Looking For Opinionated Journalists

[Daniel T]

We have started a new website: belowmendoza.com. And we are currently looking to add several writing positions.

We need columnists and "beat writers" in the sense that you would cover the weekly flow of a particular sport.

We are not paying as of now; that's a stretch goal of ours.

We produce content for any and every professional sport, including eSports if that interests you.

We also produce regular podcasts and are looking at expansion on that front.

So if anything interests you please e-mail: [email protected]

Thanks

 

[crimsonace]

Popcorn being popped now ...

If you want content, and you want it to be good, it's probably not going to come from people working for free.

 

[silvercharm]

What is with people, anyway? If I want to write for free, I'll start a blog.

 

[Daniel T]

More of a college position as of now. We just launched this week. I'm still a senior at Miami U. I understand we aren't going to pull in primetime journalists. But it's good for anyone in college. We offer the opportunity to podcast, and in the future videocast.

 

[Daniel T]

To be clear: both of us that founded the website are working for free and have both actually lost money. Just trying to be a source for strong opinions and résumé building.

 

[Mr. Sunshine]

Sharing your opinion for free is what people do on this site, but you won't get very asking people to do it. Having said that, this is an ambitious endeavor for a college student. Good luck.

 

[Daniel T]

Thanks! Most of the advice I've received from people like Shelley Smith, Terence Moore, and Stephen A. is that you need to show people you can do it on your own. I'm currently running sports director for college radio, interning, and running this site! Hoping to find people with similar goals in mind.

 

[playthrough]

No disrespect, Daniel, but we get tons of these kinds of listings. And I mean TONS. If you don't see them, it's because we delete them. This will be deleted soon as well. This is a board for professionals and opportunities without cash don't fly. When your site makes it big and can pay, come on back and you'll be welcomed with open arms.

 

[Daniel T]

Hard to make money without having solid writers. All I'm trying to do. It's a lot easier to push site traffic to a new site when you have a constant stream of new pieces.

 

[playthrough]

Solid writers will want money. Or at least they should.

 

[Daniel T]

Not solid college writers and post-college grads. Tough market to crack, résumé is king.

 

[JohnHammond]

Yep, writing for some site run by some college kids in Ohio will certainly turn editors' heads.

 

[Daniel T]

Probably not. But showing you have experience in audio and video, as well as the drive to promote yourself on a site is always good. I trust you aren't recently out of college?

 

[JohnHammond]

Didn't work for free. Made some decent scratch for a college kid freelancing for a few outlets.

 

[Daniel T]

Try that nowadays. You won't get anywhere demanding money with no background.

 

[JCT89]

Try that nowadays. You won't get anywhere demanding money with no background.

I don't want to crap all over your idea here because ambition is good. It's much better to be out there trying to do something different than just expecting a job will be there after college.

But there are a lot of issues with this idea. First off, making money as a freelancer isn't some impossible, Herculean task. Plenty of college kids make money writing, so this idea that it's almost a necessity to write for free is foolish. You'd be better off developing a relationship with your local sports editor than you will writing for this website.

My biggest issue is the fact it'll all be opinion-driven. It might be one of the biggest issues with young journalists today. Everyone wants to fire off a opinion, and worse, thinks they are worthy of weighing in on everything. I'm sorry but more often than not I'm not going to give a **** about what some 20-year old thinks. I don't want to come off as some old-timer here but there used to be value in the columnist because you knew they had experienced some things and it was reflected in their perspective. A 20-year old college junior hasn't experienced enough to be fairly able to weigh in on that many subjects, especially if the website has a national scope.

Personally, I'd be much more inclined to hire a kid who busted his butt stringing HS preps and showing he could actually report than someone who just fired off hot take opinions for this website. Take that for whatever it's worth.

 

[playthrough]

Moved to freelance (which I should have done earlier, sorry gang). And JCT89 makes a tremendous point. I had an opinion column at my college paper and reading those old pieces now makes me want throw up. Of course I had nothing to say. But I also made a point of getting in touch with the editor of the small local paper and that led to better (paid) things.

 

[TyWebb]

Try that nowadays. You won't get anywhere demanding money with no background.

Yeah, this is just flat-out false. Plenty of papers are looking for college-aged writers to cover local prep events. You can never have too many freelancers when you are a sports editor and your staff is already stretched wafer thin. Now, the pay isn't great, but there is pay, plus the added benefit of being published in a paper. That is going to look more impressive on a resume than writing for free on a sports opinion site.

 

[Paul Clark]

Putting the free in freelance since 2015.

 

[da man]

More of a college position as of now. We just launched this week. I'm still a senior at Miami U. I understand we aren't going to pull in primetime journalists. But it's good for anyone in college. We offer the opportunity to podcast, and in the future videocast.

Then post it on a college website. This is a job board for professionals. That means cash for content.