Milwaukee Journal Sentinel -- Green Bay Packers reporter

[Mizzougrad96]

A few years ago, a guy like Dunne likely would have had to wait a few more years for a job like the one he just left. Bedard had several years of NFL experience when he got the job, but by some counts, after he left for Boston, the JS decided to cut the salary for that job by 40-50 percent. That's the biggest reason why Dunne got his shot, and give the kid credit, he made the most of the opportunity.

 

[Mark2010]

You know, I'm a little puzzled. When I got out of university some years back, all I heard from anyone I talked to was "you gotta pay your dues and get experience. Don't even waste your time trying to cover major college or pro sports. Go to a small market and work hard."

OK, fine. If that was the way the game was played, I was willing to go along. I went to a small market and made a TON of sacrifices. My first job paid around $14.5K per year (yeah, I know, everything was cheaper then, too). I paid my dues. Covered the high schools, little league and all the attendant crap that goes with it. Had no social life whatsoever. Somedays didn't have two nickels to rub together.

I accepted that as just part of the process and never complained too much.

Fast forward 20+ years and I've got plenty of experience covering everything under the sun. What I don't have in stamina anymore or technological knowledge I make up for with that vaunted experience. Now what I hear is "you're too old, everyone wants someone who is young".

Well, what gives? Once upon a time I was young, too.

Why bother with these jobs when they would need your ID anyway? I'm sure a place like this is looking for someone who can get a driver's license, able to vote, and can own property.

Nothing to do with anything.

 

[boundforboston]

You know, I'm a little puzzled. When I got out of university some years back, all I heard from anyone I talked to was "you gotta pay your dues and get experience. Don't even waste your time trying to cover major college or pro sports. Go to a small market and work hard."

OK, fine. If that was the way the game was played, I was willing to go along. I went to a small market and made a TON of sacrifices. My first job paid around $14.5K per year (yeah, I know, everything was cheaper then, too). I paid my dues. Covered the high schools, little league and all the attendant crap that goes with it. Had no social life whatsoever. Somedays didn't have two nickels to rub together.

I accepted that as just part of the process and never complained too much.

Fast forward 20+ years and I've got plenty of experience covering everything under the sun. What I don't have in stamina anymore or technological knowledge I make up for with that vaunted experience. Now what I hear is "you're too old, everyone wants someone who is young".

Well, what gives? Once upon a time I was young, too.

And young people are never rejected because they need more experience, right? It all depends on what the editor wants for the position.

 

[jackson 5]

The Journal is a Guild paper. Salaries start at 800 per week and go up to 1100 something per week. Oh, the laziness on this board. No where near the salary for the San Diegeo paper.

http://www.milwaukeenewsguild.org/guild-contract/#article-18

 

[Matt Stephens]

Its an NFL job and we all run to our computers to send in the resume.

But I hear that the Packers fan base are very outspoken about the writers that cover the team.

What fan base isn't? Cover a prep beat last fall, plenty of thanks and plenty of criticism from that schools fans. Covering college this year, it's the same mix. Fans are passionate, what else would you expect in this business?

 

[Mizzougrad96]

The Journal is a Guild paper. Salaries start at 800 per week and go up to 1100 something per week. Oh, the laziness on this board. No where near the salary for the San Diegeo paper.

http://www.milwaukeenewsguild.org/guild-contract/#article-18

I've never been good at math, but... $800 times 52 weeks... equals $41,600. Didn't the San Diego paper say it was between $35-$40K? Seems pretty close to me...

 

[Baron Scicluna]

The Journal is a Guild paper. Salaries start at 800 per week and go up to 1100 something per week. Oh, the laziness on this board. No where near the salary for the San Diegeo paper.

http://www.milwaukeenewsguild.org/guild-contract/#article-18

I've never been good at math, but... $800 times 52 weeks... equals $41,600. Didn't the San Diego paper say it was between $35-$40K? Seems pretty close to me...

I'd also think cost of living would be a major factor.

$41K would go pretty well in Wisconsin. In San Diego, it'd get you a cardboard box.

 

[jackson 5]

It's not at all accurate to compare the San Diego job to the Sentinel job from a financial perspective. Even if the Sentinel hires someone with zero experience (highly doubtful), the upward arc at the Sentinel is way better, I can say with certainty, than it is in San Diege. After four years of experience, the floor is 1,188 per week or 61,776. That's the minimum salary they'd have to pay. No way a non guild paper runs its writers up the financial ladder at that rate. Furthermore, the cost of living in Milwaukee is way cheaper than it is in San Diego --at least by 20 percent. Also, if you read further down the contract, you'd see that sports guys (anyone that works afternoons) get a differential. It appears to add at least another $3,500 per year onto the salary. The Milwaukee job is much better than the San Diego even if they're trying to hire young.

