The exodus continues ... WaPo's Carpenter to Yahoo

I've been reading Yahoo! Sports more and more these days. Always a good read, be it a column or long feature. There was a nice three-part series that ran right before the NCAA tournament started. Today I read a great piece by Wetzel on the sinking basketball program at Southwestern High in Detroit.

I agree with Ace. A good sportswriter is a good sportswriter. And it's nice to see Yahoo! bringing more talent aboard.

 

In these moves from the print world to online, how do they structure the compensation? I hear a lot about contracts or monthly stipends and no benefits or retirement. Are we call headed toward being nothing but glorified free-lance writers? Does anyone know how Yahoo or AOL FanHouse compensates the writers?

 

I don't think most of the places offer medical benefits, but I know of one where they offer you full benefits at a ridiculously low rate, but technically you have to buy it yourself.

Most of the people I know who have jumped have gotten 40 to 50 percent pay hikes and these were people who were making usually at least $50K at their old gigs.

They all get contracts. I've heard of them ranging between two and five years. Most are in the 2-3 range.

They also get stock options and other perks.

 

I know a bunch of us who would settle for being "glorified" anythings.

Beats the hell out of "struggling," "underpaid" or "homeless" as adjectives in front of "freelance writers."

 

Let's put it this way, I would give just about anything to be a "glorified freelance writer" for Fanhouse or ESPN.com any of the main sites. The majority of the people there are making six figures for fairly cushy jobs (not all, but some...)

 

Is anyone reading Fanhouse? I've clicked a few times, and it seems like the content is very good, but I don't really hear any buzz among the "Joe Sportsfan" set.

You know, the guys who might say to me, "Did you see Buster's blog today?"

 

Why is this framed as an "exodus"? Les will still be in the business, reporting and writing on sports.
If he were going to teach high school English, or to be deputy press secretary at the White House, that would be an exodus.

 

I can imagine a guy in the horse buggy business saying the same thing after his buddy left for Ford: "He's still in the same business, creating and fixing transportation vehicles."

 

LOL