Minnesota Wild/NHL Reporter | Star Tribune

Exactly. I would never beg for a job. There are a lot of talented writers looking for the same work that I am. I can only explain in letters why I feel I would succeed within that beat. On an additional note, I learned from a coworker who follows the Star Tribune and know a little more backstory on why they are picky. Sounds like they already took a risk on someone who didn't have that experience and it didn't work out well. With that in mind, I can't say I blame them.

 

I would agree with you here, except that I am a firm believer that if you are the best person for the job, you should be covering the beat. I don't care if you are 23 or 24, if you are good enough to be a full-time MLB writer, then you should. But if you don't have previous experience covering the NHL or whatever league it may be, why is a paper under an obligation to consider you?

 

You agree that the best person should be hired. What if they haven't been discovered yet? It happens in a lot of industries beyond just sports writing.

 

Why are you still with a weekly? Anyone can turn around a story. Filing a story using a mobile device from a parking lot? So what? Working a daily college or pro beat is different.

 

again, that is why you need to GET experience and work your way into a spot where you can showcase your work. if you havent "been discovered" work so that you will be. if you arent willing to work to get there, why should they take a chance on you.

 

It is not by choice. For a period of time, I was not able to apply out of Washington because of my stepson. Moving may have meant my wife losing custody of him. I cannot really explain any further than that. However, things have changed and I have recently opened up my search outside this area.

 

Was he the editor of the prison newsletter?

 

Would make sense right? Lol. Believe he worked at one of those weeklies in some remote middle of nowhere part of the country where like, if you are willing to move there and actually live there they'll make you mayor in a week. He actually had to go to a town library to skype

 

I am still puzzled why it's unfair for a large metro to require that someone covering a major beat have some experience covering a beat. The vast majority of weekly reporters don't cover a beat. They may cover a city council, school board, or high school team, but they aren't working a beat.

 

Sports isn't the same as a traditional beat. There's a lot of "know when to go here and when to go there," and an expecatation that you can schmooze coaches, managers, players and get them to trust you enough to give you exclusives. If you are 23 and have the ability to do that, there's no reason why you shouldn't be a major sport beat writer. But how many are that good at that young of an age? Having graduated J-school from a pretty big university, I can say there are few-to-no classmates of mine, or age peers, who I would trust in the role of "information broker."

 

Totally different from other beats. My criticism was more in line with reporters at major papers who work a beat are more hyper-focused regarding that beat than a jack-of-all-trades reporter a at weekly. Hard for a large metro to hire that weekly reporter if you do not have that specialized experience that can be gained working for a smaller daily in a similar role.

 

In that case, I do agree with you. But in this contracting industry with diminishing advertising piles, reporters and editors have to do more with less, and you may have to rely on talent and luck -rather than experience- to get yourself a Big Four job. I first examined the Star Tribune about a year ago and to be honest with you, I was surpirsed to see the breadth of their sports coverage. They even have a national college basketball writer. I realize that they are significantly larger than a weekly or regional publication, but I didn't think they would have the financial resources to have every niche covered. That's the reality of this industry; more people than not who are looking for jobs are going to be left dissapointed.