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Sports Writer, Springfield, Mo.

Discussion in 'Journalism Jobs' started by steveu, May 21, 2008.

  1. playthrough

    playthrough Moderator Staff Member

    I think story ideas are very good things to include in a packet. Shows a little more initiative than changing the address at the top of the cover letter and the "Dear xxxx" line, which is the most a lot of applicants will do in the way of customizing a packet. But an editor demanding those with such precision is bullcrap. And the line about being eliminated from consideration for misspellings is chickensh*t -- thanks, Mr. Editor, I wasn't going to take any professional care in this exercise until you told me I had to.
     
  2. Tom Petty

    Tom Petty Guest

    and i think that's a bullshit statement you pulled out of the blue.
     
  3. Rusty Shackleford

    Rusty Shackleford Active Member

    Well...

    I know nothing of the paper or the people there. But someone earlier in the thread posted that the paper's online archive featured little else than preview, gamer, follow up on the Bears' women's basketball team. And others have stated how the ideas they've presented when applying for jobs have turned into stories for that paper, written by its current staffers.

    And what good SE would dismiss all the story ideas he/she receives from these applicants? If they're good story ideas, but for whatever reason you don't hire the person who presented them, it's likely in your best interest to present those ideas to whoever becomes your beat reporter.

    I don't think you can completely dismiss Stitch's idea.

    ____
    And personally, I think this application process is a bit bush league. I mean, I guess I can see the point if it weeds out people from a crowded and equally talented applicant pool. But so does a phone interview. And if the phone interview goes well, an in-person interview narrows it even more -- unless the whole thing is just a time-saving device. I have to imagine that this process weeds out a lot of people who don't want to put in the effort to do the essay/story ideas. And those who do fill it out -- it probably is a lot faster to read an essay and some story ideas than do a phone interview.
     
  4. Stitch

    Stitch Active Member

    so is yours, so call it even.
     
  5. Tom Petty

    Tom Petty Guest

    just sayin'.
     
  6. Tom Petty

    Tom Petty Guest

    you're pretty new to the business, aren't you, chief?
     
  7. Rusty Shackleford

    Rusty Shackleford Active Member

    Look, I don't want to get into a big back-and-forth on this. But why wouldn't an SE who's staff is apparently struggling for good story ideas (as evidenced by the dearth of good stories in the archive) not just take the ideas he/she gets from applicants and give those ideas to whoever gets the job? Why waste good story ideas, just because they weren't generated by your staff?
     
  8. Tom Petty

    Tom Petty Guest

    rusty - i have a hard time believing people disconnected from the area and the program would be able to generate more than two usable story ideas to the ME, when then in turn would have to relay those ideas to the SE.

    i assure you i could come up with better ideas for my staff than a bunch of wannabes from 2,000 miles away.
     
  9. Rusty Shackleford

    Rusty Shackleford Active Member

    That very well may be true. But it may not be, too. Maybe an outside applicant has some fresh ideas that the writers who've been there a while just haven't considered. Or maybe an applicant did a type of story at their current beat that could translate into a good story for the Mo. State beat.

    I'm just saying, you can't dismiss the idea that the SE here would hang on to some of the story ideas generated by the applicants.

    And personally, I agree with the earlier poster who said that I'm not wasting my time coming up with a bunch of good story ideas on my own dime. My clips are representative of the types of ideas I'll come up with, and if you want my ideas, hire me and pay me for them.
     
  10. Stitch

    Stitch Active Member

    You would think, since anyone who even has a remote connection to the local paper and the program can pass along tips that can turn into a decent story.
     
  11. Tom Petty

    Tom Petty Guest

    and i'm going to say it's ridiculous to believe the ME is going on a story idea fishing trip for his SE. they have much better things to do with their time than to ask out-of-town women's hoops wannabes for ideas.

    this isn't a weekly newspaper, and the SE in sprinfield is talented.
     
  12. Stitch

    Stitch Active Member

    Of course the other rationale for story ideas and research methods is to see if an applicant has any idea how to request government records or has the desire to sort through a thick report to get the info needed.

    Off topic, but I don't know if the Internet has helped with research. It's speedy and there is a lot of info out there. Finding what you need online can be a pain in the rear, especially if what you need is some tidbit that you can't find unless you type the right terms into a search engine.
     
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