'Bumped up from preps'

I'm not saying that younger writers wouldn't or shouldn't view it as "bumped up" because, face it, when we started we all dreamed of the big story or the big team. Covering Michigan was a great thing 20 years ago, but I've aged and looked at where I've done my best work and where I've mattered most.
I know of several editors who kind of look down their nose at preps, but it's also the one thing in their sections that they could least afford to get rid of.
The term "bump up" is poorly used for a beat that essentially dominates a section on a daily basis. It might not get the most play, but the most space is devoted to it.

 

Well, it depends on where you're talking if you say "dominating a section." At the Washington Post? Important, but except for rare occasions, preps will never dominate. At a 50K in the Southeast, away from a major city? Sure, it will dominate.

I agree that editors thumb their noses at it, and some don't understand the painstaking work that goes into making the prep beat great.

 

"Xxxxxxx Xxxxxxx was bumped down to cover the Yankees."

 

Of course it wouldn't nor should it dominate at a New York Times or Washington Post.
But at a papers like the MJS, Birmingham News or Detroit Free Press, which pride themselves on being the 'state' paper, it gets a good chunk of inches.
But when the circulation of the average US paper is at 37.6K daily and 63K on Sunday (2000 numbers, http://www.stateofthenewsmedia.org/2006/chartland.asp) Preps is going to be a significant beat at that size paper.

Not every one subscribes to the theory of the progression of beats like the athletes they cover. Some cases high school IS more important than colleges and colleges ARE more important than pro...

College beats aren't always covering major sports.
I will use a paper I know of which basically fits the average numbers.
This editor has two writers: One covers high school, the other 'minor' sports at the local major university. The minor sports draw decently and are often ranked in the top 10 in the nation, justifying a beat writer -- but outside that immediate area, coverage by other papers is spotty at best in those sports.
Say that writer left and the editor decided to move the longtime prep writer to the Local U minor sports beat. Would that be a step up from preps?

 

I'd say no.

 

That's why the term "newspaper readers" is such a ubiquitous term.
Each paper, their circulation, their readerships' demographics and reading habits are unique to that city, town or region. There isn't a broad brush in which we can paint. When we do, that's when we get ourselves in trouble.

 

And yet, the way some editors describe it here and in real life, moving from high school to college is a bump up. Yeah, I will concede going from preps to Colorado football at the Denver Post or to UK Basketball at in Lexington is a bump up.

But it isn't ALWAYS a bump up at an average paper. At the MJS (sorry Moddy, I hate making you the example with your earlier comment), of course Wisconsin would be a bump up. And I know since it's Milwaukee, UWM hoops are important. But is it a step up?
If I'm at the Detroit Free Press and I'm covering preps, and I've been reassigned to cover Detroit-Mercy and the MAC schools, I'm not necessarily viewing that as a step up.

 

Depends on the resources at your disposal, slappy. If they travel with Detroit Mercy hoops and you get to do the beat right, I'd say it's a step up.

I'm in a similar situation ... We cover three colleges, two FBS, one FCS. I cover the FCS school, which on the surface would make it a minor beat compared to the other two. But of the three, it's the only one that's actually in town. And since we travel fully with it and cover it like we would a "major" beat, we all feel like we're on equal footing with each other.

 

Depends on the circumstance and what you're aiming to do. Let's say, and I have no clue whether this is a proper view of their newsroom because I'm pulling an example from my buttocks, but let's say that I had the choice of being the lead preps writer for the Raleigh newspaper or the minor sports writer for the three ACC schools in the Triangle. Theoretically, I'm in a better spot for moving to a major ACC beat at that paper if I'm developing sources within the athletic department at those schools. But if the high school beat was strictly the major sports, then I'd lean towards preps for being more important.

I think the big issue with preps at most papers is that many editor think it important on the surface, but they also see it as their opportunity for "yay for the good guys" coverage. A means to an end; in this case, shutting up overactive parents and making the paper look like a community partner and advocate. But at a lot of those papers, they don't care if you break bad news, and in a good number of them, they might frown on that. It's like a loss-leader for them, almost.

 

For what it's worth, Bobbi Roquemore was the preps reporter at the Journal Sentinel before she "moved up" to cover UW-Milwaukee and help out with college basketball.

UW-Milwaukee basketball has developed a stronger following over the past 6-7 years, and it's definitely getting more coverage in the media. Ten years ago, I would've agreed this might not necessarily have been a step up ... today, I believe it is.

History shows prep reporters have "moved up" the food chain at the MJS ... Lori Nickel to Marquette then the Packers, Mark Stewart to UW, Todd Rosiak to Packers Plus weekly pub then to MU, Bobbi to UW-Milwaukee and general college basketball coverage.

 

Know more than a few gnarled scribes who climbed "the ladder" from preps to colleges to pros and then -- after dealing with unresponsive pro jocks, rotten deadlines, grueling travel and haughty leagues cutting back on access -- have been quite content to climb back down that ladder. Go to do a preps feature and the coach stops practice, brings the star player over by the scruff of his neck for the interview. Home for dinner. Done.

You'd rather stand six deep in a semi-circle around Barry Bonds, settling for crumbs from a crumb? Then file for an East Coast deadline, and head back to an empty hotel room to await a 5 a.m. wake-up call and another airport adventure? While your kids get another day older without you?

I think a lot of the preps guys have it figured out.

 

Another good point ... 10 years ago, only major UWM road games (i.e. none) and close UWM road games (i.e. Green Bay, Chicago) were covered. A couple years ago when UWM was in its run of 3 NCAAs in 4 years, she was at virtually every road game.

Only this past year when UWM fell back (losing 7 seniors can do that) did Bobbi not go on the road as often.