An Associated Press photo editor unwittingly told the world she was looking for a new job when she shared her cover letter for a position at BuzzFeed Monday.
Karly Domb Sadof, a national desk photo editor at AP’s headquarters in New York, seems to have copied and pasted part of her cover letter into the photo caption of an image sent out to some of the hundreds of outlets that subscribe to the newswire.
The first part of the caption described the photo of a woman painting a compass on the ground, but continued:
“Instead of starting this cover letter by listing the top ten reasons why I am the perfect candidate to be Buzzfeed’s photo essay editor, or creating a quiz about what type of job applicant, I, Karly Domb Sadof, am (because I imagine you have just finished reading half a dozen cover letters in those formats) I will say I am applying for Buzzfeed’s photo essay editor position because I want to do to photojournalism what the Quiz and “listicle” have done to Lifestyle journalism.”
Sadof moved quickly to excise the “unneeded information” but not before Gawker and journalism blogger Jim Romenesko took note of the screw-up.
The accidental revelation was doubly embarrassing because BuzzFeed is often derided for having a frivolous approach to journalism while the AP, as one of the largest and best-known news brands in the world, used to be an enviable place to work for young journalists. However, BuzzFeed has been on a sustained hiring spree of talented writers and editors in an effort to supplement its GIFs and listicles with more weighty work, and given the deep pockets of the news startup, it’s no surprise people are leaving more established outlets for the New York website.
Sadof has so far kept quiet on her Twitter feed about her mistake, but there’s no doubt BuzzFeed noticed her job application.
