Restless Reporter Syndrome

It strikes without warning, often within a few months of starting a new job. Suddenly you're out of place, disoriented as if waking up in a hotel room in the middle of the night. Your heart races, your mood sinks. Suddenly you can't sleep and are making frequent trips to the post office.

If these symptoms describe you, you may suffer from Restless Reporter Syndrome, or RRS.


Perhaps the most frequent comment heard by agents is, "Get me outta here."

If you've said that recently, or every day, you suffer from Restless Reporter Syndrome.

RRS can strike at any age, though it usually hits young people in their first jobs about six months in. Bad stations, bad jobs, bad managers and a bad city are, you guessed it, a bad combination. Suddenly you feel trapped, and you have to escape. The problem is that those who suffer from RRS often grab the first offer that comes along out of desperation, and end up in a similar situation. Then RRS returns in a few months and the cycle begins all over again.


RRS side effects include projectile vomiting, green-eyed jealousy, significant long distance bills and overindulgence in Haagen-Dazs. Seek immediate psychiatric help for trips to the Post Office lasting longer than four hours.


RRS makes you do things you shouldn't do. You send out tapes before you're ready, you convey your desperation to any News Director who calls. The patience needed to hone your skills is non-existent. The impulse to change your resume tape every week cannot be controlled.

The cure for RRS is something few young people possess; the ability to look long term. Will that second job help you achieve your ultimate goal, or is it just a way out of your current misery? If the answer is the latter, don't move.


The only cure for RRS must come from within.