Travel cutbacks?

[Mark2010]

Ain't that the truth. Between the crowds, the weather and the security hassles, I loved watching from my living room.

 

[Mystery_Meat]

I shoulda gone.

Seriously, what in God's name did I have on my docket better than that?

Rare is the opportunity to thrust yourself into the maw of history, and I whiffed.

I wasn't doing anyone any good by sitting in front of my Xbox today.

I shoulda gone.

 

[Stitch]

Stitch, no idea .. haven't been to Flag for several years. Yes, the paper used to cover home games, mostly on the reporters' on time, though. Clip building exercise at a 10K.

It must be for a 2 1/2 to 3 hour drive from Flag to Tempe before the move to the new stadium. I've been stuck in traffic jams on I-17 near the Carefree Highway that took an hour to go 10 miles.

 

[Cosmo]

Used to be able to make Flag to Tempe in just over 2 hours, especially once they opened the eastern loop of the 101. You're right, though, 17 from the Carefree Highway to Union Hills could get nasty real quick.

 

[Stitch]

Used to be able to make Flag to Tempe in just over 2 hours, especially once they opened the eastern loop of the 101. You're right, though, 17 from the Carefree Highway to Union Hills could get nasty real quick.

Gone are the good old days of life before the 101 was built. Of course I lived near Happy Valley Road when the first tract homes were built.

 

[micke77]

On the topic of cutbacks, eco meltdown, etc., I need some feedback on what our paper has experienced in the last week.
last friday, our publisher called a mandatory meeting to let everyone know that, while the times could be getting even tougher and headed for more restraints on all of us, he said that overall our paper and the chain we're in was doing all right. we're a small daily in a group of about 30 such papers.
the boss man said that we had ZERO debt on the books and that we bought a brand-new press two years for cash (he said an estimated mil). yada, yada.
today, we get word that he will cut a parttime writer in sports, possibly an outdoor writer who has been writing for the chain for 20 years and ditching the Getty Images subscription which we have had for nearly 10 years.
i am no business manager, never took a business course and am lousy at math, save for figuring out earned run averages, pass efficiency ratings, yada..but heres's my cynically-based, show-me question: if we have ZERO debut, put out all that cash for a new press and seemingly have the paper world by its tail, then why any type of such cutbacks?
granted, he did say that some belt-tightening could be possible, but i don't know...i am missing something here. tell me.

 

[Stitch]

On the topic of cutbacks, eco meltdown, etc., I need some feedback on what our paper has experienced in the last week.
last friday, our publisher called a mandatory meeting to let everyone know that, while the times could be getting even tougher and headed for more restraints on all of us, he said that overall our paper and the chain we're in was doing all right. we're a small daily in a group of about 30 such papers.
the boss man said that we had ZERO debt on the books and that we bought a brand-new press two years for cash (he said an estimated mil). yada, yada.
today, we get word that he will cut a parttime writer in sports, possibly an outdoor writer who has been writing for the chain for 20 years and ditching the Getty Images subscription which we have had for nearly 10 years.
i am no business manager, never took a business course and am lousy at math, save for figuring out earned run averages, pass efficiency ratings, yada..but heres's my cynically-based, show-me question: if we have ZERO debut, put out all that cash for a new press and seemingly have the paper world by its tail, then why any type of such cutbacks?
granted, he did say that some belt-tightening could be possible, but i don't know...i am missing something here. tell me.

The profits from your paper are being used to pay debt elsewhere in the chain.

 

[micke77]

Stitch...see, i needed someone to "walk me through" my apparent gullibility of such matters...see where you're coming from. as good as we're doing, we're having to keep other papers in our chain from drowning, right?
well, i was wondering.
as i said, that's some cynical, jaded characteristics i have coming to the surface.

 

[imjustagirl]

Richmond is doing NO travel in the first quarter.

 

[HejiraHenry]

After seeing the mass of humanity in D.C., today, i wouldn't have wanted to be near that place.
wonder if postgame statistics were available to the media?

Yes:

Correctly performed swearing-ins:

Obama: 0-for-1
Biden: 1-for-1

 

[Angola!]

Richmond is doing NO travel in the first quarter.

Well, that's pretty terrible for a bigger paper.

 

[Fredrick]

Perfect example of this is our newsside guy who covers the state legislature. No idea if the hotel arrangements have changed, but in the past, our reporter has stayed at a very expensive hotel within walking distance of the capital for a month. I was told we had $9,000 in the budget to cover the legislature for a month. You mean to tell me we can't find a cheaper, extended stay place a couple of miles away and have him commute every day? Slightly more inconvenient, yes, but prudent.

Of course, we get told in sports that there isn't enough scratch in the budget to cover HOME games at the two major universities that we cover. Come on.

It's the same everywhere. The sports people are on a different level. Risk your lives driving the highways late at night, stay at cheap hotels, blah blah. Don't dare put down overtime, but you damn well better work it, but hush hush when asked if you do work 60 and get paid for 40. Double standards abound. News editors will never get it and never will.

