Preventing the death of a newspaper

12:30 COPY! for first edition!

Fuck you if you ever complain!

 

12:30? Hell I know of somenights the paper is damn near delivered by then...

 

The irony is that the competition is the one printing our paper now. So they will get games in while we don't. Also, the boss is on our side. So far it is a losing cause. Reader uproar is the only hope.

 

1) Thank goodness the boss is on your side. That will help you keep what little sanity you may have.
2) Arm your writers with laptops. The COO needs to cough up the one he/she stole.
3) Three, set up a hard-line inch count. No more than 12, more likely 10.
4) Have wire backups for the story slots that don't get in for whatever reason (transmitting problems, slow coaches, slow writers, some idiot dumping a soda into laptop causing a short circuit). Set your copy deadline and stick to it. Make sure the staff fully understands that it will be enforced and it will probably happen to them for circumstances far beyond their control.
5) Call your coaches and ADs and see if the coaches can try to talk to the staffers immediately after their games. The understanding ones - and especially the ones who want to help both you and their schools - will attempt to comply.

I know ... my last shop had 2200 copy deadlines and an off-the-floor time of 2245 on Tuesdays and Saturdays. Yeah, it sucked. Thank goodness the SE and EIC was a super guy and was willing to take bullets at will for us. The next good word I have on that production director will be the first ...

Good luck. And, if all else fails, polish up the resume.

 

Only edition, not first.

 

I promise, your situation isn't that bad.
Do you have a dedicated desk guy back at the office to put it all together?
Do you have games that have to be covered, like a local school that always has to be in?
Do you travel for games?
Will news side be able to help with coverage and or desk help?
Does your boss expect the same level of coverage this season?
And then what are the expectations of your readers?

 

That's all good advice. But ask yourself this: Do I really want to work for a place that makes me jump through this many hoops, that makes it damn near impossible to put out a good, complete section, that treats sports like shit? If you can answer yes, good luck and god speed. If the answer is no (and there ain't no gray area here), then you need to get the fuck out. It's that simple.
Either way, good luck.
Joe

 

Exactly.

If the powers behind the paper are intent on wrecking it beyond repair or killing it entirely, it'll happen whether you and the readers care or not.

And forget about asking for help in order to cope with the new demands, ie. laptops for staffers. Keep in mind, this whole thing has been done to SAVE money, not to spend more of it.

 

I can beat that. Last paper was 2 AM!!!

This one is 1 AM at the latest.

 

On the bright side, Saturday you should OK for the 9:30 deadline. Just run the high school gamers extended!

 

No arguments on your additions, joe. But until CarlSpackler can find that professional escape hatch, I hope something there can help.

Double J, I have my doubts that any company that ignorant to the process of a sports desk will bend over backwards to arm writers with laptops. But some who are willing to compromise (OK, not likely but follow in FantasyLand for a moment, eh?) might see spending money on a couple of laptops as pennies on the dollar for closing a printing press and saving much bigger money on production jobs. As much as my last paper's deadlines stunk, they and IT were good with a little extra technology in an olive branch of an attempt to bridge the gap.

 

Sam, I didn't mean any offence to your suggestion. It really was a good one and I sincerely hope CarlSpackler's paper makes the effort to do it. I just wouldn't hold my breath.

I'm way too cynical, I know. :-\