How to cover the NFL for a smaller newspaper

All I know is that trying to hold my own with NBA writers made me a better writer on my local beats and provided some incredible opportunities and experiences. Make the most of it, Anonymous135.

 

I think it's a fair question both ways...what makes small-town newspapers survive is hyper-local coverage. Anytime I want to cover a game outside of my area (and I like the occasional college or pro game) it's on my time and dime. IMHO, if you want to be a beat writer in a professional or big-time college level, pursue it right out of the gate. The alternative is to work one's butt off basically working two full-time gigs; the local one to pay your bills, and the one you want with such passion you cannot be denied.

And work well regardless of what you choose.

 

See, the your time and your dime is the slippery slope. I understand you want to make it big time and this is a way to do it from a smaller paper. But I've been lambasted on here for suggesting there's a work 60 hours get paid for 40 mentality at all the papers I've worked at. Wink wink you work 40 hours a week. So you are donating some of the most-read clicked stories in your paper to the owners for FREE. Interesting.

 

That's the uasked and unanswered question here. Is OP doing this on his own time, or is it an assignment? And is it filling a hole in the coverage?

 

Our place is hyper local and I like to try to balance that directive from above with some pro stuff so we don't look like nothing more than a shopper. Somewhat surprisingly, the pro stuff does morbidly bad on the clicks. A fraction of what a 13 inch youth tournament writeup does. It's probably a promotional thing or FB shares related, or maybe the decade of hyper local has conditioned our readers not to come to us for pro stuff...but oddly enough the pro stuff isn't always the most read.

 

DaytonaDan1983 in 1991 -- Yeah, I'll go over to Orlando and cover the Magic-Bulls/Lakers/Celtics on my day off.
DaytonaDan1983 in 2017 -- Hell, no.

 

We're hyper-local too, and our metrics are similar -- unless it's a local feature, like "local boy comes home with NFL team" or "local boy plays for faraway minor-league baseball team." Given how well all things high school football do on our site, I really thought there'd be more eyeballs for the NFL. But given the market, there's way better (and more consistent) NFL coverage elsewhere.

The "Big State U" stuff doesn't do well online either, yet it's our centerpiece most of the time.

That said, the pro and big-college stories aren't usually promoted on social media because they're not produced in house. That probably slants the metrics.

 

It's a very strange beast and I wish we had more reliable information about what people are/are not reading.

On one hand, each of the dozen communities we circulate in would be mostly fans of and interested in local pro whereas a local story might interest one town or 1/3 of that if its two teams or there's interest in keeping tabs on a rival. Logically you'd think the pro's would then have a bigger audience.

Click metrics show the opposite, even in in-house produced content.

Could be an engagement issue....people are reading it but not sharing/responding the way they do with local?

 

My only counter to this is that Anonymous never said he works at a small-town newspaper, but for a smaller newspaper. Lots of metro areas have smaller papers, which pro teams would still be considered local coverage.

 

If it's on his own time, then my two cents may not be feasible. But if it's an assignment, I'll echo those who said follow pro football focus, and also be your own pro football focus. Watch the games 3 or 4 times and come up with a grading/rating system. Wasn't ever an NFL beat writer, but knew some guys who were/are. One guy, who I think is very good, watches his team's game at least four times and does his own grades for every starter on offense and defense.