How many per week?

[Sheri]

Articles.
How many are you required to write per week or how many on average do you complete?

If you are also a photographer, how many different photo submissions do you complete per week?

Just curious...
Sheri

 

[Stitch]

None explicitly required. But I usually write three or four, then shoot a couple of videos, layout, and do some other tasks.

 

[Sheri]

Okay, what number (or range) would seem too many? roughly.

Reason, we just lost our reporter and were told she couldn't be replaced (hiring freeze). I've decided I need to learn what a normal expectation should be and then stick to that, so that I don't become insane or divorced.

 

[Starman]

You will get to do all the work you did before, plus half the work of the people who left, and you are expected to put in no more than 40 hours, or you will be the next to go.

Love,

Your Bosses. ;)

 

[txsportsscribe]

Okay, what number (or range) would seem too many? roughly.

Reason, we just lost our reporter and were told she couldn't be replaced (hiring freeze). I've decided I need to learn what a normal expectation should be and then stick to that, so that I don't become insane or divorced.

there's not a cut-and-dried answer to that. it depends on the size of the paper, the type of stories, etc. i can remember churning out 7-8 stories in a day on some occasions and usually 20-plus per week on average when i was a 1-man sports desk. many of those, however, were often 8-inch gamers taken from coach reports. throw in taking photos and doing layout and it could get hairy.

 

[spud]

I don't know many papers that will have you fill a quota for articles in a week, just that you get done what needs to get done on your beat and elsewhere. Last week I wrote 11 or 12 stories plus a bunch of prep roundup stuff, and it's not going to be that many this week -- maybe five or six by comparison because football's done and a couple teams are out of town.

Just depends on a few things, I guess.

 

[forever_town]

At my previous shop, the full-time reporters were required to do five stories a week. I considered a collection of news briefs a byline for purposes of meeting quota.

There were some weeks when all I wrote was my column. There were other weeks when I'd write two or three news stories, my column, crime briefs and a gamer.

 

[RossLT]

The place I worked at wanted 8-10 per week, If we ever got 10, it would have been "Why didn't you write 12?", we do 12 "Why didn't you do 15?"

Never could do enough for those ****ing bosses.

 

[Pete Incaviglia]

The place I worked at wanted 8-10 per week, If we ever got 10, it would have been "Why didn't you write 12?", we do 12 "Why didn't you do 15?"

Never could do enough for those ****ing bosses.

Did you work with me at my current shop?

 

[Sheri]

Alrite.
I've been counting in other papers, communities and dailies, and I've decided no more than 24-30 per week, that's absolutely it. Which is 12-15 per issue, plus one column, plus doing lay-out and editing of freelance stuff, etc. And every ****ing lameass blowjob event that goes down. Oh, and all the photography.

Actually, if the community wants those blowjob stories so badly, they're going to have to start documenting them because there's too much real news going on to **** around with that.

Thank you, your replies were helpful!

 

[SixToe]

24-30 per week, plus photos and blowjobs?

Damn. You're going to be busy.

 

[RossLT]

The place I worked at wanted 8-10 per week, If we ever got 10, it would have been "Why didn't you write 12?", we do 12 "Why didn't you do 15?"

Never could do enough for those ****ing bosses.

Did you work with me at my current shop?

Nah, I got laid off (thank god!!).

 

[Sheri]

I guess I should clarify. The blowjobs are what I call the bull****, community based fluffy **** I hate doing and I'm pretty sure, almost everyone hates reading except for those mentioned in the caption or article. Hate 'em.

24-30 per week, plus photos and blowjobs?

Damn. You're going to be busy.

 

[dooley_womack1]

Don't blow anybody on the way to the parking lot.[/clerks]

 

[HejiraHenry]

I don't mandate any story counts in our quaint 36K shop.

I want the news covered. That seems to take care of it.

As for me, I don't write nearly enough, unless you count heds and the newspaper equivalent of tweets.

 

[JayFarrar]

Better way to look at it is inch count.
My average inch count is about 150 a week with some weeks going into 200 plus and I've never had a week less than 100.
Normal production is one enterpise story every week, five stories off my beat, a couple of brights and a weekly crime roundup that is part of a larger enterprise package.
I think that's about right for a 40-hour work week.

 

[Rumpleforeskin]

12-15 depending on the week.

 

[mike311gd]

Don't blow anybody on the way to the parking lot.[/clerks]

Hey, get back here.

 

[TwoGloves]

It all depends on the paper. At some smaller weeklies, I seem the same byline 20 times an edition. (At least it seems that way.) I write about 5-6 a week on average. Sometimes more, sometimes less. More in the winter than summer usually.

 

[novelist_wannabe]

24-30 seems awfully high no matter what kind of shop you're in, unless you're considering every two-inch brief a whole story. I'd figure three hours per story. That'd give you about 13 a week, less if you're doing other things. If you're at a daily, there are going to be days when you don't have anything in the paper. But you're always working the next one. Averaging two a day isn't unreasonable on either side.