NOLA.com/TP disaster

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writestuff1

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My parents live in a small town about one hour from New Orleans. They have been subscribers to the Times-Picayune for more than 50 years. The final two days of the seven-day paper, last Saturday and Sunday, were not delivered. The received the Saints tab on Monday and the paper on Wednesday, but no paper on Friday. I drove about a mile from their home and picked up a copy of the paper in a box, but they had no home delivery. My prediction was no home delivery of the paper in that area within a year. I think I may have been about a year off...Also, NOLA.com had a staff-written story - no byline - last Friday on the John Curtis Patriots. In one poll, Curtis is ranked the No. 1 prep team in the nation. Every Curtis player in the story was spelled incorrectly. As of last look, no corrections have been made. If they did eventually make a correction, they didn't publically acknowledge it...I spoke to a new hire about two weeks ago - a real go-getter - and was told writers are being taught to post stories immediately after games and it goes through no copy editors.
 
I freelanced for them in 2009 right after college. At that time I thought they were highly disorganized. They paid well. I got $85 per game for covering high school football. The disorganization wasn't from the sports department. It was from whoever in the office did payroll. It took three weeks to get first check (supposed to be paid weekly), two of the three weeks it was $45 a game instead of $85. It took two months to get the difference. Throughout the season I would sometimes get a check for $85 and sometimes $80 and they missed paying me another week. It was a month after the season until I finally got paid for the last game.

Sports editor told me they were switching from a person in the office to an outsourced company for doing paychecks. Go figure.
 
Cubbiebum said:
I freelanced for them in 2009 right after college. At that time I thought they were highly disorganized. They paid well. I got $85 per game for covering high school football. The disorganization wasn't from the sports department. It was from whoever in the office did payroll. It took three weeks to get first check (supposed to be paid weekly), two of the three weeks it was $45 a game instead of $85. It took two months to get the difference. Throughout the season I would sometimes get a check for $85 and sometimes $80 and they missed paying me another week. It was a month after the season until I finally got paid for the last game.

Sports editor told me they were switching from a person in the office to an outsourced company for doing paychecks. Go figure.
Click to expand...

The outsourced company is also a Newhouse company, And they are indeed the most indifferent company to freelancers I've ever seen. Three years ago in Birmingham, the outsourcing company kept paying later and later. Finallly, when the checks due on Dec. 15 hadn't arrived by Dec. 22, my counterpart let the executive editor have it; how people need the money to pay bills, it's Christmas and we're still not paid.
Not only were we paid bythe outsourcing company the next day, but getting paid between the 10th and 15th was the norm from then on.
 
It's amazing how fast newspaper execs threw the rules and standards out the window.
 
Guys, I'm not sure if any of you are aware, but the TP has gone to a 3 times a week publishing. We have the same thing going on over here in Mississippi. The Mississippi Press was a 7 day a week, but they are owned by the same company that owns the TP. I haven't really been to the website lately, but I know I was never that impressed with it, as far as high school sports coverage. The best for HS coverage is sportsnola.com They link some info to the LHSAA, but they do have a staff that writes for them.
 
zephyrsman said:
Guys, I'm not sure if any of you are aware, but the TP has gone to a 3 times a week publishing. We have the same thing going on over here in Mississippi. The Mississippi Press was a 7 day a week, but they are owned by the same company that owns the TP. I haven't really been to the website lately, but I know I was never that impressed with it, as far as high school sports coverage. The best for HS coverage is sportsnola.com They link some info to the LHSAA, but they do have a staff that writes for them.
Click to expand...

We are well aware.

Did you just register to post that?
 
zephyrsman said:
Guys, I'm not sure if any of you are aware, but the TP has gone to a 3 times a week publishing. We have the same thing going on over here in Mississippi. The Mississippi Press was a 7 day a week, but they are owned by the same company that owns the TP. I haven't really been to the website lately, but I know I was never that impressed with it, as far as high school sports coverage. The best for HS coverage is sportsnola.com They link some info to the LHSAA, but they do have a staff that writes for them.
Click to expand...

Jesus****. Are you that oblivious? A site on sports journalists and journalism wouldn't know of the TP went to three days a week?
 
I hear things are getting rocky for some newspapers. There may be layoffs soon.
 
Somebody at the barbershop was complaining that they pulled the Yellow Kid from the comics. Wonder when that happened?
 
Heard over coffee this week the paper may go up to a dime from a nickel. Damned greedy owners!
 
Riptide said:
It's amazing how fast newspaper execs threw the rules and standards out the window.
Click to expand...
The rules were thrown out when companies began losing money.
 
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