Alabama football beat writer

[Christopher Smith]

JournalismJobs.com - Job Listing - Seeking Alabama Football Beat Writer

This will probably start out part-time, but it will become a full-time beat writer position out of Tuscaloosa. Feel free to message me for further details. I'd be happy to answer any questions.

 

[ehobeck]

So it's a part-time freelance gig that requires a degree and two years' experience?

 

[Christopher Smith]

So it's a part-time freelance gig that requires a degree and two years' experience?

It's a part-time freelance gig that will at some point in the intermediate future turn into a full-fledged beat writer job covering Alabama football, boots on the ground in Tuscaloosa.

 

[Potter]

What's the thought process there? Save a little money till the guy is full-time? A pseudo-trial run to see if the reporter is actually good?

Not being snippy -- genuinely curious.

 

[Ice9]

Has anybody checked with rcsoxfan or DJDennisOU to see if they will be applying for this job?

 

[Christopher Smith]

What's the thought process there? Save a little money till the guy is full-time? A pseudo-trial run to see if the reporter is actually good?

Not being snippy -- genuinely curious.

Great question. I'll try to answer in a way that explains it without revealing too much of the business side that could potentially displease the owners.

We've got to get better at covering individual teams, especially the ones with the largest fan bases in the SEC. Eventually, I foresee SDS hiring multiple full-time beat writers. Probably not ever one for all 14 teams. But schools like Georgia and Tennessee. Alabama obviously is the first move there, all else being equal.

I'm not able to hire someone full-time right now. I am very confident I will be able to at some point in the not-so-distant future. In the interim, I still want to find someone to cover Alabama for us and upgrade our coverage there. To me, it makes sense to make the best of those circumstances. The pseudo-trial run is a byproduct rather than the driving reason, but hey -- why not use that? And it also gives me something legitimate to sell to a candidate.

We're not going to attract someone from AL.com or someone already on the beat full-time to the current offering. But if I were a little younger, I could see where this would be an attractive opportunity to work myself into a full-time beat job competing with all the big boys.

Make sense?

 

[boundforboston]

It seems like SEC Country or whatever is doing the same thing. Should be interesting.

 

[Doc Holliday]

The worst job in the country is any job that requires covering Nick Saban.

Good luck, though. I'm sure there are plenty of eager beavers who'll jump at the chance. Just not me.

 

[studthug12]

Why are you so confident you will be able to hire someone in the not so distant future if you can't afford to hire somebody right now? No guarantees, just to sweeten the pot and make it possible for a legitimate reporter to apply? If so confident, why not hire a full-time reporter right now?

 

[Christopher Smith]

Why are you so confident you will be able to hire someone in the not so distant future if you can't afford to hire somebody right now? No guarantees, just to sweeten the pot and make it possible for a legitimate reporter to apply? If so confident, why not hire a full-time reporter right now?

I do feel confident. I would be very glad to delineate our plan in much greater detail to any legitimate candidate. And we may end up hiring away a full-time reporter from another gig when the time comes. But this initial person will have an opportunity first.

 

[bamabelle2k15]

I'm from Alabama, I live in Birmingham and an Alabama grad and I've applied for freelance positions before with SDS and never heard a word back.

 

[Waldo9939]

3 ... 2 ... 1 ...

 

[cjericho]

It's a part-time freelance gig that will at some point in the intermediate future turn into a full-fledged beat writer job covering Alabama football, boots on the ground in Tuscaloosa.

Boots on the ground? Do you want to challenge General Saban?

bamabelle you're hired.

 

[djdennisOU]

Has anybody checked with rcsoxfan or DJDennisOU to see if they will be applying for this job?

Aww, how sweet of you to think of me. But no thanks.

 

[bamabelle2k15]

Oh no they aren't going to hire me hell they don't even have the common decency to reject me. lol They will post another ad three months from now looking for new freelancers as they always do. My advice to you guys is to be leery of any company that has a high turnover ratio. They aren't able to keep people for a reason.

 

[LesJ9488]

Oh no they aren't going to hire me hell they don't even have the common decency to reject me. lol They will post another ad three months from now looking for new freelancers as they always do. My advice to you guys is to be leery of any company that has a high turnover ratio. They aren't able to keep people for a reason.

Well. . . they are an expanding and evolving platform, so I'm sure there will be some turnover as they adjust staffing to reflect their needs. Also, good freelancers often get full-time gigs that prevent them from staying a freelancer.

 

[Christopher Smith]

Oh no they aren't going to hire me hell they don't even have the common decency to reject me. lol They will post another ad three months from now looking for new freelancers as they always do. My advice to you guys is to be leery of any company that has a high turnover ratio. They aren't able to keep people for a reason.

Well. . . they are an expanding and evolving platform, so I'm sure there will be some turnover as they adjust staffing to reflect their needs. Also, good freelancers often get full-time gigs that prevent them from staying a freelancer.

I try to respond to as many people as I can, but I get inundated with probably two dozen emails each week. As many hats as I'm wearing, it's not feasible to personally respond to each of them.

We only started hiring freelancers in late July. The majority of our freelancers we added for the season remain with us, and of the small percentage of those who left, most didn't leave by choice.

We are also in the process of raising our editorial standards, and the type of candidate we're seeking has evolved along with that. Having established a good base, the goal now is quality rather than quantity. It makes sense to constantly look for new talent and ways to make our staff better, but that doesn't mean we're switching out 10 freelancers each month.

 

[HappyCurmudgeon]

I'll put in a good word for Chris Smith and what he's trying to do at SDS. That operation ran into some serious problems when they had some drunken, obnoxious boob killing their finances and blowing up their attempts to be somewhat credible. So Chris and one of my former co-workers are trying to re-build and do things the right way.

Obviously this gig isn't for everyone but the guys running the operation are going to do right by whoever they hire. That I believe.

 

[bamabelle2k15]

I remember all that from last year and I had a friend of mine give me the skinny on what went down with some of the hires. As I was told they were hired and within weeks were let go and were left to scrabble for new jobs. My problem with SDS is it seems to me they have no diversity when it comes to their staff. I don't see a single woman or a person color being hired or given a chance to prove themselves. You can't tell me there isn't one person of color or a female from the state of Alabama who couldn't cover Alabama Football for the site.

 

[cjericho]

Possible lawsuit? Bama fans weren't too tolerant when Bruno showed up on the Crimson Tide sideline.