Let's play a game: Build the staff

I like that setup for the most part, but I'm surprised you put such emphasis on design. In my experience, it's easier to find a great designer in the middle-level pay range than a great NFL reporter. It also struck me as odd that you'd put a second columnist at the lower-range pay grade. I'd add that you are the sports editor, so that position doesn't need to account for a senior-level spot, but you realistically need a deputy to coordinate coverage and line edit. I don't know how a staff this large could possibly operate without a strong No. 2.

 

Ah, missed that in the note up top. I guess switch out the SE for a deputy SE...but I will be honest (being I've never worked for a major metro paper), I have no clue the difference between an assistant sports editor and a deputy SE, although I have heard the position name before.

I tried to stay flexible with deskers (it's how we are here to a point, especially in sports) in that they can layout or copy edit. We don't have a solid "slot" and a solid "layout" person like they do in news...it's a hybrid, so that brings other people into play as designers/editors.
Most nights, I may layout one page and copy edit between 4-7 stories along with whatever is on my page...just depends on the number of bodies that night. If I am in slot, I may layout for the most part, but also take whatever I can to edit as well, so I basing this on my experience more than how a traditional major metro works I guess.

 

It sounds like your assistant sports editor would be basically a copy desk and design chief, which is important to have. But when you've got that many major beats, a sports editor alone can't handle all the coordinating of coverage and line editing that needs to be done. The deputy sports editor basically is an extension of the sports editor in most cases.

In my experience and view of the way these things should work, the words should come first. I also think you can find a lot of very talented designers straight out of college or a year or two out of college, while it's very difficult to find quality young copy editors who will catch all those big mistakes.

When I was putting together my department, I started with the senior-level employees and had easy choices: an NFL reporter, a columnist, a copy-desk chief, a deputy sports editor and an enterprise writer. I wouldn't have even considered putting a design specialist at that pay grade.

 

I'm sure many copy editors would be pretty happy with $35 to $50K.

 

And you'd be wrong. I wasn't happy with it. And neither were any of the other copy editors and designers. We took it. But we weren't "happy" with it.

But people like you seem to be the ones making the decisions, so copy editors and designers make dick. So it goes.

 

First off, I think it depends on the market you're talking, but I know of designers who went to major metros and made $75k right off the bat. And they weren't in an ASE role like spike suggested. I'd argue that in the role spike has, if it's done right, it could be incredibly valuable. You hire someone who serves as the lead designer but focuses his/her efforts on special projects and feature packages. He also takes a lot of the planning load off the SE or deputy SE when it comes to those projects; he works with reporters and other ASEs to help develop budgets on some while the SE and deputy focus on other projects and the daily grind. Basically, on any given week I'd have the person in that role spending about half the week on design and half on planning. Some times of the year, there'd be more time on design (football section time); others there'd be more on planning (spring and summer).

Now, I'm biased because I played a very similar role in my career, but I think it would be invaluable to have someone in this role and well worth the money.

 

You forgot benfits for these people. That would increase the pay for each by about $15,000 a person.

So what is the hr cost of this section? $1.7 million?

 

Let's just pay them all $25K because they'd just be happy to be there.

 

i'm filling the entire staff utilizing this http://www.sportsjournalists.com/forum/threads/89831/ at one-tenth the cost, tripling my own pay and still getting kudos from management for cutting budget.

 

yep, pay the people who save your ass at the lowest level. that's a smart move.

 

Here's my staff:

Senior
Deputy
ASE Design
Lead columnist
Web editor (Nowadays, I’d treat this as virtually a second deputy; he’d be in on planning every major project and helping develop online elements to complement the stories)
Lead NFL writer

Mid-level
Second NFL writer (would help with other pro sports during offseason)
Lead college writer (If NBA was more popular than college, drop this to lower and put NBA here)
High school editor
MLB writer
Second columnist/feature writer
Lead designer
Copy desk chief
Enterprise writer (would help with other beats as needed)

Lower
2 copy editor/designers
3 copy editors
NBA writer (helps with other sports out of season)
Second college writer
General assignment/enterprise: The reporter who would do whatever I say, when I say. Preferably someone not far out of college who is young and talented and eager. I envision this as almost a revolving door – someone proves their mettle and moves on to bigger beats here or elsewhere.
GA: Focused on NHL, MLS, helps with colleges as needed
GA: Focused on other pro sports, high schools
College writer covering our mid-major basketball program and other minor sports/schools

Part-time
2 copy editors
5 agate clerks/high school reporters (to help with phone calls, I’d talk our Web department into having a programmer develop a way for coaches to submit scores and stats online, and we’d push this hard to coaches/stat people)

Also, I’d work with the colleges in my area (the three top ones) to try to establish an intern program where a student would work 20-30 hours a week for me and get class credit. Use those writers to help with the sports at their schools (esp. the lower-tier stuff) get a few features and contribute to high school coverage (save some mileage by having them cover games at schools near their university). They’d each be expected to work two shifts a month on the copy desk as well.

And I’d save the paper some money on newsprint by killing the NHL preview section and the ones for spring and winter high school sports. Fold all that stuff into the regular section.

The part I don't like in all that is I'd like to have a copy editor in the mid-level pay other than the chief. Depending on just how big high schools were, I might drop the high school editor into the lower tier and bump a senior copy editor into the mid-level.

 

I have not really delved into this,. but I have a question for boundforboston.

*****

Three high school reporters, obviously the low level of pay.
*****

Why? A great high school writer is just as valuable as a great college writer. I would think your lead high school guy (or HS editor, if you go that way) is more valuable than your second college guy.

I would base pay more on experience than job.