What keeps you in it?

[murphyc]

I enjoy being the underdog and rooting for the underdog. Every shop I've been at, we've competed with a bigger paper that has more resources.
Being at a relatively new weekly in an area with three TV stations and a well-established daily of pretty decent size, I'm in it because I want to beat the crap out of the competition. I want to cover stories the others aren't and for people to notice that. I want our paper to get to the point where people call us first with a story tip, not the bigger competition, because they are rooting for the underdog. I want every prep sports parent in the area to subscribe to our paper and tell every friend to do the same thing because we're the only ones covering the local teams on a consistent basis. I want to see my paper grow by leaps and bounds, and to have enough of a staff that I'm not writing the whole paper.
And once I accomplish all of that, I want to finally take a real vacation. :D

 

[funky_mountain]

the sports reporter groupies waiting for us in the courtyard lobby when we return from filing a gamer, notebook, blog items, tweets, audio and video.

 

[wannabeu]

the sports reporter groupies waiting for us in the courtyard lobby when we return from filing a gamer, notebook, blog items, tweets, audio and video.

That's why I got into it, too.

 

[Songbird]

I don't want to flip burgers yet.

 

[Drip]

I don't get the same type of tips from spinning on a pole that I got a few years ago.

 

[STLIrish]

Because I can make a decent living doing something I thoroughly enjoy each day, and I get to practice a craft I've devoted half my lifetime to at a pretty high level. Most people aren't that lucky.
If I get laid off, or stop enjoying it, I'll probably try and find something else to do. But, for now, why stop?

 

[fishhack2009]

Hot sports moms... :D

Seriously... as much as we all ***** about our business, it is a pretty nice gig ... getting paid to watch sports. I just wish it paid a little more ....

 

[Fredrick]

I enjoy being the underdog and rooting for the underdog. Every shop I've been at, we've competed with a bigger paper that has more resources.
Being at a relatively new weekly in an area with three TV stations and a well-established daily of pretty decent size, I'm in it because I want to beat the crap out of the competition. I want to cover stories the others aren't and for people to notice that. I want our paper to get to the point where people call us first with a story tip, not the bigger competition, because they are rooting for the underdog. I want every prep sports parent in the area to subscribe to our paper and tell every friend to do the same thing because we're the only ones covering the local teams on a consistent basis. I want to see my paper grow by leaps and bounds, and to have enough of a staff that I'm not writing the whole paper.
And once I accomplish all of that, I want to finally take a real vacation. Cheesy

Commendable. I do all those things at well. Too bad I don't get a raise, got furloughed two weeks and work 60 hours and get paid for 40. Not a fair tradeoff.

 

[Igor in CT]

The monthly bills from MasterCard, Mazda, Esurance, rent ... and, sadly, little else because I feel stuck.

 

[House]

I'm still in my current position because I'm still looking for a news job. I love to report, and I love to write, but I don't love sports. I love the hell out of watching college football, etc., but I have no desire to keep chasing teenagers so I can write about them chasing a ****ing ball for their high school. It's time for something new.

The business as a whole? I'm in it because I'm above average for the skill set needed for the job.

 

[Mystery Meat II]

The desire to get a job and work my way up the ladder so I can jerk around Fredrick at a 10 a.m. meeting with my fellow management ****s.

 

[GB-Hack]

I was out at a high school soccer tournament yesterday, pretty large one, and a ton of good teams.

I was waiting for one of the games to end, standing by the gate next to the field, and one of the parents next to the field recognized me, and asked if I was still doing what I was doing.

He then said to me that he was one of the parents from the out of town team, and he and his son, now at college, remembered me because of a turn of phrase I had used to describe a goal his son had scored maybe two or three years ago in a club competition, and that description was one of the things his son and he remembered most about his soccer career.

I would really miss those kinds of moments if and when I ever have to give this up.

 

[imjustagirl]

That's awesome, GB.

I've gotten out of writing (never was really my thing, though I scraped together an OK career out of it) and am a full-time desker now. Set hours, sleep in my own bed, and I still get the rush of handling breaking news, just from a different angle.

I'm not doing what I thought I'd be doing when I started out...but I don't know if I really knew what I was doing then either. So it's been a weird road, and we all ***** about it sometimes, but it's far from the worst thing in the world. :)

 

[Den1983]

I was out at a high school soccer tournament yesterday, pretty large one, and a ton of good teams.

I was waiting for one of the games to end, standing by the gate next to the field, and one of the parents next to the field recognized me, and asked if I was still doing what I was doing.

He then said to me that he was one of the parents from the out of town team, and he and his son, now at college, remembered me because of a turn of phrase I had used to describe a goal his son had scored maybe two or three years ago in a club competition, and that description was one of the things his son and he remembered most about his soccer career.

I would really miss those kinds of moments if and when I ever have to give this up.

That is awesome.

I did a feature about three generations of baseball players in a family and it was so well received.

The grandfather came up to me after and said, "You're always welcome in our house."

Not that that specifically was what was important, but that one story could bring so much joy to a family was quite overwhelming.

 

[smsu_scribe]

Wow, Den. I don't know how you can really top that as far as feedback on a story.

 

[Trey Beamon]

And yeah, the golden handcuffs keep me from quitting and working retail. Need health insurance to play sports.

This, minus the playing sports or working retail part.

I wouldn't have an issue working retail -- hell, it'll probably pay better -- I just don't want to hear my family ***** about not having a "professional" job.

 

[EagleMorph]

I wouldn't have an issue working retail -- hell, it'll probably pay better -- I just don't want to hear my family ***** about not having a "professional" job.

If you can be a manager, retail will probably pay better. But if you get a full time job as just a general worker or something, it pays less.

Speaking from experience here...

 

[Fredrick]

i've run into a lot of people who I've written features on when they were in high school and they always say the article is framed somewhere and they still read it.

The newspaper model is not dead, folks. It was killed by idiots like the ones who run Gannett. Let's just give those articles away for free on the internet even though we can't sell any ads. So smart. And let's let our readers make anonymous comments even though in the real newspaper letters to the editor must be signed.