| San Jose Mercury News | 750 Ridder Park Drive, San Jose, CA 95190 |
| www.sjmercury.com | Fax: (408) 271-3689 |
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History of the word
Ever in step with changing times and technologies, The San Jose Mercury News has changed its name a few times over the years. It was founded as the San Jose Weekly Visitor in 1851. It changed its name to The San Jose Telegraph two years later, in honor of the advent of that technology, which revolutionized the transmission of information. Along the way, "Mercury" was added (this time in honor of the city's mercury mines) and "Telegraph" was dropped. Finally, the 1983 death of the Mercury's sister newspaper, The San Jose News, gave the paper the name it goes by today.
Rising from the shadows
The Mercury News' fortune has risen and fallen and risen again with that of its hometown. Long California's capital city, San Jose lost the honor to Sacramento and was overshadowed by the nearby, booming city of San Francisco. But as Silicon Valley exploded onto the scene as the nation's computer technology epicenter, The Mercury News was able to draw on its long tradition and rapidly soaring circulation to rise to international prominence as "the newspaper of Silicon Valley." The paper has 13 bureaus, including the first permanent post-war American bureau in Vietnam.
Solid, big-city
With a weekday circulation of almost 300,000, The Mercury News is a solid big-city daily with two Pulitzer Prizes under its belt. Besides the flagship paper, the company also produces Spanish- and Vietnamese-language weeklies, Nuevo Mundo and Viet Mercury, both of which are available online (www.nuevomundo.com and www.vietmercury.com). As a member of Knight Ridder's media stable, the paper is supported by a national parent company which runs 33 dailies, including The Miami Herald and The Philadelphia Inquirer.
Online newspaper pioneer
The Mercury News not only benefits from the revenues provided by its techie readers, it also caters to them by keeping up with new technologies. The Mercury News was one of the first newspapers to publish all of its editorial content online. Introduced in 1993 on AOL, the paper's Mercury Center site has won loads of praise for its technology coverage, which is constantly expanding. In February 1999, The Mercury News introduced the SiliconValley.com site, which features continuously updated news about the tech industry and Silicon Valley in particular. Two months later, the Mercury Center site launched the Asia Tech Update, a daily section devoted to technology news from the Pacific Rim - an area with strong business ties to Silicon Valley. And in September 1999 the newspaper teamed up with Audible, Inc. to create a daily audio digest and with DVDWave.com to boost the MercuryCenter.com web site.
A close call
The newspaper has recently had to deal with the skyrocketing cost of living in Silicon Valley, making it difficult for Mercury News reporters and staff to make a living there. In June 2000 fifteen hundred employees threatened to strike if they weren't given adequate pay raises. A last-minute deal was reached and the strike was averted; the new contract calls for 4.15 percent pay raises for reporters and editors and 4.63 percent pay raises for all other employees - a far cry from the 10 percent raise the employees wanted but still among the highest settlements in the country.
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Like at any large daily newspaper, editorial jobs are hard to come by at the Mercury News. Job openings are posted on the company's web page, but these are normally in areas such as production or sales. One sales insider claims that a sales interview may include "role playing and interviewing with several levels of management." However, "Unless you're some kind of genius with a law degree or something," says one insider, "Merc is not going to be your first job out of school." College students and graduates interested in writing and copy-editing positions should consider the highly competitive, paid summer internship. According to insiders, copy-editing interns are often kept on as part-time "casuals." Reporting interns come away with clips from a major daily newspaper.
Remember that for writing positions, clips of published writing are a must. Applicants for staff writing positions generally have several years of experience at mid-sized dailies. It's worth the trouble getting in though - one source tells Vault.com that "the Merc is a veritable stepping stone to the Wall Street Journal."
Those interested in on-line journalism should keep an eye on the web postings for opportunities at this high-tech-friendly publication. Resumes may be e-mailed to jobs@sjmercury.com. Applicants should keep in mind that, as a rule, newspaper editors strongly prefer not to receive phone calls. Let your resume and writing samples do the talking.
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Not worse than others
Employees call the Mercury News an "exceptional" place to work. The dress code is "Silicon Valley casual" and the management style "fairly informal" and "team-oriented." One source warns, however, that "there is a lot of middle management," adding that "we're constantly watching the bottom line." Long hours and working weekends are the norm for daily journalism, but the Mercury News is no worse than others.
Beautiful San Jose
While the paper pays a competitive salary, the beauty, safety, and great weather in San Jose does not come cheap. Living is expensive and the rental market extremely tight. Still, employees are paid overtime for those extra hours and the benefits are said to be "fantastic." A retirement plan and full medical and dental benefits "are mandated by our union, the Newspaper Guild." There are also union and non-union 401(k) programs (union has 15 percent pre-tax, no matching; non-union has 15 percent pre-tax, 10 percent after tax, and up to 3 percent matching), and employees can purchase Knight Ridder stock at 85 percent of market price. In addition to sick pay and generous vacation time after five years, all employees "get their birthdays off with pay."
Guiding light
Potential applicants should bear in mind that "high tech is this newspaper's guiding light." If you're computer unfriendly, you might find another place to work since "computers are the mantra here, affecting the whole corporate culture." While the coast is clear at the moment, a possible drawback to working at the Mercury News could be clashes between unionized workers and parent company Knight-Ridder. Insiders have become concerned about the potential for flare-ups of tension after clashes between management and union at another Knight-Ridder paper, the Detroit Free Press.
As far as minority and women's issues, one insider notes that "there are more women working here than men in many capacities." "The company is very diverse," says another source. "The staff reflects the community." While that same source admits that "there are very few women and minorities in positions of real power," the paper's Managing Editor, General Manager, CFO, and Vice President of Marketing are all female. Still, another source points out that "throughout the industry, it's still very much the old boys' network."
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c/net;Los Angeles Times;The San Francisco Chronicle;The Wall Street Journal;Wired
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