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Next up -- ESPN??

Discussion in 'Journalism topics only' started by steveu, Jan 29, 2009.

  1. zagoshe

    zagoshe Well-Known Member

    So you are saying they got lazy?

    I mean, I think it is pretty unrealistic to think any blogger from a national network is going to beat local beat guys on news, particularly on college beats. It might happen here and there if they get lucky and have the right person on the phone at the right time -- but local beat guys, if they are doing their job, are in tune with what is going on and are constantly digging and prodding for news -- it is really difficult to compete with that and ESPN is silly to think they can.

    Even the best guys -- like Katz -- rarely truly ever break anything. They often "report" stuff but it almost always has already been put out there by beat guys, hence some of the jealousy/hatred from local guys to national guys.

    I love when I'm talking to someone and they say "INSERT ESPN REPORTER NAME is such an ass - he stole my stuff and didn't give me credit" or "......I reported something first and he is taking credit for having it first."

    My answer is always -- who gives a shit? As long as you know and your bosses know, what difference does it make?
     
  2. clutchcargo

    clutchcargo Active Member

    Decent health insurance will cost you about a grand a month, so a guy making $90,000 is actually making $78,000, but probably more when you consider he or she was probaly being tagged for $300 a month or more for health plan from previous employer.

    Speaking of Chris Low, and I know we are tossing him a lot of rose petals here, but the guy is really good. Relentless at breaking stories and loves doing his work. Also cares about people. I had a stint working with him.
     
  3. Joe Williams

    Joe Williams Well-Known Member

    Can you pay those premiums with pre-tax dollars? If you can't, that grand a month to the insurance company would require you to earn probably $1300 to $1500 at that income level to net $1000. So it cuts into your take-home a little more deeply than that.
     
  4. Mizzougrad96

    Mizzougrad96 Active Member

    From what I hear, there is a pretty big range between the pay for the bloggers on the NFL and the NCAA side. $48K with no benefits seems way low. I was under the impression that two of the college guys are about $90K and the rest were in the $60-$75K range. Most of the NFL guys are right around $100K a year, which makes sense because I know some of them left jobs where they were making between $75K and $80K a year.

    I'd have no problem paying $100K a year for Bill Williamson or Mike Sando or Kevin Seifert. But some of the college bloggers are overpaid no matter what their salary is.
     
  5. zeke12

    zeke12 Guest

  6. SF_Express

    SF_Express Active Member

    God help me for saying it, but for some companies -- probably including this one -- this is probably a fairly mandatory cost of doing business.
     
  7. zeke12

    zeke12 Guest

    There was enormous praise (from many men) for the women-to-men ratio. ESPN took a page from Playboy and brought in 300 of Florida's finest models, and through Friday there were more women at ESPN's Super Bowl party than at any of the other ones we attended.

    You want to have a party in this economy, OK, have a party.

    Paying models to attend? Not so much.
     
  8. Some Guy

    Some Guy Active Member

    But what kind of party would it be without, ahem, "self-employed" models?
     
  9. Shaggy

    Shaggy Guest

    I believe the Big 12 she is a he. Isn't it Tim Griffin, he of the million cliched questions per Big 12 teleconference fame?
     
  10. luckyducky

    luckyducky Guest

    ACC -- Heather Dinich
    Big 12 -- Tim Griffin
    Big East -- Brian Bennett
    Big Ten -- Adam Rittenberg
    Pac-10 -- Ted Miller
    SEC -- Chris Low
    "Others" -- Graham Watson
     
  11. zebracoy

    zebracoy Guest

    This is, oh, about two years past the idea, but it is my understanding that as the blog network was set up at ESPN, the goal was to have it set up for a variety of different sports in different means (NFL, college sports, motorsports, etc.).

    Seems like at this point, with no other sports/leagues having specific bloggers hired by ESPN, that idea went in the can. Whether it was due to performance by existing individuals - bang for the buck, per se - I don't know. But I think this is at least a good indication of things.
     
  12. Freelance Hack

    Freelance Hack Active Member

    Isn't that was College Sports Xchange is/was?
     
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