Preps writer, St. Louis Post-Dispatch

I'm thinking a staff writer at another major paper, even a part-timer -- with the leverage of his own paper countering -- will command more for a job opening than a guy who's been paid by the story as a correspondent. If he's been doing the same thing for them for four years, he can only be so coveted elsewhere, right? I don't know the situation at the P-D, but that's what it looks like from outside -- probably wasn't a money issue on St. Petersburg guy vs. Dedicated Stringer.

 

Plus, regardless of what previous posters have said, Sumers was not a part-timer in St. Pete. He was full-time preps in the Citrus County bureau, and worked a ton.

 

I believe the vacated job in St. Pete was/is a 32-hour per week gig.

 

I need to get better sources... Still, it's not as if Sumers was a stringer himself.

 

yeah.

yeah. i wouldn't call that full-time. plus, i don't think they get benefits either.

 

yeah. i wouldn't call that full-time. plus, i don't think they get benefits either.
[/quote]

A lot of those gigs actually pay close to 40 hours, and the writer ends up working about 60 without benefits. It's actually a nice gig for a young guy at a big paper. Now if you're over 30 and doing that.....

 

60 hours, getting paid for 32 or 40, with no benefits = a nice gig?

 

i know a lot of guys that did it, and it worked out for them very nicely in the end. it's better than starting in the Boondocks, making $12 an hour (and benefits, yay), laying out your own stories and drinking moonshine.

 

Dude, I love my job. And you know damn well you did that when you were in your last FT gig.

 

after a copule of injuries, I wouldn't recommend working without benefits to anyone. However, if you're like most sports writers, your idea of being active is lifting your arm for the pizza in the press box, so there are no worries on getting an injury there.

 

My last full-time gig paid for 40 hours and had benefits.

I'm not knocking the hustle -- I'm doing it myself -- but 'great gig' is a bit of a stretch under those conditions.