Work smarter, not harder

The thought crossed my mind.

The idea that a company paying a reporter a full shift to cover a game somehow makes them lazy, and that you'll get a better story from someone who pulls half a desk shift -- and, let's be honest, it will be a full desk shift crammed into half the time -- and then scrambles to the arena to rewrite the stat sheet isn't just asinine, it's offensive.

If you're management and that's how you treat your staff, I don't care how good your intentions are, you're part of the problem. A large part of the problem.

 

Well, the smarter thing to do would have been to come up with that process sooner. What took you so long?

 

I didn't have you around to inspire me .... hope you're well.

 

You know, there are some papers that actually update their OS and hardware more than once every seven years.

Assuming makes an ass out of ... well, you get the picture.

 

I agree. We cover events/games/tournaments that I know only 30 people will read about - those 30 people being blood related to the athletes. Yet, we go and go and go. And the events/games/tournaments that draw literally thousands of fans and readers get the same amount of ink. It makes no sense. We should cut some of the former and cover the latter more fully.

 

As stated before.

Has anyone thought about not covering games?

If you don't have time, space, or man power, then you stop trying to be the paper of record and start by working from most important to least important.

Most important part of a prep page isn't the gamer from the best game that day that 20 parents care about, it is your rewrite roundup of the ENTIRE area.

My shop? 50k pretty much stopped covering games and writing gamers on the prep side. What's more important, one gamer or rewrites of everything? We stopped covering ho hum regular season games in all prep sports unless there is something on the line such as a conference title or even a pair of undefeated teams. We only go to the games when we have to and it is journalistically necessary.

I am stunned at how well this works (helps that mero competitor has pretty much ceded daily prep coverage). Less games actually works for us.

Now, it's not a perfect situation. Sometimes you miss some good stories and don't build relationships. But, we have a major Division I university in the backyard and we cover its major spots exhaustively. We cover major prep sports on the desk with rewrites and get EVERY game with standings. We also cover major events of minor prep sports. Minor sports at the university and covering games of interest? That is a luxury.

When playoffs come, we exhaust the coverage and do it justice. Yes, we parachute in.

What we don't do is waste or manpower and stringer budget on a guy covering a random game between two schools that aren't making the playoffs and never had a shot too.

Now, if you are in a big high school football area then you have to adjust.

Identify your bread and butter and what is the most important component of your section. Everything else is a luxury.

On the prep side, if there is a staffing crunch or not enpugh people on the desk, STOP covering so many fucking games.

Desk rewrites and scoring summaries are the No. 1 priority of our prep coverage. Yeah it sucks sitting on the desk as a glorfied clerk. ut it's the right move.

 

As soon as you stop covering games, somebody's mother calls the publisher and pitches a bitch for 20 minutes, and 30 seconds after she hangs up, you're issued a memo ordering you to cover every sports event for every team in your circulation area.

 

who's to blame for the problem? management or readers who allow it to happen?

 

Management. Readers will take what you give them, for the most part.

 

by saying that, pallister, you're saying the "smart" (cheap) approach to journalism is the correct approach.

 

I'm waiting for the day when everything but the Metro section will be done off the wires.

It doesn't seem that unlikely anymore, in the Big Brother way of thinking.

Frees up more money for the management bonuses, ya know.

 

National circ figures cast doubt upon that viewpoint.