Staff Writer vs ME

[travis5mith]

While not "young," I took the long route through college and am 25 with my first gig as a staff writer at a 20,000 circulation daily. I'm three months in, and they offered me a transfer to ME of a 3,000 circ weekly. ME sounds cool and all, but I'm getting farther and farther from sports and a would make a significant downsize in circ and coverage area size. Sports are where my passion is, hands down. A guy can only write so many features over locals before he loses his mind. Advice?

I think this belongs in here, if not I'll move it.

 

[reformedhack]

Just one point of view: You're only 25, and you've still got plenty to learn about the craft. You'll learn more as a worker bee at the 20,000 daily than as a boss at the 3,000 weekly.

 

[travis5mith]

Just one point of view: You're only 25, and you've still got plenty to learn about the craft. You'll learn more as a worker bee at the 20,000 daily than as a boss at the 3,000 weekly.

That is exactly what my initial thought was as well. I am just not sure how much different a future employer would see a staff writer as opposed to an ME, at all. Completely ignorant to the fact.

 

[DanOregon]

I'd negotiate the hell out of the offer. Find out exactly what you would get, what the expectations are and what the vision of the weekly is. Don't get dazzled by the title, ask why they sought you out over others who have been at the daily longer. No offense, but if the ME gig is desirable, I'd expect they never would have had to come to you and someone else would have jumped at it.

 

[travis5mith]

I'd negotiate the hell out of the offer. Find out exactly what you would get, what the expectations are and what the vision of the weekly is. Don't get dazzled by the title, ask why they sought you out over others who have been at the daily longer. No offense, but if the ME gig is desirable, I'd expect they never would have had to come to you and someone else would have jumped at it.

The ME that was there transferred to my current location a few weeks ago, and both papers are in the same region. We currently have a small staff of 5, one other guy with my same age/experience, and two who have been planted there for 15+ years. They gave the whole, "hire from within first" spill. Hell, I don't even know what it is I need to be negotiating! ha.

 

[SFIND]

I agree with reformedhack. Also, I'll add the token "being the boss ain't everything it's cracked up to be" comment.

 

[Batman]

I forget which legendary poster here said it, but some of the best advice I've read on SJ.com is, "Don't **** with happy."
It's good to see that, at 25 years old and with only three months in the business, you're aware enough to realize that this might not be the best move personally and professionally for you. I applaud you for that. A lot of people with a lot more experience never figure that part out.

Having a management position on your resumé is never a bad thing, but if you want to do sports -- and all other things are equal, like pay and hours -- then stick with sports. If you're going to be miserable at the ME job and looking to bail in six months, which sounds like it might be the case, then steer clear of it.
About a year ago, I had an opportunity at my shop to take a news editor position. It took me about two seconds to realize I'd be working close to the same hours, for not much more money (it was a salaried position), and still having to write stories and editorials except about stuff I didn't care one-tenth as much about. I turned it down in the same conversation it was offered and haven't regretted it. I'm still in the same job working long hours (which isn't going to change no matter where you go in this business), but am making more through overtime pay than I would've gotten in the news editor position, and still get to write stories I'm knowledgeable and passionate about.
Again, don't **** with happy.

 

[Jake_Taylor]

Given the state of the newspaper industry I'd be wary. Everything the others have said on this thread about being a boss, etc is true. But the flip side is they might be trying to get you to take the other position knowing your current staff writer job might be on the chopping block.

I'm not trying to scare you, but I've been in a similar spot. Ask your boss how secure your current job is before you turn down the other one.

 

[travis5mith]

Can I throw another wrench into situation - the Pub just announced that he is taking a job at another paper. Again, my first gig guys and gals, but it seems kinda fishy with the sudden offer and him leaving?

Batman, your post is money and I'm going to put that quote on a sticky note somewhere on my desk. Ha. In my current position I'm not handling sports either, mainly filler features and a little freedom to dig around for hard news.

 

[Baron Scicluna]

Good advice on here and I'll add my usual 1.94 cents. What would the new job pay and how many hours a week would you be expected to work to earn it compared to your current gig?

 

[sportsed]

At the risk of being the contrarian here, I'd suggest that you seriously consider the new job offer. At this stage in your career, it should be all about gaining experiences. Writing filler features and the chance to do the occasional hard news story is fine and dandy, but that's probably not going to get you to your dream job. However, the chance to think big picture while overseeing a publication no matter its circulation is a chance to gain experiences you won't find in your current job. You're going to gain some valuable skills, such as programming the publication, making story assignments to freelancers and selling the content with compelling design and headline treatments. You'll also be the face of the publication. Sure, working autonomously has its challenges, so be sure to seek out mentors and feedback from colleagues at your sister publications. The one thing you know for sure is that it'll be a lot of hard work, but it also has the potential to be career defining, setting you on a trajectory that you never imagined.

