Two-year sports residency reporter

I just applied for this one after I saw it on Journalism Jobs today. Does anybody have any advice, tips, etc.? I also thought it wouldn't hurt if I reached out to the Star Ledger sports editor on Twitter.

 

How many journo jobs have two-year guarantees these days? Good luck.

 

Would anyone recommend leaving a full-time position for a two-year residency?

 

Yes.
No.
Maybe.
Depends.

 

Like any job - if it's a bigger and better situation, yes. The question is, where do you see yourself in two years at your present place.
Uncertainty with upside beats certainty of little upside every time.

 

I know nothing about this situation. Never heard of Dorf (unless it's this: http://bit.ly/zlhedl), but I'm not in the part of the country where I would be reading this stuff every day. Will say that Ledger sports editor Drew Van Esselstyn is awesome, and runs a great section in an uber-competitive market. Doesn't hurt that he has some tremendous people.

 

Why does Dorf Media supply content for the Star-Ledger? I know it's a relationship that's been around for a while.

 

The Dorf relationship is decades old. Does a good covering the preps and has a good rep. Youngsters could do worse. I wonder whether any veterans looking to possibly hook up with an outside chance of getting to the SL will be considered?

 

While the two-year guarantee sounds nice, the $30-35K in NJ gets you a nice cardboard box.

 

Dorf has supplied copy for the Star-Ledger for many years. For the Ledger, it was an inexpensive way of covering high school sports. Last year, Dorf got rid of some people who had been there for a very long time.

As far as going to the Star-Ledger, most people would think it might be a logical step. You would have a better chance getting selected for a spaceship to the moon than you would at moving from Dorf to the Ledger. I don't think anybody made that move during the 1980s or 1990s. Unless things have changed, you would have less chance that going to Star Ledger from Dorf than anywhere else.

Dorf is one of the worst places for a young reporter to go. In addition to the high cost of New Jersey living, I doubt you would learn any layout skills.
Also, it is possible that you would cover few regular season games, although that might have changed.

I worked there back before we have computers, so my experience is from long ago. I liked people who worked for Dorf and if I lived in the area and could do some things for them a couple nights a week and on football Saturdays, I might do it.

For a young person wanting to cover sports, it would not be a good career move. The other thing is that I believe the main sports of the Star-Ledger shares coverage with other papers.

Send me a message if you have any questions.

 

Totally agreed on the first paragraph above. Working for Dorf not a path to the Ledger. It's also not an opportunity to do any longer-form pieces for the Ledger.

Dorf covers high school games. Period. (Well, okay, they also blog and Tweet and answer lots and lots of phone calls. <shudder>) But if a good high school feature turns up, a reporter from the Ledger will almost certainly be writing it.

My understanding is that the Ledger has to pay per story for Dorf copy, so there have been severe cutbacks in the game coverage over the past few years. I've seen an increase in the Dorf guys' web presence, including quite a bit of stand-up video. I don't know whether that's done in house or by the NJ.com staff.

By the way, the Ledger used to have its own extended internship program. I believe Jenny Vrentas and Brendan Prunty, both of whom are full-time Ledger staffers now, came through it.