Some exciting stuff today: First, we have a new Tuesday section rolling out called On the Move. I’ve heard from some of you that, besides the newsy items and stories, you’re also interested in some of the shuffling going on around the industry, like who’s getting promoted and hired. I do get a fair amount of scoops about news like this, but I didn’t really have a place for them anywhere in the newsletter — until now!

Going forward, you’ll see that here every Tuesday. And if you have a big announcement to share in your own world, shoot me a note and it might appear on the list.

Also, I spoke with a bunch of women in media about the ‘final straw’ that led them to quit their toxic jobs and find something better on the other side. Plus: Axios looks at Trump’s much harsher treatment of women reporters, our scoop on a quiet wave of cuts at The Wall Street Journal and more intel in Seen and Heard.

xoxo,

Stephanie

I’ve realized over the years that people rarely leave a toxic job because of some abstract reason. It’s usually a slow burn that starts with pushing through red flags and earnestly trying to give things a chance, until there’s that one clarifying moment at work when you realize: damn, I really need to get the hell on up out of here.

I’ve never experienced that feeling more acutely than when I was working as a data analyst for National Geographic in D.C. There were constant reorganizations happening in my group, including the worst one, when 90 percent of my group got moved to other teams, leaving just me to handle data requests for the TV department (we had three channels at the time and more than 100 people). The hours were brutal. I got a modest promotion out of it, which felt like a twisted consolation prize in its own right, since they didn’t want me to go but also weren’t all that bothered to hire more people to lighten the load, either. I was living this cruel irony of earning more than I ever had while also being the unhappiest I’d ever felt.

Even though the work arrangement was diabolical, I stayed for two years. See, even though the work hours sucked, my coworkers were amazing, which is why I was there for way longer than I should have. Then, my final straw came. 

One day, I was so overloaded with requests at work that I fell asleep at my desk. I didn’t wake up until the janitor tapped me on the shoulder at 10 p.m. That’s when I knew. Serendipitously, that same week, I got an offer for a features editor job at The Washington Post Express (without a doubt, the best job I’ve ever had). The whole thing kind of felt like that final scene of ‘The First Wives Club’ where they sing that ‘You Don’t Own Me’ song and burst through the doors to leave. Except instead of singing that about a cheating husband, I was actually singing it to Rupert Murdoch as I was skipping down M Street (really, I just went to Chipotle and celebrated with a chicken quesadilla, where the workers who knew me erupted in a chorus of “Yas, bitch!” when I told them the news like the Dupont Circle town crier).

That’s all to say, I was interested in hearing from other women in media about their own last straws. I asked a few to share their stories and how they found something better on the other side. Obviously, not everyone can just up and quit a bad job, especially in this hellish job market we’re all living in. But if you’re already wondering whether it’s time to go, maybe their stories will give you a little clarity.

The TV research analyst who was given an ultimatum: work or family

I started quiet quitting after three years of overperforming and a missed promotion. My manager immediately ramped up their toxic/micromanaging act in those last six to eight months. This ranged from purposely giving me ‘urgent’ projects after 5 p.m. to interrupting my lunchtime not even 10 minutes in to counting my vacation days down to the hour I had accumulated.