Is this a step back?

Currently: Sports writer at a 7.5k daily.

Contacted for: Sports editor at a weekly opposite a 25K daily.

Is this a step back? A step forward? Or am I treading water?

Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated.

 

One man shop, money is slightly more but still peanuts.

The only reason I'm even considering the job is because its smack in the middle of the area I want to end up in later in my career, and I really really really despise where I am now. I'm desperate to leave, but not desperate enough to derail my career progression and suck myself into an endless loop of crapiness just a year in.

 

I did something similar. My first job out of college was as SE of a weekly (one-man shop) competing against a well-established daily in an area I wanted to be in. I toughed it out at the weekly, made one stop at a daily down the road, and now I'm working at that the daily I was competing against in the area I wanted to be.

Now I'll be the first to admit that I caught a couple of breaks and got to know the right people to land here, but I wouldn't have caught those breaks or met those people without the first job. And my knowledge of the area only made my resume stronger.

I'm not saying take it, but if you really think it will give you a better shot at the job you want, it could be just what you need.

Each of us have different priorities as far as our career is concerned - working at a big paper, working in a certain area, making more money, etc - you just have to figure out what means more to you.

 

One reason I can think of right off the bat that it is better for you to stay at the daily is that keeps your "daily clock" running. Many jobs specify a certain amount of daily experience and by staying at the daily, you keep adding to that total.

 

I have some experience in this area, and I think TyWebb makes a good point.

If you go to the weekly in the place you want to be and do a good job, you'll attract the attention of the daily guys. Break a couple of stories on them despite the weekly deadline and you'll really get their attention.

That's what happened to me in my first paper job out of college. I beat The Tennessean on a couple of stories in our coverage area and they started paying attention. Within a year or so, i was working there.

I'm not familiar with Mr. X's "daily clock," but I assume some papers may take that approach. As I have said on this board previously, it is vitally important for anybody working at a weekly to be able to demonstrate that they can hit daily deadlines. You can do that by stringing for dailies on the far edges of your coverage area, perhaps, or simply by operating your desk as if it was a daily, which the Internet pretty much demands these days.

It's all about moving forward. If you have already established that you can get the job done at a 7K daily – even if it only took a month to establish that – then it may be time to look for new challenges. Beind a one-man band is an experience that everybody should go through. It builds (or at least reveals) character.