Column writing

[TarHeelMan]

How often does your paper provide columns on the local sports scene? A few a week would be nice for most shops. Thoughts?

 

[Rhody31]

When I started at my old shop, I went for one a week.
Then we had cuts. Tried for every other week.
Then we had more cuts. Then it was only if a column presented itself or we needed to fill space.
Perfect world? Every writer should have one a week, provided you don't have a designated columnist.

 

[Matt Stephens]

I usually average writing three a week, with smaller tidbits/interesting finds posted whenever I have something. It used to be I wrote for Monday, Friday or Saturday and Sunday, but now I (and our reporters if they have something good they want to share on their beat) write columns when there's something to write about, no matter the day. It makes for much better pieces. We're a 25K.

 

[spikechiquet]

At my last stop I think I wrote 2 or 3. I forget. I know one was always local, another was more of a feature where I dealt with sports TV stuff (kind of like Awful Annoucing before it came to being).
I think a third was the college team I covered. That was for a 6K daily.

 

[HanSenSE]

I write one a week, most times. Usually runs early in the week. Will skip it if I have a game to cover that night. Will occasionally do one as a sidebar for big events, like a championship game and the other writer is doing the mainbar.

 

[Doc Holliday]

One a week.

 

[Liut]

What HanSenSE and Doc said. I'm not a big fan of column quotas. At least in my case, the fewer is better insofar as quality content.

 

[TarHeelMan]

Not big on quotas either...figured a few a week would be plenty. Write when they are warranted...