Jumping to news

Good advice there. Thanks.

 

I have been deeply involved in both, and it's tough to compare.

One benefit of the news side is that you get to cover the big stories.

One drawback is that it's a lot of friggin' work and the stakes can be higher. You might print that Johnson scored 29 points when you meant to put that Smith scored 29 points. Sure, that's a mistake, and you may get your ass chewed over it. But it's not the same as putting that Johnson was arrested on cocaine charges. So, you really have to check your facts and dig for information on the news side.

And that's really what makes sports a nice, comfortable place. Sure, you have to do some serious work in sports as well. It's not all fun and games (but mostly). I can tell you, however, it's a lot easier to get the losing coach to talk after the game than it is to get the city councilman who is being investigated by the feds to talk.

 

I've done both and I"m thankful for both. I didn't enjoy news all that much, but there were definitely some benefits. That one year as a news reporter way way down on the bottom of my resume (it's in chronological order) is the No. 1 thing prospective employers have noticed about my resume during interviews. Every single one of them. All have had varying leadership styles, varying levels of compentency, but all have noticed I did time in news and been happy because of it.

Should you ever go back to sports you will be thankful for the reporting skills you pick up on the news side.

Should you remain in news, you'll be thankful for the writing style you picked up in sports. You won't feel the need to follow a formula and be boring.

It's a move, even if you move back to sports, that can do nothing but help you down the line.

 

Sirs, Madames,

For me going to news wasn't my choice but it was medicine. It tasted shitty, made me better. Now I work in and out of sports by choice.

YHS, etc

 

You can't get times of events wrong on an almost daily basis, either.

There's another difference.

 

I've done a few weeks on the news side as well. It was tedious but not nearly as bad as I imagined. However, I'm in the midst of a job change and the next opening would be primarily as a news reporter but still do some sport assignments here and there. It's also for a much bigger paper than the one I'm at now. So should I stay where I am, mired wholeheartedly in sports, or try the switch, even though my ultimate goal is to be a sportswriter for a major daily, not a news reporter.

 

I've done news. I've done sports. To me, there IS NO difference. People like to feed that bullhit in your head but here' the gist of it, if you are a professional journalist, you should be able to handle homicide just as easily as you would handle a prep game. It's not like you are making a rocket for NASA.

 

I agree. There is no difference. But, Boots, would most employers look at it from your perspective, or just take the guy who has more experience in sports while I might have more experience in news, with about 40% sports?

 

After deciding to get back in the biz, I had three offers for news-side desk jobs. They didn't have a problem with me coming from a strictly sports background. However, the job I finally took wound up being sports for another year. Now I'm on a news copy desk, and the one thing I can say is that the mundane shit (events calendars, music listings, etc.) is what kills. There's mundane stuff in sports, but it's multiplied in news.

 

I think most employers really don't have a clue about what they're looking for. Many are looking for perfection and wind up with something entirely different because there is no such thing. A smart employer should take a look at a total package. To me, if a guy can handle new and sportsis a helluva lot more valuable than a guy who can only cover say football or baseball.

 

True, but some papers they think if your a sports monkey, you're unable to write a "news" story. However, at my paper, that's not true. When a major story breaks on oh, let's say coach Hardon can't keep one-eye willie in his pants, we do it. Not some news hack that has no idea where or what coach Hardon does. Some papers, they'd tell sports monkey to take a hike and go round up some game coverage while crime guy gets the glory. But you're right, if you're a pro — you're a pro.

 

I don't see it as that big of a deal. Just a few days ago, there was a auto crash a few blocks from my house. I was on the way to work, but I stopped and got some info for the news desk. Nothing really happened with it. Semi-serious injury, but no fatals so there was no interest.

The reason why I'd want to branch out a bit is because of situations like WSKY described. If a coach or somebody pulls shit like that, management won't let us touch it. They think we're sports monkeys and nothing else. (Another reason to find another shop.)

And actually, boots, our prepress used to have an aerospace engineer as an employee. He used to mutter "this ain't fuckin' rocket science, I've done that" all the time. Smart guy who got bored with it, then found out he was just as bored in prepress for five times less money.