 

[Mizzougrad96]

The Journal is a Guild paper. Salaries start at 800 per week and go up to 1100 something per week. Oh, the laziness on this board. No where near the salary for the San Diegeo paper.

http://www.milwaukeenewsguild.org/guild-contract/#article-18

I've never been good at math, but... $800 times 52 weeks... equals $41,600. Didn't the San Diego paper say it was between $35-$40K? Seems pretty close to me...

I'd also think cost of living would be a major factor.

$41K would go pretty well in Wisconsin. In San Diego, it'd get you a cardboard box.

Yeah, this is a great job. It's a great job for someone to come in, stay 2-3 years and then bolt for a huge paper and more $$$ if they do well (which the last two have). But, for the money being offered, this is not a long-term stop. Nothing wrong with that. That's the business these days. It's actually probably a pretty damn smart way to do it.

 

[Mizzougrad96]

It's not at all accurate to compare the San Diego job to the Sentinel job from a financial perspective. Even if the Sentinel hires someone with zero experience (highly doubtful), the upward arc at the Sentinel is way better, I can say with certainty, than it is in San Diege. After four years of experience, the floor is 1,188 per week or 61,776. That's the minimum salary they'd have to pay. No way a non guild paper runs its writers up the financial ladder at that rate. Furthermore, the cost of living in Milwaukee is way cheaper than it is in San Diego --at least by 20 percent. Also, if you read further down the contract, you'd see that sports guys (anyone that works afternoons) get a differential. It appears to add at least another $3,500 per year onto the salary. The Milwaukee job is much better than the San Diego even if they're trying to hire young.

Well, the job is always based in Green Bay, which I would assume is cheaper than Milwaukee.

Which job is better? Both are great jobs. The JS is a clear No. 3 job. I'm not sure how they're doing it in San Diego. The last two people to have the JS job went to the Boston Globe and USA Today. San Diego had a Chargers writer hired by SI a few years back.

 

[da man]

The Journal is a Guild paper. Salaries start at 800 per week and go up to 1100 something per week. Oh, the laziness on this board. No where near the salary for the San Diegeo paper.

http://www.milwaukeenewsguild.org/guild-contract/#article-18

I've never been good at math, but... $800 times 52 weeks... equals $41,600. Didn't the San Diego paper say it was between $35-$40K? Seems pretty close to me...

I'd also think cost of living would be a major factor.

$41K would go pretty well in Wisconsin. In San Diego, it'd get you a cardboard box.

$42K for an NFL beat guy at the biggest paper in one of the NFL's most rabid markets?

Sorry, but that is sad. Even for the No. 3 guy on the beat.

I guess we're assuming the J-S will hire a "young and hungry" kid and pay the low end of the union scale, right?

 

[steveu]

Do a little detective work and you'll find that indeed Green Bay is a cheap place to live. You can get a two-bedroom for $525. Double that and that might get you a studio in San Diego... more than likely it'll get you one little room.

And even if you lived in Milwaukee, there are a lot of suburbs where the cost of living is lower than California.

 

[Mizzougrad96]

I don't think anyone is debating that Green Bay is a cheaper place to live than San Diego.

I'm not even arguing that $42K isn't enough to pay a full-time NFL writer. It just means that with what this job pays, people without NFL experience probably have a shot. I seriously doubt that was the case when Bedard was hired back in 2007, especially based on the others who were up for the job.

 

[old_tony]

I'm assuming they're looking for a vet here, but I don't really know the context, so I'll ask a stupid question: How old was Dunne when he got hired? Do they generally seek new talent and promote from within, or are they looking for an elite guy on this one?

They don't have enough people left to hire from within. And I'm not joking.

 

[wicked]

Maybe they can rehire one of the many people Garry ditched.

 

[Joe Williams]

Maybe they can rehire one of the many people Garry ditched.

There was a time, especially when the workforce is unionized, when layoffs were just that: temporary reductions in workforce. When a spot opened up or work picked up, those laid off were brought back.

Why don't newspaper unions work this way? Why do they drop members like bad habits the moment they're laid off? Those folks would seem to need the representation and assistance of the union more than anyone. There ARE industries where laid-off workers still are in their union, still accrue union credit toward pensions, etc. Newspaper unions bargain away your job and then drop you too.

Lots of bosses don't have the balls to hire back someone they put on the street (or even someone one of their departed department heads put on the street). They'd obsess about that person's "attitude" and feel a little awkward around that person, and of course we can't have a boss who's put in that human situation. Besides, so many newspaper layoffs are driven by a desire to shed a veteran's higher salary and replace it with something much lower, if it's replaced at all.

 

[writingump]

Cheap trumps experience and ability in most newsrooms these days. Just the facts, ma'am, as Joe Friday used to say.

 

[sm72]

Cheap trumps experience and ability in most newsrooms these days. Just the facts, ma'am, as Joe Friday used to say.

Cheap/young can have ability, you know. Regardless of who they get, it'll be someone who's got enough talent and relentlessness to cover an NFL team.

 

[mediaguy]

I bet sm72 is young, cheap and able, with relentlessness!

 

[sm72]

That, a good deal of desperation and the mouth of a sailor should someone try to step.