Same freelance story for two papers?

Mike hit it squarely on the head.

Your primary editor may not give a shit if you write a story for another paper on the same game. He or she may be pissed. But regardless of what he or she might say, I bet he or she would be more pissed if you weren't up front about it.

It's like my parents said when I was growing up. If I did something that pissed them off, it would only make matters worse if I lied about it. If I break a glass, they might be upset for a minute or two. If I broke a glass and they found out I lied about it, they'd be pissed for a LOT longer.

 

Is it lying if you don't advertise other gigs? I don't think so. If an editor would have a problem with someone covering a game for another paper, put that in a freelance agreement. Future problems solved.

 

If I were going to sell the same story to more than one paper, I would let each of them know that. They might have an opinion about that that would raise a legitimate concern. And disclosure in that case seems appropriate, rather than some editor stumbling upon the same story under your byline on a different Web site.

If I write two different stories and deliver them on time to the respective papers, I don't think they need to know. That's my business, at that point, just like business I deal with don't reveal all their clients and fees to me. If they want exclusivity on my work time, then they probably need to pay more than typical stringer fees. That's what it means to have your own staffers -- you get to dictate more terms and they get health benefits, security of knowing where tomorrow's pay is coming from, etc.

And either way, if both papers want the story at 11:30 p.m., I'd make sure that one of them got it at 11:29 and the other at 11:30, at worst, rather than one at 11:30 and the other at 11:31.