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No sports editor???

Discussion in 'Journalism topics only' started by mltru2tx, Jul 14, 2011.

  1. SportsStringer

    SportsStringer New Member

    Wasn't that Todd Jorgenson? Good guy. Was great to give me opportunities to cover h.s. sports. Will be missed, if so.
     
  2. Rhody31

    Rhody31 Well-Known Member

    Three months into my current job, the SE quit. They never replaced him.
    That was four years ago.
    The good thing was we are now our own bosses. The news editor was our boss in name only; we gave him timecards, mileage sheets and once in a while had a talk about how things were going. If there were problems, he found a way to deal with it. Then he quit.
    They replaced him and that guy took over overseeing us. He was hands off, except when problems arose - then he wanted to run things and by run things, I mean order us what to do without thinking how it would affect our papers. Last spring, things exploded when we needed overtime and they didn't give us enough to get the job done. Publisher had me e-mail him a schedule and said he would tell us how we would handle that big playoff weekend. Never heard anything.
    Next thing I know, Schieza calls me - he switched to the dark side last fall but still does sports stuff for his sanity - and tells me he is now overseeing the department.
    The last three months have been fantastic.
    At a small community paper, it's easy to get by without an SE; you find a way. We do layout, photos and write stories and put out six papers in three days and, with the exception of playoffs, in 40 hours. (no breaks though)
    At a small daily, I imagine this would be a disaster. At a medium-sized daily, a catastrophe. At a big daily, forget about it.
    I think it's really about the people in the department; we've work our department to optimize our work hours and give ourselves as much free time as we want. Nothing better than during the regular season when I work Mon-Wed, then cover one game on a Friday and maybe one on a Saturday.
     
  3. Stitch

    Stitch Active Member

    Aren't you an SE in all but title and pay then? As for covering sports for your sanity, I found just the opposite to be true. I can understand people getting bent out of shape over a life and death situation, but people doing it over sports just isn't fun to deal with.
     
  4. mltru2tx

    mltru2tx Member

    Yes, it was Todd Jorgenson. He is a good guy.
     
  5. Mark2010

    Mark2010 Active Member

    It can work if you have good people who will cover for each other and not a lot of egos involved. Otherwise, it can get sticky.
     
  6. JimmyHoward33

    JimmyHoward33 Well-Known Member

    Seems like big papers need the SE. Smaller ones don't, but it screws the reporter who ends up running the section and not getting paid to do so.
     
  7. Rhody31

    Rhody31 Well-Known Member

    There are some benefits
    a) Don't have to deal with stupid editorial meetings
    b) You decide when and how much you work
    c) If people complain, you can just tell them how understaffed you are and you don't even have an SE
     
  8. If you are hourly and are working OT to pick up the departed SE's duties, then put down EVERY MINUTE of OT. DO NOT WORK FOR FREE!!! Management needs to know the cost of doing business. I had an SE who routinely worked 50 hours a week, 60 in crunch time (playoffs, etc) of seasons. Somebody else has to pick up that work. Otherwise management will believe your department was overstaffed.

    If the suits tell you that they can't authorize OT, when you're close to your weekly total, call your supervisor and let him know somebody else will 1) have to finish covering this game 2) get the paper out tonight 3) work the rest of the week. Because you don't want to go into unauthorized OT.
     
  9. Mark2010

    Mark2010 Active Member

    I had so much OT during those months it damaged my physical health.
     
  10. Stitch

    Stitch Active Member

    You have to have pride in your work, otherwise we'll let the readers down.
     
  11. Mizzougrad96

    Mizzougrad96 Active Member

    Early in my career, my SE was fired and then they hired a replacement who was going to start a few months later and he backed out and it was another two months before the next guy was hired and we went five months without a SE. Two deputy editors split the duties and I don't think we had a staff meeting the entire time.

    It was the most efficient department I think I've ever been in, and I've worked for a couple of the more prominent SEs.
     
  12. apeman33

    apeman33 Well-Known Member

    This also applies to the sports editor in a one-man shop department. Well, to me, anyway. They never make me go to meetings. Sports has always been this fringe area no one wants to intrude upon. "Oh, he knows what he's doing. Just let him do it."

    The downside is that nobody else knows sports at all because they just leave me alone. So if I get sick or have a family emergency, the news assistant editor has to pick up the ball and he's going into it with no idea what's been going on.

    It's why I take my vacations in mid-July and at Christmas. Nothing for them to worry about but posting wire stories.
     
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