You're in charge

Reading the Klosterman story on changing the industry got me thinking. If given the chance, how would I change our sports coverage and section?

So let's say your editor calls you into his office. Tells you he thinks the sports section is underachieving. He promotes you. Tells you to change whatever you want. Take chances. Develop the sports section of tomorrow.

Same staff, same resources, same space.

What do you do?

 

1) Fire the piece of shit he has as sports editor.

2) Spend the rest of my time trying to undo the stupid shit the fuckhead implemented -- not because it was a good idea but because it was his department.

3) Get rid of the in-office dress code. Everybody in the fucking building can wear tennis shoes and jeans except the newsroom, who are in the back of the building, where anyone who visits them would have to walk past dozens of people in tennis shoes and jeans. And if it's 100 degrees outside and my reporters have to cover a game, they shouldn't have to drive home and change into shorts first (especially when two of the venues are about a half mile from the office).

4) Return to normal.

 

People have a dress code? They still make those?

 

I will not comment on the dress code, because we have those discussions on at least a monthly basis.

In terms of running the shop.

We strengthen the web presence, have staff members blogging on various local sports (no one needs to hear what local guys think about the Red Sox, Yankees, etc.), set up a message board people have to register for.

Meet with each member of the department and ask him/her what changes we should make.

 

I like Billy T's ideas. The website should feature more exclusive content, and perhaps "Premium" content accessible to subscribers for the print edition. Having a FREE webpage that's the same information as the print edition, and can be updated throughout the day, makes your own for-pay product useless. But when you differentiate the two, but have them work as a package, then it benefits both sides.

 

Run the department the way you want it run. And give the people what they want. And have fun doing it.

 

Hawaiian shirt day every Friday.

 

I think you'd spend the first few days realizing half the shit you complained about is out of the sports editor's control.

 

The dress code at my shop is: "We expect our employees to wear clothes." I'm the only one who's ever formalized that.

 

Killjoy.

 

Shove it, Lumbergh.

 

At an old paper, we had a female copy editor who every day wore revealing spaghetti strap shirts without a bra. It was completely inappropriate but not even the top male editors would do anything about it until a female reporter finally complained ...