Disadvantage for Canadians

[mattklar]

Do you think living in Canada has an effect on how successful you will be as a sports writer? Do big name companies like SI, ESPN, and/or Big name newspapers ever hire from Canada.

 

[SoSueMe]

Do you think living in Canada has an effect on how successful you will be as a sports writer? Do big name companies like SI, ESPN, and/or Big name newspapers ever hire from Canada.

It's tough to make it in Canada, for several reasons:
1) There are exactly eight professional franchises among the four "major" sports.
2) University and college sports get little (if any) television coverage
3) University and college sports get little (if any) fan support
4) University and college sports get little (if any) corporate money
5) There are, maybe - what? - four cities with a population of 1 million

However, some have made it:
1) Dan Schulman (ESPN)
2) Jeff Blair (Seattle, but I forget which newspaper)
3) Michael Farber (SI)
4) Scott Burnside (ESPN)
3) I'm sure there are others

And, of note, ESPN is partial owner of TSN and I see more and more TSN anchors writing pieces for ESPN.com

Hope this helps.

EDIT: Kept thinking about it, and sports don't matter as much in Canada as they do in the USA - aside from hockey, of course. Everywhere I've ever worked, people say "oh, you're a sports reporter, you must cover the so-and-so junior hockey team." Not always, I've actually turned down hockey beats because there's so damn many of them.

If you're a sports reporter in Canada, you love your job. I can't see any other reason to be one. Think about it: You want to cover a MLB baseball team? There's probably about 10 jobs maximum in Canada. You want to cover the CFL? Six to 10 jobs nationwide.

Canadians - especially at the university level - care WAY MORE about school than sports. Sports don't make money and there are few dollars/scholarships available for athletes.

 

[fishwrapper]

Peter Jennings.
Morley Safer.

 

[joe]

Ask Jonesy.

 

[wickedwritah]

Gare Joyce (ESPN The Magazine and some other outlets) has done OK for himself, too.

 

[Ellis Redding]

O/U on how long it takes JR to find this thread? I say 12 hours.

 

[sportschick]

Gare Joyce (ESPN The Magazine and some other outlets) has done OK for himself, too.

Believe he posts on here too.

 

[mattklar]

I mean Carleton University is one the most prestigious j-schools in NA. If you read it on a resume, are you editors out there impressed?

 

[jgmacg]

I mean Carleton University is one the most prestigious j-schools in NA. If you read it on a resume, are you editors out there impressed?

Not unless the resume is attached to 10 good clips.

 

[fishwrapper]

Personally, I love the three-page cover letter.

 

[SoSueMe]

I know Carleton grads who wanted to be writers, are at big metro papers and haven't written a story.

I also know community college grads doing some good to great things.

I also know Ryerson grads who are working in the sticks waiting for a break.

There's more to being successful in this biz than the school from which you graduated.

 

[Jones]

First off, what you took in school and where you went to school doesn't matter for ****.

As for being Canadian, there are plenty of us doing work for American operations. I think TV is the most common avenue, because of the trails blazed by the likes of Peter Jennings and our accentless, dulcet tones (John "J.D." Roberts seems to be Anderson Cooper's mop boy; David Amber went to ESPN from TSN; that hugely annoying Hazel Mae jumped from Sportsnet to NESN, I think). But in print, there are good numbers, too. As mentioned, Michael Farber moved from the Gazette in Montreal to SI, and Gare Joyce moved from the Globe and Mail to ESPN the Magazine and other outlets. Also, Graydon Carter, the editor-in-chief of Vanity Fair, is a Canucklehead, and Guy Lawson, who was writing for GQ last I checked, is one, too. There's also a guy at Rolling Stone.

Newspapers, I think that'd be a tougher sell.

Also, it might work against you if want to live and work in the U.S., because then you'll need a Green Card, which means you'll need someone to really want to bring you down south. (It's expensive and a pain in the ass for everybody.) And you're first job probably won't be at some big Yanquis outfit... Just about everyone I can think of established themselves in Canada in some way and then made the cross-border jump.

Bottom line, it's like everything else in this business: It's not easy, but it's not impossible.

 

[Double J]

Also, it might work against you if want to live and work in the U.S., because then you'll need a Green Card, which means you'll need someone to really want to bring you down south. (It's expensive and a pain in the ass for everybody.)

Unless you were born to American parents, in which case you are instead entitled to a passport and a Social Security Number. ;D

 

[Rough Mix]

Also, it might work against you if want to live and work in the U.S., because then you'll need a Green Card, which means you'll need someone to really want to bring you down south. (It's expensive and a pain in the ass for everybody.)

Unless you were born to American parents, in which case you are instead entitled to a passport and a Social Security Number. ;D

Can you choose which passport? Yank or Canuck? Does that depend on your place of residence?

 

[Double J]

If you're a dual citizen, you can have either one or you can have both, no matter where you actually live.

 

[Just_An_SID]

I think the biggest disadvantage that Canadians must overcome is their desire to add an extra "U" to a num ber of words for no reason whatsoever.

 

[Boomer7]

that hugely chested Hazel Mae jumped from Sportsnet to NESN, I think).

Fixed your post. (NESN is not shy about letting its viewers see for themselves, either.)

Back on topic: Isn't Farber, like Jack Todd, an American who went to Canada?

 

[RedCanuck]

Also, it might work against you if want to live and work in the U.S., because then you'll need a Green Card... Just about everyone I can think of established themselves in Canada in some way and then made the cross-border jump.

That's it in a nutshell, and I believe the chances have been more limited since 9/11 as there are more restrictions on getting a green card and more of a focus, at least as I understand it, on hiring from within. Now, you basically not only have to be the best candidate but you have to be so good your employer believes there aren't any American candidates even close.

Further, most of the Canadian j-schools really aren't that far ahead, especially sports-wise. You come out of Carleton, the best experience you might have is a short internship and a weekly campus paper. A lot of the major campuses in the States, j-schools or not, are producing daily campus papers and the quality is remarkable in comparison.

I've seen people make it out of Carleton (though I'd also argue that a number of U.S. schools like Syracuse, Mizzou, Northwestern, etc. are far more prestigious-looking on a resume, clips being equal) and I've seen people make it out of community colleges up here too, but like most have said you have to make a lot of your own breaks to get where you want to be.

 

[ballscribe]

I mean Carleton University is one the most prestigious j-schools in NA. If you read it on a resume, are you editors out there impressed?

When I interned at the Ottawa Citizen my first summer out of J-School, they actually went out of their way not to hire Carleton students. Not sure why. They sure thought they were hot stuff. But the Citizen also wanted bilingual reporters, and most of the Cartoon U grads didn't make the grade.

 

[ballscribe]

Farber is an American, married to a Canadian. New Jersey boy, Rutgers, I believe.

Having gone south of the border for a job, I can concur that they really have to want you. The work visa took several months, and they had to wait for me, not to mention prove (somehow) that my collection of qualifications was something the couldn't find from among their American candidates.