Dude, it is terrible to hear that you are in a slump.

I have no idea what to suggest, but I know journalism is a tough field. You (aspiring journalists in general) can always cover little league for some small town, but once you start to move up the ladder and really use your experience and skills, it seems to get more capricious - per my 2 buddies who have seriously given it a try.

I would maybe make sure to have a steady gig in another area. Cuz people say interviewers, and/or the ladies, can smell the funk of 'desperate' across the room. If you have your acceptable 'fall-back' livelihood, then you can pursue article submissions or job applications with a take-it-or-leave-it approach, and the desperate won't be in the air.

Also - maybe get some good feedback on your cover letters, interviewing style, resume organization, portfolio, etc. You are getting close, but not close enough, so you might need a tweak on something. I will jump on your case abt smoking again: make sure in an in-person interview that you don't smell smokey. (sorry -- like you don't already know you should quit -- just tryin to help).

It is not you, personally, in my opinion, but that we are in a culture that is so fucking selfish, narcissistic, and out of touch with the needs of the many that responsible, invested people like you, and I believe me, are just shoved aside because we don't fit into this dumbass majority.

Play the numbers, man! Keep applying and focus on what you know fits your needs and interests! You have a place here, don't quit!

I won't comment beyond postings like this because the usual suspects suck, and I won't be drawn into their hate and extremisms. I'll keep reading your postings, Philip, because you are on to something. Like, my colleagues suck!!!

Hello. You don't suck so it's not that. You know I'd just keep my mouth shut if it were that. No, you have the chops.

I use to advise my clients to go back to employers when they ran into a string of "almost" hiring interviews to find out what they could do to improve their hit rate. It might not be a bad idea to do this at this point. What have you got to lose?

A woman I know could never get published. Then she began to submit her stuff under her initials: M.E. Jones instead of Mary Ellen Jones. It shouldn't matter--but it did. I suppose we'll never know if it was sexism or increased confidence on her part or both.

Phew. I wish I owned a big, fat mag. I'd hire you in a heartbeat.

Sherry

Only thing I can advise to sell more writing is to appeal to the most common denominators , such as sex. That and whatever is on the magazine racks in the checkout counter. Dry clinical material, or bad news material is unwanted."No one loves the messenger who brings bad news.",Sophocles.
Shooting_the_messenger LINK

I work in non-profit public relations, not straight journalism (though I did in the '90s), but I can relate to the head-banging.

My boss is clueless -- or perhaps I should say, clueful; she's smart but changes her mind on a dime. She actually had the nerve to say to me today she doesn't think I know how to write. (This, someone who yesterday said, "What's this blogging thing?" dead seriously in a staff meeting.)

No, I think the problem is the Internet that sustains you, Philip. People want information. THEY DON'T WANT STORIES. And they certainly don't want good writing.

I realize you provide a compelling narrative (Big Pharma vs. its patients) in FS, and you certainly have your fans (myself included). But in general, I think the writing is on the wall.

I know it is for my current gig, sooner or later. And I'm probably going to be switching professions for the next one.

Philip, your personal integrity is just as important as your professionalism (remember why you left the Weekly?)and people like Warner who carved out a silver spoon in mouth syndrome have it too easy.

Don't give up, and thanks for the quality work you do here. You've won the awards for journalism for a reason.

Dear Philip:

Sorry to hear your batting average has gone south, but you also know that a slump is just that! You just keep swinging the bat and good hitters always come back. As a journalist, you’re a great hitter. I’m not going to blow you air kisses or get naked with you, because that would just be horridly gross and really sick, or you could get published on my Blog for 2 cents a page edited {Smirk}. But in all seriousness, you have great talent; and we can recall throughout literary history, many great writers suffered through incredibly rough times before the gates of publishing bliss opened up before them.
I can only hope you can hang in there, or find a passion that will guide your way through the remainder of your life. You can only be who you are, you can't conform to what others think you are supposed to be, just to get through some idiots door. This Judith Warner was born with a silver spoon in her mouth; of course she gets every door opened up for her. Life isn't fair, it's just life. Follow your passion and hope that it brings you some form of comfort over the long haul.
It’s either that, or saw off your left leg and start training as a one legged high jumper or long jumper for the next Olympics; talk about a great human interest story that will be sure to get published {laughing}.

