On Saturday, Newsbusters' Tom Blumer wrote about the work strain that young Mike Elk, a Politico reporter who wants to unionize his workplace, imagines himself to be enduring. Well, a quick check at Politico reveals that the Boy Wobbly wrote a grand total of five stories since October 16. On average only about one story every three weeks. Such a strain!
The best (and most laughable) part of the story is this money quote from Elk destined to live on for all eternity unto the end of time:
“I can’t work the kind of hours I did when I was 24,” says Elk, who is 28.
So how does the "tremendous" Elk workload stack up against his Politico colleagues? Here is a sampling of the Politico proletariat that Boy Wobbly wants to organize into a union:
David Naher, senior policy reporter: 10 articles since December 29.
Brett Norman, health care reporter: 10 articles since November 20.
Trevor Eischen: 10 articles since January 29!!!!
Michael Crowley, foreign affairs correspondent: 10 articles since December 18.
Hadas Gold: 10 articles since December 22.
I could go on and on but I think you get the point. The weakest link in the Politico chain is squeaking the loudest about his imaginary workload. It turns out this isn't the first case of self-pitying bellyaching by Mike Elk about what a horrible "strain" work is for him. The photo above is of the Boy Wobbly after crowdsourcing for a Florida vacation he thought he deserved. Here is Elk whining a year ago to the world about why he thought he was entitled to that freeloading vacation:
After covering the Chattanooga Volkswagen labor dispute for the last 6 months -- and not really sleeping for the last two months -- I am beat and in desperate need of some time in the sun. Alas, as a labor reporter, I can't actually afford to take a real vacation because most people read my work without actually paying for it.
But don't beat yourself up. If you feel guilty about this, here is an opportunity to cleanse your conscience: A generous reader has offered to match any donations to my "vacation" fund up to $500 -- money that won't only pay for past informative journalism, but a piece I am working on down in Florida. Now, before you send me emails demanding that I use the money to relax and find a golden retriever puppy to play with while laying on the beach listening to Gal Costa, I'm covering (when I feel like it) another longtime passion of mine -- baseball. I have gotten credentialed to cover my hometown Pittsburgh Pirates in spring training. So if you donate, not only can you feel good about yourself and my working holiday, but you can read an awesome labor reporter perspective on what it's like to hang around a Major League clubhouse.
A Google search reveals no such article by Elk about the Pirates so will he now return the Florida vacation money he scammed from his CrowdSource donors?
Exit question: Has the Boy Wobbly taped an outdated IWW poster to wall of his Politico cubicle yet?
