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Sportswriter/Paginator, Goldsboro (N.C.) News-Argus

Discussion in 'Journalism Jobs' started by Tarheel316, Oct 16, 2007.

  1. HandsomeHarley

    HandsomeHarley Well-Known Member

    My chances of going are nil now.

    My mother passed away this afternoon (Saturday). I won't be going to NC.
     
  2. Stupid

    Stupid Member

    The N-A doesn't really cover much college stuff (other than Mt. Olive) because their publisher won't let them go too far outside the coverage area.

    Of course, any eastern NC paper that covers the ACC probably does it more for the writers' benefits than their readers. We do both, in nearby city at a similar sized paper, but I know from paid surveys and reader response that our preps coverage resonates more with our readers than ACC/ECU coverage.

    We didn't even run an ACC football roundup in Monday's paper (we don't do Sundays) because we had HS cross country, girls tennis, boys soccer and our local D-II basketball team's preseason opener (they are the national champs, after all) that filled our 8-page section along with the NFL roundup. I doubt we'll get any negative responses.

    I've never seen an actual copy of the N-A but the staff under Rudy does a good job of covering the preps on their beat. Like several other papers in the area, it's a good place to learn the ropes of prep coverage and move on.


    And yes, Gabe is back in Shelby. I believe Rob is the one that's leaving.
     
  3. Appgrad05

    Appgrad05 Active Member

    Wilmington, Fayetteville, Greenville, Rocky Mount and New Bern are all fixtures at ACC and/or ECU. All win awards and do not seem to be dropping in circulation. If anything, coverage of major college sports (and not just gamers) gains readers in print and on online. To ask parents at a high school game what they read, and then using that as fact, is faulty reporting, at best.

    That's probably because that ACC news would be 48 hours old. I doubt anyone waits until Monday afternoon to get their Saturday news.
     
  4. Stupid

    Stupid Member

    Wrong on the first count, appgrad. We don't ask parents at HS games, we pay professionals to conduct reader surveys and focus groups. We fully understand our audience, most of whom don't care about awards, which are geared towards circ size.

    I don't think you can make a correlation to circulation dropping and sports coverage. At papers this size, it's far more likely to have to do with a bad carrier.

    And the last place I'd turn for on-line coverage of an ACC game is our paper or any other similar-sized paper in the region. Seriously, would you sit at home and tune in when you could go to yahoo sports, espn or any other national Web site with full stats and up-to-the-minute coverage?

    The smaller papers that cover the ACC are mostly doing it for the benefit of the writers, who gain valuable experience and exposure and there's nothing wrong with that. Without claiming to know how things work in other towns, I can assure you that we would never get away with not covering a county football team's game.

    You're right about the second count. It's almost pointless to even do more than run a summary of national games that are played on Sat. when there's no Sunday paper. It's something I'm going to slowly eliminate unless we send a writer to do a story on a game beyond the standard, mind-numbing gamers.

    anyway, not to commandeer the thread on the N-A's open spot. they do a good job and hopefully will land a good hire.
     
  5. Chi City 81

    Chi City 81 Guest

    How about instead of spending tens of thousands of dollars on consultants, you sink that money into improving the actual product?
     
  6. Stupid

    Stupid Member

    You mean finding out what readers want isn't improving the product? Goodness, what sort of business is this?
     
  7. Chi City 81

    Chi City 81 Guest

    Reader surveys and focus groups are crap when it comes to newspapers. You can't please everyone, and trying to steer your paper toward what 10 or 20 or 100 different people want is foolhardy. But, hey, if it gives guys like Alan Jacobsen a job, then what the hell. ::)
     
  8. Stupid

    Stupid Member

    Our surveys go to a lot more than 100 folks, Dr., and those results show an overwhelming bent towards local sports over stuff that can be covered via AP.

    Or you can just not try at all and keep doing what you like and don't give a shit about readers.
     
  9. Tarheel316

    Tarheel316 Well-Known Member

    Stupid, I agree with you completely. It works for me at my paper.
     
  10. Stupid

    Stupid Member

    It's working for us but I do think we could spend less on some of the consulting. Still, the notion that using surveys and consultants isn't trying to better the product doesn't add up.
     
  11. Chi City 81

    Chi City 81 Guest

    Hey, if thinking small is what you want, more power to you. But telling readers, "Hey, go somewhere else if you want coverage of XXX" isn't the wisest business practice.
     
  12. expendable

    expendable Well-Known Member

    How are the circulation numbers holding up? I'm guessing better there, than at some of the other papers in the region. Giving readers customers what they want, even if it's local at one shop and ACC coverage at the next, should be what we're all about.
     
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