Preps writer, St. Louis Post-Dispatch

A trend I have noticed in the business lately is that bigger papers rarely hire their stringers as full-timers.

The attitude seems to be, "Why hire a stringer full-time when you can use and abuse them without paying benefits?"

But yeah, to go from prep job at a big paper to prep job at another big paper is pretty odd.

 

From someone I know who works at the paper, the bottom line has become a deciding factor since Lee bought the P-D. I know nothing about the guy they hired, but their newsroom has become younger lately, which signals to me that they can get a younger person a lot cheaper than someone with more experience.

 

Tough break for the stringer who's been serving as the P-D's lead prep writer for the last four years.

 

Yes it is. And he's not old by any stretch, which is why I don't think this is salary-related. I'm sure he'd have done the job for the same price as the guy they brought in.

 

I think to some major metros, hiring a part-timer full-time simply isn't glitzy enough. They want to hand-pick someone from elsewhere. Which can be disheartening, knowing you have no chance to earn a job through hard work.

That's not to say every PTer at a major paper deserves to be hired -- most probably don't, honestly --but it seems some papers have a rule against hiring any.

 

I'm not positive, but I believe the PD is a union paper, which means they pay based on years of experience . So, a recent grad would be cheaper than someone who's been working only a year or so.

 

Funny thing is the guy the P-D hired was a part-timer at another paper.

 

So I've heard.

 

My understanding is that at least one of the regular stringers, who covers more than just preps, was offered the position and passed.

 

That's what I was wondering. I know the PD guy has been there for several years as a stringer. Wasn't sure about the Florida guy, though, as far as his tenure in Florida.

 

Am I wrong or don't a lot of these stringers have other jobs? Jobs that might even pay well? And working for the P-D gives them nice extra income on top of it?

Not everyone wants to be a sports writer for a living.

 

It's not even fair to call that guy a stringer. He didn't just cover games on Friday nights. He wrote features, broke news, covered recruiting, etc. He did more work than the full-time guys for half the pay.