Someone I really like has just been promoted, I think. The major
news outfit he works for has named him and another guy Ingest
Managers. According to the announcement, these lads "will serve as
the first points of contact for all feed, tape and disk ingest."
I've ingested a lot of things I shouldn't have - my biggest failings
are large chocolate bars after a huge meal and a generous goblet of
brandy after many adult beverages - but I've never indulged in the eating
of tape or disks. I wonder what sort of wine you serve with a 1997 tape
of "Meet The Press."
You have to be careful how you say "Ingest Manager." If you over-
heard someone talking about this job, you might think they were
making fun of it and were calling my friend an In Jest Manager. Look-
ing back on my own days as a manager and all the clowning around I
did, maybe that's what my title should have been. I wasn't the Executive
Editor. I was the In Jest Manager. A joke, although I would like to think
that a few people thought I was only a loud, opinionated roughneck who
meant well.
If you weren't listening closely, you could also possibly think my
friend's new position was Incest Manager, a vital post at summer camp
to make sure teenage cousins of the opposite sex keep a proper distance.
The announcement about the Ingest Managers said they would
"develop and implement a new workflow for the intake of material."
Journalists don't have trouble collecting material. The tough part is
deciding what to throw away, what not to use. Will there be another
company memo shortly naming two Egest Managers? I only know
that "egest" is the opposite of "ingest" because I looked it up.
When you get a new assignment and a new title, it's human nature to
want to tell your family and friends and brag a little. My friend (let's call
him Matthew because he does have a biblical name but that isn't it) is
smart, and I can't imagine him firing off e-mails and making phone calls
letting people know that he is now an Ingest Manager. Maybe he's
spreading the news about a new job but not mentioning the title.
Could Matthew and the other guy ask that the job title be changed to
something less ridiculous? Even Collection Agent would be better than
Ingest Manager. And if Matthew decides someday to seek a job at another
news organization is he really going to put Ingest Manager on his
resume? Won't a sharp executive at a competing organization find that
funny?
"You were a what? An Ingest Manager? You got to be kidding! What
the hell is that?"
Wait a second, Larry. What's wrong with you? If one news outfit has an
Ingest Manager, before long so will others. Networks in particular love to
copy what their competition does. It won't be long before the world is
faced with The Invasion Of The Ingest Managers! When they make the
movie, I think Nicolas Cage should play Matthew.
(Posted April 27, 2010)
After I posted this, a number of people I used to work with told me
other networks had named Ingest Managers long before CBS News.
One person mentioned a distaste for other trendy but silly titles in the
news business - Content Producer and Digital Journalist. Isn't calling
someone a content producer preposterous? Have you ever met a producer
who was content? And what is a digital journalist? Someone who can
count to ten or has all his fingers and toes?