 

[DeskMonkey1]

I'm 35 and I would take a paycut to move to a 9-to-5.

Taking the ME job might help get you toward that eventually but if that's not your end game, then what's the point?

 

[I Should Coco]

Travis: I had a similar choice at your age (of course, that was close to 20 years ago ... yikes) and I went with the ME gig at the weekly.

As ME, I still did most of the writing — sports and news — but for the first time, I took a stab at layout, headline writing, and other copy editor-esque stuff. That eventually led me to copy editor/paginating jobs at small dailies, and I'm still plugging away in that role today (although I still dabble in writing and even photography once in a while).

If pay and hours are relatively equal, consider the Managing Editor job. You never know ... you might be well-suited for the glamourous role of copy editor!

 

[Riptide]

If your goal is to write sports, you might not like the desk duties at all. Less time for writing, too.


"Don't **** with happy." — Elliotte Friedman?

 

[WriteThinking]

You said the former ME transferred to your location. Have you spoken to him/her about the position?

Even if they were canned and the move was not voluntary, he/she should have some things to say about both the positives/negatives of the job and any particular issues or reasons they might have left. Ask about the duties, scope of freedom/leeway, whom/what there is to deal with that someone might not realize unless they're in the job, what the worst parts of it were, what there was to learn (or unlearn) that impacted that person, and even, bluntly, the pay.

 

[expendable]

My first reaction was to stay in your present position, but on second thought I wouldn't be so quick to turn it down. It sounds like the company sees it as a good place for you to gain experience, and perhaps, move you back to the daily at some point in the future. And you're not really where you want to be right now, anyway. This is also a perfect opportunity to let your intentions be known about sports if you haven't already done so.

Also, they brought this guy over from the other paper, which means they are over the roster limit by one, so to speak, and they have to do some trimming. They can accomplish this one of two ways -- by moving you over or out. Are you prepared for "out"? If not, you might want to take it and start looking for another job elsewhere, because soon you could possibly be doing the same thing with no job.

 

[expendable]

"Don't **** with happy." — Elliotte Friedman?

I use that quite often. Glad to know where I picked it up. Great advice.

But in this case, I'm sensing that happy is ****ing with him.

 

[murphyc]

There's some great advice here, especially from Write. Overall I understand the majority of the comments being don't do it, but I would tend to side with sportsed on this one. I'll add to those comments this: long term, having management experience should help you, especially if you decide to leave the business one day. Say in 5-10 years you decide to take a communications job with a government agency. All other things being equal, which will look more impressive on a resume, someone who managed a paper at the age of 25 or someone who covered games at 25?
All of that said, those comments would be in general. For this situation in specific, there are some questions to be answered before making the choice. In particular, talk to the now-former ME as Write suggested. And the amount of turnover, most recently with the publisher leaving, adds some question marks to the idea of making the change.

 

[joe_schmoe]

I've actually turned down a couple of "management" jobs over the years to stay in sports. I wouldn't do it again though. But that's me, and I'm much closer to retirement. But I do tend to agree with the general feel here, and stay with sports.
But, I would try to get a sense for why they want you to transfer, what they think you could do there, etc.. Do they think you are a bad writer, but would be a better manager? Do they think you have potential for bigger things? Do they want to bring you back to sports down the road?
Plus, if you have the skill set to turn the 3K circulation paper into a4K, that is something that can go a long way into getting you a great gig down the road (in sports even).
And, the other question to ask is, if you don't take the transfer, is this the type of company that would hold that against you? You don't want to turn them down then five years down the road find out your in the same job, covering the same crap for the same salary, be passed over for promotion to the SE job and not able to find any other work. Trust me, it happens.
You'll get a better feel for these questions with age, but it's nice to have t deal with it now.
Either way, good luck.

 

[SBR]

I don't think there is necessarily a right or wrong answer here. Cliche alert, but either job will ultimately be what you make of it.

Will the ME job require/allow you to write on the side? If so then you will still be able to generate clips and you will have the freedom to cover whatever you choose. You could probably cover some sports-ish stuff, write columns, etc.

Also as an ME you may have the opportunity to network and make connections in your community that you might not otherwise come by, which could lead to other opportunities.

On the other hand, they may cut your staff at the weekly right after you get there and you'll spend the rest of your days typing briefs and proof-reading calendar pages.