 

[Ben_Hecht]

After seeing the mass of humanity in D.C., today, i wouldn't have wanted to be near that place.
wonder if postgame statistics were available to the media?

Yes:

Correctly performed swearing-ins:

Obama: 0-for-1
Biden: 1-for-1

Chief Justice Roberts: A big, fat 0-for-1.

 

[micke77]

Fredrick...You couldn't be more true. It's always been a double-standard here...sports guys are expected to cover a night game an hour or two away, then come back home afterwards to avoid running up a hotel bill..yet then i'll hear the higher ups treat some news side dude with kid gloves and worry about him or hear being in "danger" if they did the same thing.
reason i feel it's this way in so many places: the sports department is still treated as the "toys and game' section of the paper and not taken as seriously. honest to gosh, that's what I believe a lot of it is on the part of unknowning management types. they don't have a clue what we go through and all but "snicker" at our supposedly "easy, just go to games" type of responsibilities. bull****. for every news side dude who couldn't write a sports story if their life depended on it, i'll show you a sportswriter who can crank out a news story in no time.

 

[Joe Williams]

Fredrick...You couldn't be more true. It's always been a double-standard here...sports guys are expected to cover a night game an hour or two away, then come back home afterwards to avoid running up a hotel bill..yet then i'll hear the higher ups treat some news side dude with kid gloves and worry about him or hear being in "danger" if they did the same thing.
reason i feel it's this way in so many places: the sports department is still treated as the "toys and game' section of the paper and not taken as seriously. honest to gosh, that's what I believe a lot of it is on the part of unknowning management types. they don't have a clue what we go through and all but "snicker" at our supposedly "easy, just go to games" type of responsibilities. bull****. for every news side dude who couldn't write a sports story if their life depended on it, i'll show you a sportswriter who can crank out a news story in no time.

Did you ever stop and think that you've got the chicken in front of the egg here? Sportswriters have often been all too willing to work free hours and donate their travel time (and wear 'n' tear) in order to cover the events and stories that mean so much to them. Well, if someone works for free often enough, it gets that much easier for bosses to devalue their contributions. If you worked more for compensation than for admiration or recreation, you'd be ahead in this game.

Sure, if everyone was in the mode of whatever-it-takes, however-long-it-takes, that would be great. But you know that publishers and top editors don't kick their personal lives to the curbs to that extent, yet you wonder why doing that doesn't earn you pats on the head and extra helpings of love.

 

[Cosmo]

WFW Joe. Which is why I no longer operate that way.

 

[micke77]

Whoa, hold on, hold on just a minute.
Maybe I am "wired" wrong and maybe I live in a fantasy world, but if I am a boss of a business and I see anyone--don't care what department he's in--busting his or her's ass to get things done, I am gonna go out of my way to praise the guy or gal's contribution every chance I get. And I would hope, just hope, I could find a way to compensate that person financially.
That's where so many bosses and managers have it all so wrong: they oftentimes get so locked into a certain way of doing things and take such things for granted.
I think--again, my opinion and two cents worth only--this speaks more about the approach or attitude of said boss, CEO or manager than it does about the person busting his ass.
Yes, such a work ethic does leave the boss folks with the impression that "hey, if they love their job this much and wanna go overboard with hours, etc., etc., then so be it."
But if I observe someone putting in that kind of passion and hours--I'm not saying just logging hours and not doing a damn thing or just "stretching the clock", but really contributing--I would be remiss at every now and then letting him or her know they're appreciated.
Doesn't cost that boss a damn thing to say "super job, job well done." Not one ounce of energy. But if delivered, 10-to-1 that employee is gonna keep busting his ass because of the appreciation shown.

 

[Joe Williams]

Doesn't cost that boss a damn thing to say "super job, job well done." Not one ounce of energy. But if delivered, 10-to-1 that employee is gonna keep busting his ass because of the appreciation shown.

And the boss can get a bonus for getting even more free work out of an employee without spending an extra nickel.

The boss' bonus, of course, would come in the form of a check, which could be cashed for spending money to buy stuff like groceries and cigars, which sportswriters really don't have much need for, ya know, because they love what they do.

 

[micke77]

Joe...i can see your points and all. I guess--as it's obvious by my thread, right? --that I just sometimes would like to see our bosses who don't "get it" about the sportswriting business not take some of us for granted. I just get that impression sometimes. Or maybe it' my built-in, stubborn pride and love for this profession that is pushing me towards such a conclusion.
The best part of being on SportsJournalists.com is that we can all hash things out or vent to our heart's content, right?

 

[Joe Williams]

Joe...i can see your points and all. I guess--as it's obvious by my thread, right? --that I just sometimes would like to see our bosses who don't "get it" about the sportswriting business not take some of us for granted. I just get that impression sometimes. Or maybe it' my built-in, stubborn pride and love for this profession that is pushing me towards such a conclusion.
The best part of being on SportsJournalists.com is that we can all hash things out or vent to our heart's content, right?

Correct! For 98 percent of us, anyway.