GoingFor2.com Looking for Jr Writers for editorial sports content

You posted this to a message board of professional journalists. This isn't a fucking hobby. We're trying to make a living.

I'm glad you're content working for free. You're not offering "compensation." You're offering pittance.

 

What Snark said (without snark). If any of these sites want to, you know, make actual money, it ain't going to be peddling some bullshit from some high-school kid writing in his bedroom in his spare time. The Internet is simultaneously killing newspapers while giving away content and can't pay to get quality content. WTF kind of business model is that, and where will the content come from when newspapers no longer exist? Oh yeah, from Johnny Jamboree in mom's attic. If it's free it's for me!

 

You both sound like grumpy old men. Relax. If this isn't for you, fine. If this is posted in a "professional" job board, then why not "professionally" ask me to not post this here. I simply did a Google search for job boards, and this one showed up first and was the only one that didn't require me to pay to use it. It's not that serious. If I insulted you, I apologize, but bashing me or my site because you don't want to do it, now that's professionalism if I ever saw it.

 

Yes, it's insulting to have someone come onto a site for professional journalists and troll for free labor, then tell us it's because it's the only site you can find that you don't have to pay to use. That's rich! And yes, I've earned my grumpiness by putting everything I have into this business for almost 20 years only to spend the last 5-plus years wondering if I'll ever get a raise again, or better yet, if I'll get that latest 10 percent PAY CUT back and be able to actually, you know, pay my bills. So forgive me if I was unprofessional. Or not.

 

It's not that serious. Lol. Exactly.

 

Geoff,

Amid all the barbs being thrown about professionalism, let me explain something to you that I don't quite think you understand.

You wrote that 95 percent of sites like yours pay nothing, which is a separate topic that I don't necessarily feel like broaching here. I bring that up, though, to make a point: If you're writing without compensation, you must be doing something else as a full-time job to make a living, and that's not a reach to assume because I highly doubt you're walking to the public library each day to use the Internet to do your writing.

That then means that you have a full-time job. It doesn't matter what it is. Perhaps you build houses or you're a chef. Well, what happens if you're doing your job, regardless of how well you do it, and suddenly, one day, next to your development or your restaurant, someone comes by and decides, you know what? I can build houses just like those guys, and I can prepare food just like those guys, and they do it, and they do it for free.

They could build the world's best houses, but more than likely, they're throwing a few two-by-fours into a bunch of cement, nailing some plywood on that sucker and sticking a roof on top and calling it a house. Or, they're putting a few cutlets of chicken into a frying pan, adding a few vegetables and tossing some pesto sauce on top and offering it to passers-by. You'd be a little insulted, no? A little steamed? Here you are, going through all this career instruction, taking pride in your work, thinking you have a good job and then boom, you're undercut by someone who reduces your profession to little more than a hobby.

Kind of sucks, no?

So, sure, I'm glad you got the responses you needed from the people you needed to hear from on this message board for your site. Good for you and good luck to them. Perhaps next time you'll start thinking a little bit about that approach when you decide to slap a few boards together with wood glue and present it as a home.

 

I understand exactly what they are saying, but it's the how that I felt was uncalled for. This is forum. A forum, posted on the Internet, free to be searched, free to join, and free to post. To think that every single person in this forum are professional sports writers, and are ALL looking for full time paid jobs is naive (evidenced by the fact I've brought on 4 ppl from this forum). Again, I did not realize when I first posted here that this was strictly "professional" job postings (that's was why I mentioned "free" being the reason I posted here. A professional job board would probably ask me to pay was my thought). I apologize if I offended anyone, but to attack me and my site wasn't necessary. I didn't take your job. There are thousands of sites like mine.

 

Nobody said anything about expecting full-time jobs. Good for you. You found some young writers with no self-respect or with nothing better to do. Please forgive us for expecting compensation for the work we do. It's a difficult concept, I know.

 

I never said you shouldn't expect compensation. This posting obviously wasn't aimed at you. So why not look at it and say, "That's not for me." And carry-on. That's great that you get compensated for your work, and you may be a great writer and your worth every penny. I wasn't looking for you.

 

Are there "unprofessional" jobs? You came to a forum titled "journalism jobs" seeking people for something that is neither journalism or a job.

So, in the politest way possible, GTFO.

This thread should have been moved to freelance or deleted long ago.