff like low pay, working holidays and, number 666 on the list, layoffs.)

One particularly wry and observant entry on the list is no. 69: "Dating Other Journalists."

"Journalists’ code of ethics forbid being in bed with sources but the code says nothing about being in bed with fellow journalists," it reads, later adding: "Attempts to date people outside of the newsroom who cannot name gubernatorial candidates, have a limited vocabulary and who don’t know who Hunter S. Thompson is will only lead to a return to dating journalists."

Here then is a Q&A with Ortiz and Young who, if nothing else, are providing a real service by giving folks in the news business something to laugh about at a time when we could all use a few laughs.

Q: How did you get the idea for this site and what made you decide to start it?

David Young: We got the idea one night while playing poker. We were talking about how funny the blog www.stuffwhitepeoplelike.com is. From there we just started talking about stuff that journalists like and the idea was born. As far as starting the actual site, a few days later I came into work and Chris told me he had bought the domain name stuffjournalistslike.com and had created a blog.

Christopher Ortiz: Like David said, it started from us talking about stuffwhitepeoplelike.com and how easy it would be for us to fill a website with the all the little eccentric and silly things journalists like. The step to go forward and actually create a blog, initially through Wordpress, came from a desire from me to get into blogging. I've done personal blogs before but I have always had an interest in blogging in a professional/business sense.

Q: What did you do before starting this site?

David Young: I worked at a small daily newspaper in Colorado covering courts and crime. Chris covered K-12 education and we would come up for ideas for the site while waiting for callbacks. That reminds me, journalists like waiting for callbacks.

Christopher Ortiz: HA! That question sounds like we have made the website our daily gigs. We both worked at the same daily. Though we are both out of newspapers right now, we are trying to find new entry points to get back into the profession. Ideally, the site will give us some publicity and some publisher will come along and offer us both great gigs and tons of cash! Or a decent job with decent pay - whichever comes first.

Q: How do you generate ideas for the items on the site?

David Young: The ideas really just come to us. That first night at the poker game we came up with at least 20 ideas or so. In addition, we have tons of reader feedback with endless ideas. Then there are topics that are meant to be timely such as holograms or throwing shoes.

Q: How many hits are you getting? What kind of response have you had?

David Young: On average we get 500 hits a day, but when other media, like Romenesko, write about us we will get surges. The response has been huge. We get lots of positive comments from readers who relate to the site and say it speaks to them. We have had comments from journalists with the BBC to Billboard praising the site.

Christopher Ortiz: And we are writing the site exclusively for journalists, either by profession or passion. Given that, we knew we would get some traction because, let's face it, journalists like talking and reading about themselves!

Q: Is the site a response in part to the sad state of print journalism these days?

David Young: No, it was never intended to be a commentary on the current state of print journalism today. However, with that being said, the site's topics focus on things that journalists are currently facing, and some of those topics are sad. For instance, the layoffs post was written by Chris the day after I was laid off and I thought it was hilarious. The site is really meant to honor journalists by poking fun at some of their quirks.

Christopher Ortiz: I agree with David. The site was up and running before the bottom really fell out. In this blog, we are always playing inside baseball. With both of us having been journalists, there's always a sense of homage in all our postings, even when we are poking fun. But expectedly, our posts will in someway reflect the state of journalism currently, good or bad. While there are always grains of truth, it's always done with our tongues in our cheeks.