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Do you have a weekly byline minimum?

Discussion in 'Journalism topics only' started by DemoChristian, Apr 16, 2008.

  1. HejiraHenry

    HejiraHenry Well-Known Member

    In my department, which is to say the department that I manage, we do not have any byline minimums. I think the news department may.

    I think such rules are a lazy way of managing. The whole game devolves into feeding the beast without regard to quality or the overall effectiveness at covering a beat.

    I do have some performance goals for writers that involve certain kinds of stories – higher-level projects and such – but those are based on annual (and, thus, flexible quarterly) goals. Those give us some basic signposts for expected performance.
     
  2. lono

    lono Active Member

    Last week, I did 31 stories of between 350 - 1,200 words. Most were 500-750 words in length. That included print and Internet for four different outlets.
     
  3. Batman

    Batman Well-Known Member

    Good god man, did you eat between key strokes? Sleep from 2-4 a.m. only? I'm in awe.
    Closest I ever came to that, outside of the football tab, was about five years ago. First week in May I wrote one 20-inch feature on each of our three high schools leading into the state track meet, I think another state track preview, covered two or three baseball playoff games, wrote a couple of features and previews for the playoff series, and a couple other miscellaneous stories. Total count was something like 12 stories in a 40-hour week, with a desk shift or two thrown in. I was pissed that I didn't get to cover the track meet, and not just because it would've been eight hours of pure overtime joy.
    Still, I look back at that week and have no idea how I did it. 31 stories in a week!? Do you wear a cape and tights to work under your khakis?
     
  4. lono

    lono Active Member

    That's an average week for me ... I tend to work long hours and many days a week.
     
  5. BertoltBrecht

    BertoltBrecht Member

    I'm not trying to be an asshole, but how many of those were absolute shit?
     
  6. lono

    lono Active Member

    Four were absolute shit.

    Six were merely tedious rubbish.

    Three were woefully indifferent.

    Nine were perfectly acceptable.

    Seven demonstrated keen insight and deep knowledge of the beat.

    Two were solid gold.
     
  7. Bill Brasky

    Bill Brasky Active Member

    Byline counts are bullshit. If someone isn't pulling his or her weight, people know.
    I worked for one rag where the dumbass ME made a show every week of rattling off the numbers in the newsroom...wanted us all to have 10. "Bill Brasky, you only had nine bylines last week. What's the deal, bubba?"
    "Well, dumbass editor, one of those was 50 inch Sunday story. And I had 15 bylines the week before and I've already got 10 this week."
    It created a lot of problems. Dipshits would take one dull city council meeting and turn it into three or four bylined stories. And this moron patted them on top of the head like they were Sy Hersh. Never mind that they were filling the paper up with shit.
     
  8. My bosses routinely check byline counts. Doesn't bother me.

    I've had as many as 450 bylines in a year at a former paper. That's what - 9 a week not counting vacations and sick days?

    A good many of those stories sucked ass.

    Now I write half that and am still consistently at or near the top producers at my paper.

    The best part is my stories are much better. I'm still doing the same work, but instead of spreading three crappy stories over three days, I'm putting together one good story with lots of context.
     
  9. John

    John Well-Known Member

    I've probably averaged 10 a week since the start of football season, but I don't have a minimum to meet. My boss' attitude is essentially when you're in your busy seasons, you better be busy.
     
  10. ColbertNation

    ColbertNation Member

    My first place wanted at least 8 a week. And here's the kicker -- they gave me one assignment a week. I was expected to find the other seven (and they couldn't be on the preps beat).
    I did not stay there for very long.
     
  11. Were you on a beat? If you were a GA I can sort of understand this, but otherwise I would never gripe about not getting assignments from my editors.

    You're the one out working the street. You come up with the stories.
     
  12. forever_town

    forever_town Well-Known Member

    My philosophy as editor has been when someone pitches a story idea to me, I let 'em run with it. I figure they'll know the beat better than I will.

    One of the two people I have who covers one particular town in my county has not gotten a single story assigned from me this semester, but I've run his stuff probably two out of every three weeks since the semester began. He's gotten out there and gotten stories and I just run 'em.
     
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