Let's play a game: Build the staff

I believe that's what Singleton is paying his copy editors in LA and the Bay Area -- maybe some of the older ones have legacy paychecks, but the recent hires are at that level or maybe a smudge above. And he never has trouble finding workers.

 

Cost of living was never specified. If your highest-paid employee is at $100,000, I think it makes sense that your lowest-paid full-time employee would be at about $35,000. Additionally, $45,000 is a realistic salary for an entry-level employee in most markets. (This city isn't San Francisco, Los Angeles, Chicago or New York; there's only one team per league.) The problem comes when, as Bound for Boston did, you put your entire night staff at the lowest wage. Maybe he can put a page header on 2C: "Corrections."

 

Well that's ridiculous, LTL. I ended up making nearly that at my first job, which was an 11K paper, by the time I left after five years.

 

Yeah, let me clarify. One copy editor making $35K is possibly OK, depending on experience. Saying you're going to put all your copy editors OBVIOUSLY at the lowest level is just ridiculous.

 

Yeah, ijag. Probably the biggest factor that ultimately drove me away from the biz -- the realization that no matter how low the pay gets, somebody is going to be willing to take it.

 

Wow. Good thing there's not much news to cover in the Boston metro area ...

 

Five senior-level
SE
Columnist #1
Columnist #2/Features writer
NFL writer #1
ASE/Web coordinator

8 mid-level
Desk copy chief #1
Page 1/lead designer
NFL writer #2
MLB writer #1
Preps editor
NBA writer #1
NHL writer #1
College writer #1

11 lower level
MLB writer #2
GA/Pro sports - help out with NFL/NBA/NHL
College writer #2
Preps writer/WNBA
Preps writer/MLS
GA/Small colleges/NASCAR/Golf
Two copy editors
Three layout editors

Part-timers will do agate.

 

24 social media experts.

 

I think the size of the sports and news departments are only feasible for the Herald because it's a tabloid viewed by almost everyone as a sports-first newspaper. If you want hard news coverage in Boston, you go to the Globe every time.

 

Again making Joe Cowley a tremendous choice.

 

I am glad to see some folks bumping one of the sports folks up to middle or high.

I am thinking of places like the Globe in the good days when there were a couple of pages of preps coverage. That would be possible with a staff like this.

 

This was my first staff as a full-timer back in 1996.

Tier 1
SE
Copy chief #1
Copy chief #2
Copy chief #3
Columnist #1
Columnist #2
Columnist #3/Features
NFL writer (national guys)
MLB writer
NFL writer
NBA writer
ASE
Daily editor
Night editor
Sunday editor
Page 1 designer

Tier 2
NFL writer No. 2
NFL writer No. 3
MLB writer No. 2
MLB writer No. 3
NBA writer No. 2
NHL writer No. 2
College writer No. 1
College writer No. 2
College writer No. 3
Preps editor
Golf writer
NASCAR/Boxing writer
Outdoors writer
Olympics writer
Senior copy editor
Senior copy editor
Senior copy editor
Wire editor
Wire editor
Layout editor
Layout editor
Layout editor

Tier 3
GA/Colleges writer
GA/Colleges writer
GA/Colleges writer
GA/Pro sports writer
Junior copy editor
Junior copy editor

Tier 4
GA/Preps/Fringe sports
GA/Preps/Women's sports
Agate #1
Agate #2
Agate #3
Agate #4
Agate #5


These were the full-timers. We also had three part-time prep guys and two part-time agate guys.

16 years later, this staff is less than 20.