Fla. St. beat writer resigns amid plagiarism charges.

I believe reporters at Advance shops post everything directly, especially when it's breaking news and when it's part of her job responsibilities as a "buzz" reporter.

 

Again, can someone explain to me why a writer from al.com is so tied up in this "breaking event"? Are people really looking for a scoop on the Ohio State QB's decision on a website in Alabama? Just run the damn AP story when it moves.

 

Matt -- If it is like the one Advance property that I have knowledge of, the writers have to post the stories and pick their own photos. Not a lot of back end Web producing going on. And this is an Advance property in a major metro market.

 

You may not have heard, but folks in Alabama love college football. Also, Cardale Jones led Ohio State to a national championship as a third-string quarterback, meaning his decision was drawing a lot of attention from readers everywhere. Furthermore, CLICKS!!!!.

 

Yeah, I considered that, and the fact OSU beat Bama in the semifinal. Still seems like a story they could have let the national and Ohio writers handle.

 

My guess is her responsibility was to get something up on the site and out on social media as soon as possible. Quicker than AP would move it.

 

It's all about the page views. Never mind if it's not a worthy story, will it get PAGE VIEWS?

If we ever go away from page views as a measure of success, this business is F'd up. (More so than it already is.)

 

Engagement is a far more valuable metric than simple clicks.

 

From your mouth to their ears. I work at an Advance property and I'm concerned we're going too far down the page-view path... deciding not to do certain things because it won't get page views, stuff like that.

I do agree with you. You can click on one story and spend 30 seconds reading it. But if you're on the site longer, then that should be considered. What can be done to draw visitors to a site and keep them there?

Back on topic: Not just at AL.com, but at our shop and others in the Advance chain, I have wondered what goes into the hiring process. It's almost like they don't want anybody with veteran experience.

 

"Veteran Experience" = "$".

 

I've heard that after the Cardale Jones story came out, she now has interviews at SI and ESPN. She's going to be the Lane Kiffin of sportswriters.

 

More layoffs at AL.com. It's funny that they happened about 3 weeks after they sent Natalie Pierre to Pasadena to cover Florida State - NOT Alabama or Auburn - in the Rose Bowl.
Oregon Ducks capitalize on Florida State mistakes, reach national championship game with 59-20 win | AL.com
Also, the new hire went to Charlotte to cover FSU in the ACC title game. Florida State beats Georgia Tech, 37-35, to win 3d consecutive ACC Championship and secure playoff spot | AL.com
They aren't slashing travel budget for Ms. Pierre, but they're slashing staff? Hmm........