Should I become a sportswriter?

[Duespayer]

Hello everybody.

I have a English paper due next week. I want to do something on newspapers. Does it have a future type thing.

I would appreciate some honest insight on the industry. What's wrong with it? Why is it failing?

Thanks everybody.

 

[Songbird]

Spend 3 good hours reading posts from this site and you'll have plenty of material.

 

[Ace]

Why don't you go to ESPN.com or CBSsportsline.com or Yahoo.com or aol.com and try to see if you can interview one of the many top-flight former newspaper columnists who are now exclusively or partially online columnists.

 

[fishwrapper]

There's a crisis in the newspaper industry?

 

[Big Buckin' agate_monkey]

RUN. FAST. THE OTHER WAY. DON'T LOOK BACK!

 

[Appgrad05]

No

 

[fishwrapper]

No

Succinct and to the point.

 

[Walter_Sobchak]

No

Succinct and to the point.

What they said.

 

[Leo Mazzone]

Hello everybody.

I have a English paper due in the morning and haven't started. Will you give me your thoughts so I can claim them as my own and fill pages in a hurry?

Thanks everybody.

 

[budcrew08]

Hello everybody.

I have a English paper due in the morning and haven't started. Will you give me your thoughts so I can claim them as my own and fill pages in a hurry?

Thanks everybody.

how sarcastic of you... but it seems oh so true.

 

[Leo Mazzone]

Yes. Apologies if you're being sincere, but that was my first reaction.

In seriousness, what Ace said. Try contacting someone from your local paper. Try PM'ing some folks on here who have shown some strong feelings on the matter and see if they'll go on the record. I think it'd be hard pass off JoeBlow from SportsJournalists.com as a legitimate source.

good luck.

 

[budcrew08]

Yes. Apologies if you're being sincere, but that was my first reaction.

In seriousness, what Ace said. Try contacting someone from your local paper. Try PM'ing some folks on here who have shown some strong feelings on the matter and see if they'll go on the record. I think it'd be hard pass off JoeBlow from SportsJournalists.com as a legitimate source.

good luck.

I wasn't getting on you, Leo. I meant it to mean that you probably have the right idea.

 

[Mizzougrad96]

If I could do it all over again, I would... But I won't exactly encourage my kids to follow in my footsteps...

 

[Dave Kindred]

Absolutely. Why not? More good sportswriters are making more money today in more ways than sportswriters ever have. If you can tell a story, there'll always be ways to make a living, maybe not in newsprint, maybe not on radio, maybe not in television, maybe not on the Internet, maybe not in books -- but somewhere in that wide world of opportunity, a good reporter and storyteller will find a way.

 

[fishwrapper]

Absolutely. Why not? More good sportswriters are making more money today in more ways than sportswriters ever have. If you can tell a story, there'll always be ways to make a living, maybe not in newsprint, maybe not on radio, maybe not in television, maybe not on the Internet, maybe not in books -- but somewhere in that wide world of opportunity, a good reporter and storyteller will find a way.

Oh, Dave. You're always the optimist.
All these years and you're still singing, "The Sun Will Come Up, Tomorrow..."
I envy that.

 

[Clever username]

Hello everybody.

I have a English paper due next week. I want to do something on newspapers. Does it have a future type thing.

I would appreciate some honest insight on the industry. What's wrong with it? Why is it failing?

Thanks everybody.

"... an English paper ..."

There I helped.

 

[NoTalentAndFatToo]

Hello everybody.

I have a English paper due next week. I want to do something on newspapers. Does it have a future type thing.

I would appreciate some honest insight on the industry. What's wrong with it? Why is it failing?

Thanks everybody.

For $50 I'll write it for you.

'Cause I need the money...

 

[hondo]

viable alternatives:

Barber college

Bartending school

Circle K night manager

Wal-Mart sporting goods manager

Limo driver

 

[chazp]

Duespayer. The industry is not failing. Those who hold the purse strings are. Sports are not going away anything soon and neither will sports writing. People love sports. Look at how many people attend games each year in the NFL, MLB, NBA, NHL, not to mention college sports. Where I work, crowds of 5.000 are common at high school football games. People want to go to or watch a game and then read about it later to see what the take on the game is. Some papers have died out in the past 20+ years, but the industry was at an all-time high in number of papers in the 1980s, so it was bound to happen. The bleeding may not be done yet, but it will stop. During football season, I hear people at restaurants and gas stations talking about college and pro football and what the papers, USA Today as well as in state papers said about the games. People want to read about sports, that won't change. Will they read more about sports on-line in the future? I'm not sure. But people won't stop reading about sports. That's one thing I'm sure of.

 

[Oz]

Tallest sig picture ever. No post could ever be longer than that photo.