Should a Sports Editor write or manage?

This is what makes it tough, at any newspaper with size:

You've got to manage your writers. And you've got to plan your content for tomorrow and also for the next week. And you've got to manage your budget and your staff schedules.

And then you have to manage your copy/design desk. And you should make sure your writers file on time. And don't write long. That upsets your desk.

Most of all, you have to know how to build a great team. And then you have to keep that team motivated, because sports is a tough nut.

If you can do all that, it's a great section -- but not unless you have a great team.

One tough job.

 

When I was a sports editor at a 12K, I did everything -- columns, features, gamers, editing, page design, etc. I'm a sports editor at an 83K now, and the writing has stopped completely. Managing, budgeting and copy editing are my main priorities.

 

I'd say part of it depends on the staff. If you have a versatile group, where one day one guy can do layout then cover a game, it helps the sports editor become more versatile as well.

I believe the sports editor should be visible in the community, not so much with the public but definitely with the coaches, athletic directors, athletes, etc. It gives the SE a better feel of the community he's working in, and any good sports section should reflect community interest.

 

I don't buy into this "team" bullshit. It's just corporate jargon that helped ruin newspapers in the first place. A lot of newspapers don't even have the sports editor hire his/her own staff anymore. It's the managing editor who butts in to make sure the hire is somebody easy to control. You are probably a good editor and I apologize for my opinion, but this team crap is stupid.

Members of the team are underpaid and overworked and the manager should simply be working harder than all of them to show he's not a blowhard like the idiots who ruined this industry in the first place.

 

I categorically, unequivocally, emphatically disagree with your characterization, Frederick. I was a part of a great team at my previous stop and, as the SE at a 40K (who writes, copy edits, designs and manages), I need the team environment to do my job and to help everyone do theirs.

I think your experience with the "team" approach simply must have been a bad one. When you're a part of a good one, you can't imagine a shop being run any other way.

EDIT: Although I do agree with you on the notion there are some bad managing editors out there who are sticking their noses where they don't belong

 

I respect your opinion, Freddie, but from my experience if there are no slackers, the team takes care of itself. I hope as sports editor of a 40K you are allowed to hire your own staff and not have the interference I've seen and heard about on other newspapers.
I feel like things started to go downhill in this business when the "team" building thing started to take off. I will add that you do a lot of things on your staff so you obviously are to be commended. It's obvious you are not stealing a check like some of these nonproducing editors/managers.

 

I can't imagine what you're referring to.

 

Well, you're definitely right when it comes to the existence of meddling MEs and do-nothing SEs. It's funny: I think today's 40K operates with the staff of a 1990s 20K and today's 100Ks are operating with a 1990s 40K crew. In this environment, I hope there are more jack-of-all-trades SEs out there than old-school, pull-my-finger nitwits.

 

Not only does it depend on the size of the paper, but also the staff and the strengths of each person on staff, SE included.

I worked with one who was terrific with taking call-ins and getting the rudimentary copy components of the section together, but had no design chops whatsoever.

I worked with one who turned out to be a terrific boss and good, good man who was run out by people who didn't have an attitude of gratitude.

There was also one who was a good man until he finally got his coveted management shot and became the biggest and most paranoid a_shole on Earth, in part because the other paranoid, mindf_cking a_shole on staff absolutely played him like a Stradivarius. He severely overrated himself as a columnist - yes, numerous columns on youth baseball, folks - and had as lousy design, layout and budgeting skills as my first SE. But my first SE knew his limitations.

Then I worked under a man who had superb line skills, was very good with people and could crank out a story when needed. Alas, we had enough staff then that he could basically manage. I dearly wish he had been more involved sometimes, but I also acknowledge that as a result we were given a good bit of freedom. But in summary, a pretty good SE and one of the best human beings I know.

My last SE was a terrific guy and a hard, hard worker. But he balanced being as involved as he could with letting the staff do its job. He wrote gamers, he would chip in on the desk, he would plan just enough to have long-term centerpieces and other stuff in place without painting us in a corner and he worked his butt off. For example, the guy on the D-I school beat was left alone and I was left alone as I was hired to work desk and no one else on staff cared for it. It was a perfect fit - then life came along too soon and that was that.

But again, it depends on size of paper, size of staff in addition to the strengths of the staff as a whole.

 

Why design? I don't get that statement at all.

A sports editor should play to the strength of his skills and his staff's skills. In a perfect world, a sports editor would have people on his staff who could design and write, and he'd be in a position to manage, plan and edit stories and find ways to improve the section, whether it's by writing the occasional takeout piece or column or by coming up with something cool online.

The idea that in a perfect world a sports editor would do design work is ridiculous to me. Now, if no one else on staff can design, then, sure, he should, but in a perfect world, he'd be freed to perform the duties he's strongest at, whether that is designing, editing, writing or a little of everything.

 

As a reader, I think a weekly column (maybe every Tuesday?) from the SE that would focus on the state of sports inside the state or the coverage area would be nice. I think the reader becoming more familiar with the person designing the paper they buy could only help.

Should this column need to be about the Steelers if the paper is in Virginia? No. Could it be about local Steeler fans? Yes.

Could it be about the Autistic kid who drilled a ton three pointers? No. Could it be about a local kid playing sports who is handicapped? Yes.

Just my two cents.

 

I get to basically be the sports editor without the title or the pay because our SE doesn't like to manage or write.