Yours Truly,
Stan

I think if potential employers google your name, as some do these days, and find you speaking less than kindly about former employers and famous reporters, it may have an impact on their willngness to hire you. Not saying that is fair or right, but employers generally don't like negative if honest statements about former employers or other potential employers. So I would be more cautious in what you write about on your blog while you are job hunting if I were you.

Phillip: You are a true hero. Keep it up. You are like the Irish monks during the Dark Ages who literally kept civilization alive. Don't despair. You have many, many supporters!

You made the difference and I'm sure your work has a great influence on the big picture.
It's a shame that these people who don't hire you know it quite well but they are scared.
The truth has to be sold with makeup...

Forgot to say that being a REAL journalist these days is not easy.

If these people think that they can write on mental health copying and pasting other people's work I'm sorry but they are completely wrong.
It requires a certain knowledge and an understanding that few people have.
Writing about a scandal is easy.
Philip has been working on this not only since he created this blog and what he knows is not written here.
If there's any desire from the media to make a change they don't have people with the skill for that.

"Real journalism consists of what someone doesn't want published, all the rest is public relations." George Orwell

More now than ever. But so is the blogosphere.

I believe you need to ask if you can go all the way with what you've been doing here and fully embrace citizen journalism; I don't think a person can do both.

Unfortunately many people won't listen to an anti-establishment message unless it comes from someone who is already famous and influential. It's good to see the message getting more mainstream acceptance, but it reflects poorly on Judith Warner that she doesn't mention or give credit to less well known writers who have been saying the same thing for a long time.

Sherry's anecdote about her friend who had to use her initials to get her work published reminds me of something I heard many years ago about the famous science fiction writer Ursula LeGuin. After she was well-established and had won some prestigous awards for her stories, she wrote a few things under a fake name and submitted them to publishers to see what difference being unknown would have on how the writing was received. Apparently it made quite a big difference -- some of the publishers were much more likely to believe her work was mediocre and unpromising when it was submitted under the non-famous name. (It was so long ago I don't remember all the details, but I think that's pretty much the essence of what happened).

Anyway I think it goes to show that the importance of things other than talent, skill and ability are often underappreciated. Who you know and how you are perceived can have more effect than what you know, I believe. With that in mind, I think Alison makes a good point about the need for caution. Sadly, it may sometimes be necessary to choose between telling the truth and being adequately compensated.

Fascinating comments here.

In the end though, it is about honesty and directness. Your site is what it is. And, you are right more than wrong. If the mainstream is about what is convenient or easy, wrong business for you. I know there is a niche out there.

It is this alleged choir that tags along.

Just an opinion. As said earlier.

Be well.

Maybe it is time you switched to fiction. How about a plot in which the McCarthy era is revisited but now with databases and Infragard companies.

I remember Ursulsa LeGuin writing that she had never used a pseudo-name except sort of in one instance when she used "U.K. LeGuin" to write for Playboy, that story about all of those clones being in an accident and only one survives.

Would it be possible to try an experiment with a pseudo-name? Maybe not. I know, however, that bosses don't let people tell the truth sometimes, even if prospective employees have done nothing wrong to hide. They just don't want to hear about stuff they don't want to think about.

Would it be politically incorrect to use the words "Pharma Whore"....

I cannot help but wonder as someone who worked in a news room for six years, if Seeley has something to do with this.

It wouldn't be the first time I have heard of editors doing this shit to reporters, think Maxwell and Murdoch.

Keep on going Philip. You inspire the best from us, and are a voice to those of us who have no voice.