Blood in the streets of Hartford and Baltimore

Not to mention 2/3 of the jobs posted on the jobs board these days aren't at newspapers.

 

Joe - I understand that these are the times we live in, but you really have to understand that traveling with a team can't be dismissed as simply getting advances, games and follows.

 

One year, the team I was covering was playing back-to-back preseason games in cities with very small airports. I had to make countless stops to get to both places.

My ticket was $2,200. The only time I can think of when a flight was more expensive was when I covered the Olympics in Sydney and I'm not even 100 percent certain of that.

I told my boss, "Look if you don't want to make the trip, I understand..."

"Nonsense."

While I liked that my boss thought my beat was so important that the paper would drop that kind of $$$ to send me to two games that nobody on the planet cared about, it's things like that that are a big reason why we're so screwed today.

 

I firmly believe that I could reduce the travel budget of most papers by 25-30 percent just by eliminating things that are just ridiculous.

 

Most big papers continue to book flights through a travel agent. Usually, that tacks about $15-$20 to the price of any ticket. Considering most people with an IQ over 10 can book their own tickets almost anywhere in about five minutes, why would any paper do that?

I can understand sending a writer to Spring training or on the road for preseason NFL. But the NBA and NHL? Give me a break...

Don't even get me started on papers who send writers on the road to write nothing more than a single sidebar at NFL or college games. Plane, hotel, food and possibly an additional rental car for 14 inches on the opposing team? Hire a stringer for $100 or use AP.

 

There was a time when Southwest Airlines gave huge discounts if you booked online (and maybe that still goes on; wouldn't know). I noticed we were spending more on our flights than we would if we booked them ourselves on the Web, but I was told we have to go through the company's travel agency of choice, even if we pay more (and we do, especially for rental cars).

 

"Bet you thought I was bad, huh, you little pissants?"--Mark Willes, Cereal Killer

 

It's funny. On my beat at my shop, you can practically book a first-class private jet flight and stay at a five-star hotel, and no one would blink.

But if you try to turn in a $5 college football preview magazine as an expense, the roof caves in.

 

Per diems would save papers millions as well. Even if the writers packed their own food and pocketed the money it would still save them a fortune.