1. Welcome to SportsJournalists.com, a friendly forum for discussing all things sports and journalism.

    Your voice is missing! You will need to register for a free account to get access to the following site features:
    • Reply to discussions and create your own threads.
    • Access to private conversations with other members.
    • Fewer ads.

    We hope to see you as a part of our community soon!

Gannett to close Nashville design studio

Discussion in 'Journalism topics only' started by BTExpress, Aug 1, 2017.

  1. Fredrick

    Fredrick Well-Known Member

    Well, this makes sense since we are storming toward having no print product at all. The thought is it will take way fewer reporters to cover a big city once we go all online. Here's how it will play out in terms of total bodies in a newsroom IMO.

    The suits will say a metro newspaper will need two news reporters max during the Web only era: One news reporter will post press releases from the cops (and make the copy and headlines as click baity as possible) during the day and one at night. There also will be one feature writer slash arts and entertainment writer combined/one editorial writer/one columnist on the news side. Maybe editorials will be eliminated as I'm certain those will get no clicks in the new Web only era. Who would click on an editorial on a Website?
    So that would be five total content producers on the news side of a major metro compared to however many major metros have today. Five total employees on newsside.

    As far as sports, there will be one Web era sports columnist, one reporter for the MLB team in town, one for the NFL team in town. There will be one reporter for all college teams in the era with press releases from the schools important on game day. There will be no high school coverage at all except by citizen journalists who will have an area of the Website to post high school information as they see fit. No coverage of sports like auto racing or golf.

    So that is four sports content producers total. Also you will need 2 sports editor types (possibly in a part time role; no benefits) to post all the press releases; one editor type to work during the day and one at night. There will be no need for a sports editor or news editor. Reporters will post their own stories, videos and podcasts and attend home games as seen fit. There will be no travel; the beat reporters will write off radio/TV. Super Bowl and MLB playoffs will not be staffed on the road UNLESS somehow these web only ventures make money. Again, reporting off radio and TV will be critical for coverage.

    So my total head count for a Chicago, Miami, Raleigh, Denver, type metro: Six sports staff members counting the two editor types who post the press releases (they will be paid 30,000 max perhaps with no benefits) and 5 content producers total on the news side. At 11, that's still probably too many bodies. Perhaps the college writer would be a part timer and maybe the columnist would be a part time contract only guy/gal.

    Please give me your total: I have 11 total newsroom employees in a Web only metro operation; obviously way fewer employees in smaller towns. (The only misgivings I have about my newsroom 'plan' is the corporate suits will probably feel they need some do-nothing individuals on board to report back to corporate and be the ones to pass on corporate edicts, etc. I guess they could keep one such person for sports and one for news so that would be 13 total employees. Probably still too many.
     
    Last edited: Aug 4, 2017
  2. boundforboston

    boundforboston Well-Known Member

  3. Riptide

    Riptide Well-Known Member

    Miami Herald had more layoffs this week, including one longtime copy editor in sports. Herald sports still has a bunch of writers, but I hear it's now down to one full-time copy editor who isn't a freelancer, a supervisor or someone helping out from the news desk.
     
  4. Riptide

    Riptide Well-Known Member

    I know to our loyal print readers, this is less than ideal bullshit, but the metrics tell us that our biggest audience is online, and those metrics steer how we cover events. We also have to do what is asked of us by our parent corporation.

    FTFH.
     
  5. BTExpress

    BTExpress Well-Known Member

    My former supervisor is/was the sports slot there. Hope "is" is still the correct word.
     
  6. PaperDoll

    PaperDoll Well-Known Member

    This statement goes against every edict Corporate handed down when the early deadlines started being imposed on smaller papers.

    We were told not to blame deadlines for any changes. Instead, we were supposed to tell readers we have a renewed focus on human-interest stories, trends and profiles.

    I wonder if it's a change from the top, or there are editors who realize readers aren't that stupid... and will miss having high school football gamers in Saturday's print paper.
     
    BurnsWhenIPee likes this.
  7. agateguy

    agateguy Member

    Are the Gannett papers still taking boxscores from non-covered prep football/basketball games to post online, or taking scores from other sports?

    If they aren't, that's a significant game-changer; that means the daily newspaper (in Gannett markets) is no longer the place to go to get daily prep results.
     
  8. Fredrick

    Fredrick Well-Known Member

    Guess what? I think the editors at news organizations need to grow a pair and copy this type of statement. Kudos to this editor saying they have to do what is asked by the parent corporation. Guess what? There are a few newspapers in these mega-chains that are still "somehow" doing a nice job. But the parent corporations are basically ruining such papers, dragging them down to the other lousy papers ' levels in said newspaper chains. To the (remaining) sports editors out there, you have laid off so many people the last couple years if you've been at a newspaper the past 4-5 years. You've probably shown class in laying them off because for the most part you are good people (the very few of you left). Cmon. You know most of these corporate edicts like cutting preps completely are total bullshit. Life's too short. Show some character and do what you can to do the job the right way, the way you see fit, and stave off these corporate edicts as best you can. Again ... many of you editors still have fine newspapers, but these edicts are about to drag you into the category of newsrag not worth a damn. And one of these edicts is no prep coverage at all. Go down fighting, editors. Do the right thing and wink wink to the corporate suits and act like you are doing exactly what they want, but in reality run your papers the way you see fit. If you get fired, who cares? You ARE GOING TO BE FIRED before long anyway. You wait for the bloodlettings once the print product is eliminated completely. I'd suggest once we go all online 1/2 to 3/4s of all sports staffs will be chopped. So go down fighting before it happens. Basically tell corporate to go bleep themselves.

    I really love the quoted post here. Kudos to that paper for telling the reader they are just listening to corporate. Cmon sports editors. Do the same. Show some integrity in your final months at your news organizations.
     
  9. jr/shotglass

    jr/shotglass Well-Known Member

    Fucking Gannett. Fuck-fuck-fucking Gannett.

    My first daily had one of the best sports staffs of any small paper in the country. Included were guys who are now a bigwig with the USGA, a D-III conference executive, a front-office executive with the NY Giants, a 30-year sports editor with that paper and one of the top political writers in Pennsylvania history.

    That newspaper now officially has NO sports staffers. Last one took the midnight train to Colorado Springs.

    Unbelievable.
     
    justgladtobehere likes this.
  10. Della9250

    Della9250 Well-Known Member

  11. jr/shotglass

    jr/shotglass Well-Known Member

    Ah, the lipstick on a pig method. They've made it an art form.
     
  12. I Should Coco

    I Should Coco Well-Known Member

    Considering the corporate limitations imposed on his shop, that SE seems to be doing the best he can with it. And his letter to readers doesn't insult their intelligence, either.

    Still, Gannett's 7 p.m. deadline sucks for an area with as much quality prep football as Florida.
     
Draft saved Draft deleted

Share This Page