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Don't go to Spokesman-Review if you're hoping to read about football...

Discussion in 'Journalism topics only' started by steveu, Aug 5, 2007.

  1. Inky_Wretch

    Inky_Wretch Well-Known Member

    A sales staff that can't sell a football tab is a staff that is lazy.
     
  2. slappy4428

    slappy4428 Active Member

    The readers don't miss it at all, do they?

    [​IMG]
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Dec 15, 2014
  3. JayFarrar

    JayFarrar Well-Known Member

    As a former publisher once said, "special sections are like crack to the whores who work in advertising. If they can't sell special sections, they shouldn't be in sales."
    To be fair to the sales whores, it largely depends on what else they have going. Plus football tabs require more staff work than selling a newcomers guide or some other section that can be stuffed with wire copy.
    Even if the sales are strong, paying the overtime for the writing and production can make any profit go away quickly.
     
  4. Angola!

    Angola! Guest

    Overtime? What is this strange word you are using? I have never been paid a penny of overtime in my 6 years in this business, I just get comped.
     
  5. JayFarrar

    JayFarrar Well-Known Member

    Well some places obey federal and state laws, so they do pay overtime.
    I bet you a paycheck -- gross, not net -- that if the hourly pre-press and press guys at your shop work overtime, they get paid for it.
     
  6. wickedwritah

    wickedwritah Guest

    Yes, of course they do.

    Which is funny. They'll bitch at the newsies for not making deadline and causing the press guys to run up the production budget, a lot of which is press guys' OT.

    But if you said, "we didn't hit deadline because we were shortstaffed on Saturday because you only had three people in the office and didn't wanna pay overtime," you'd be looked at with three heads.

    So don't pay OT for an extra copy editor and miss deadline, or pay OT for one copy editor, make deadline and pay no OT to the pressroom guys. Some places really are penny-wise and pound-foolish.
     
  7. Birdscribe

    Birdscribe Active Member

    Excellent points, Wicked.

    But I had to fix this for you. ;D

    Seriously, this was a paper I really wanted to work at when I got out of college. Their former SE, Jeff Jordan, was one of the absolute class acts in the business. One of the guys I worked with at my first FT shop grew up there, interned there and eventually worked there.

    I'm not happy to see any decent-sized paper blow off a football tab. Sheer laziness on the part of the ad department, who should be able to sell this anywhere in these United States.
     
  8. MileHigh

    MileHigh Moderator Staff Member

    It goes back about 10-12 years before that, too. Yes, a shame.
     
  9. We've always done a high school, college and pro special section. This year, only high school and college.
     
  10. steveu

    steveu Well-Known Member

    You can get away with not doing a pro section if you're not in an NFL city. AP does a decent package where that's concerned. HS and college are more localized.

    In this era of local local local, I'm kinda surprised at some areas not doing HS football sections.
     
  11. We cover two NFL teams.
     
  12. Sam Mills 51

    Sam Mills 51 Well-Known Member

    Try having to deal with an ad department which was days late in getting you templates, then wondering why deadlines were so close and why you had to put in for OT.

    Oh yeah ... these were family-owned papers. One of which the family was a little too involved in the ad department, the other knew it was the tail wagging the dog and took clear advantage of the situation.

    Thank goodness that's in the rear-view mirror ...
     
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