Writing at a daily vs. writing at a weekly

We do a similar thing during football season at my shop. We're a 15k daily. On Friday night, we'll write the standard gamer. Hit the highlights, throw in a few quotes, give an idea of the big picture, and crank it out in 20 minutes and 12-15 inches.
Then, for Monday (when we typically don't have a lot of local stories), we'll write a more in-depth analytical second-day story. If a running back went for 200 yards and three touchdowns, for example, we'll write a story focusing on him. Break down some of his better runs, maybe talk a little about how his season had gone before that, that sort of thing. Kind of the best of both worlds.

 

Take a look at the product. If it is good and literate (good stuff), then yes, work there. But, the majority of weeklies I see are trash. they are designed to be community papers and it's really hokey stuff.

Don't go there, you will get buried.

I advise interns and youngsters to stay away from weeklies. Let the guy who lives in the community and has a passion for his town write those stories.

 

Most small dailies (15k and under) and most weeklies are doing the same kind of thing so it doesn't really matter. If you've got the stuff, you can move on to bigger and better things regardless of where you start. The bigger question is, why on earth are you not changing fields while you are young and able? Do you enjoy being overworked, underpaid and under-appreciated? That's assuming you get to keep a job. Have you not been reading this board?

 

What about the people who are on this board who actually, you know, like what they do? No need to sneer down at the newbies all the time.

 

He's a mets fan, if his handle is to be believed. They sneer at everything ...

As to the question at hand: The deadline analysis is spot on. It was an absolute culture shock when I went from a twice-weekly to a daily. A weekly offeres no comparison for the pace at which you have to work at a daily. If you have thoughts of staying in the business long-term, the daily work is better in every other way. More respect. better pay (granted, that's relative), higher quality coworkers.

 

Lot of it depends.
A weekly like the Village Voice is better than working for most daily papers.
It also depends on how you file.
Lots of weeklies are doing daily updates for the web and putting their feature stuff and longer packages in print.
Or you might be part of a chain and filing for one of the daily papers, but actually working for the weekly.

 

If you're serious about making a career in the business, there is no better way you could start out than in a weekly, as long as it's a good one.
In most weeklies you're going to have a smaller staff and you'll do everything, not just cover a particular beat. You're going to write on a variety of things, and you'll probably take photos and do layout.
In the long run it will help you write more creative and better gamers when you do get to a daily, and just make you a better reporter overall.

 

As an editor at a weekly, what in your mind constitutes good and literate stuff?

I try to publish real news and my bosses keep trying to get me to make this the "good news" newspaper.

 

my only problem working at a weekly was it made me lazy. I got used to not having a real deadline to worry about. I know that was a product of my doing, but it's so easy to get accustomed to it.

 

My answer to that is because I love this freaking job, and I enjoy almost every minute of it.

 

I often find myself writing on deadline. Then again, part of that is dealing with all the crap I have to deal with. However, the Internet and its complications sometimes force weekly writers to feel like they're on a daily's deadlines.

 

Recap: At a weekly you usually get more freedom to do multiple things and develop stories, helping in the long run. At a daily you get more (and better) deadline experience, also helping in the long run.
On the other hand, at a weekly you can get complacent and lazy, but at a daily you can develop bad habits because you're always pushing to get something out. I've worked at weeklies and small dailies (it's where my skill level keeps me), and would recommend to someone who is interested in being a writer to go the weekly route. If you want to be an editor or a page designer, go the daily route.
And yes, I sneer because my lifelong team has shitty management and lazy ass players.