Double duty (Covering event for one paper and stringing same event for another)

I came across a situation where I was trying to land a freelance gig, but had to pass because they didn't want me covering the game of another non-competing paper. No regrets, since I led the editor to a friend who got the gig.

How prevalent is double-dipping? I mean either covering a game for your paper and stringing for the out-of-town paper, or stringing for two non-competing papers for the same game.

 

I've done it dozens of times. As long as it's not a competing paper and as long as you take care of your paper's business first, there shouldn't be any problems.

 

I've always made sure if I was stringing the same game I cover to clear it with management. Unless it's a competitor, they almost always have no problem with it.

My lowest fee is if I'm already covering same game. It goes up based on if it's in town and how far I have to travel.

 

I did it frequently in the past for prep football playoffs, and for state championships held in my area.

A lot of the time it was my editor passing the gig on because I was going to be covering the game for 'us'. The network would work around the state for such events. We'd get paid for our stuff, it was a you have your guy cover it for us, we'll have our guy write a second story for you.

 

I would pull a similar feat for the three-day event of the state tennis tournament. not as many papers, but close, and still nice thanks to the length of the event.

 

I used to double-dip a lot during the high school postseasons when I was on the prep beat the last couple years. I never really ran into that problem. In fact, I usually say, "You know, I'll be writing the game on deadline anyway, so it'll be easy for me to get it done in time for yours." But I've always written the same story and sent it twice and assured them of that.

I've never been turned down for it, although I can understand why the paper didn't want to risk having one person possibly writing two different stories on a similar deadline -- if that was the case.

 

I understood because the editor said he had been burned in the past with people not knowing how to recast a story for his paper.

 

It's understandable, but that still sucks.

 

Re: Double duty (Covering event for one paper and stringing same event for anoth

Yeah, what do you want?

 

I've only done it on afternoon college hoops games. Probably done it a half dozen times. A couple times my boss actually set it up for me.

 

Re: Double duty (Covering event for one paper and stringing same event for anoth

I've done it for prep tournaments and stuff in the afternoon.

Nice way to make a little extra coin.