This is why our line of work is a piece of S***

I just was told that our desk guy who takes calls on games for 20-25 area schools is quitting and he won't be replaced due to a hiring freeze that no one expects will end.

So we're at three people, including a stringer, for the spring sport season. One is going to have to stay in and take calls and the other two rotate between sports. Fuck anyone who says we're not relevant enough when all we fucking do us cut local resources. Hell, our paper will resemble the very thing we're getting away from - wire copy.

So this morning I get an email from a soccer coach almost demanding that we give spring sports a priority. I try to explain the situation we're in and he says, "so what?" I'm not blaming him, I'd do that as a reader to. I mean, why the fuck buy a paper that tells us we can't give you coverage? We're like a weak piece of shit company which stands on the corner and begs people for nickels. We're weak, we have weak leadership running the money, and they are taking the rest of us on a suicide mission.

 

I'm getting so tired of living in a country where you're required to stay at a job no matter what they do to you.

OK, OK, it's blue now. I hope you're all happy!

 

Who says you're required to stay at that job?

 

Fidel's brother, that's who.

 

Well, that 'splains it, Ace. Thanks.

 

This is a business. A business run with ridiculous profit margins.

They don't owe us anything.

We don't owe them anything.

The market ain't great, undeniably. But if you're that angry, review your options.

 

Fourth,

I don't know if you're the sports boss or what.

Couple thoughts:

1. Everyone is going through this -- from the New York Times to the Podunk Press. So it's not just you making do with less.

2. I don't blame the coach for saying, "So what." Your paper's job is to cover the area as best you can. You can't make excuses about staffing except to say that you can't be everywhere.

3. You need to look at your folks and make the best use of them as everyone else does. I don't know if the guy who left was a full-timer or not, but any chance you can hire a part-timer to help take calls on busy nights?

4. Are two guys running around the best use of your resources? Maybe one could stay in and take calls, the other could focus on more features, etc.

5. Not sure what it means exactly, but why wouldn't spring sports take priority in the spring?

 

What he's saying is that blow for blow, they don't get what football and basketball do. But they can't. The pie is smaller in the spring. In football, we have three evening stringers that help with football coverage, two in basketball. Baseball and softball games start at 4 p.m. and these guys have other jobs, so we lose stringers. We're also cut to $400 a month on stringer budget. The PART TIME desk guy helped alleviate some of the stress because he did roundups. So that PART TIME position is gone, leaving a FULL TIME torpedo hit.

I'm going to have the gamer guys use four hours a day for game coverage and four hours a day for developing features. It's all I can do. Game coverage will suffer if all three go to games, which is why one of us has to stay in.

 

Is so much game coverage even worth it in the spring?

 

So much game coverage? We're talking TWO GAMES a night, probably in baseball, softball or soccer.
A major metro does that much.

 

Around here, they do one game, as a topper. If they're lucky.