The Athletic keeps growing .......

You either want to hire black men and women, or you don't ... racial sabermetrics, as alluded to above, have nothing to do with it.

Unless you don't think black men and women have the ability to report and write for white male college grads between 25-44.

 

Right, the union papers where I worked supposedly paid negotiated minimums but were free to pay above and beyond that for great work or to retain somebody. Good luck getting that bump, of course.

Reminds me of one executive editor at a place I worked (non-union). After a few years in a key role, I felt I had earned a raise and the SE said, "Go ask him for it." So I did. The guy smiled at me as I made my case, then said, "I let market forces determine whom we pay and how much. We pay to get good people and we pay to keep good people who are getting wooed." In other words, I'd need a job offer and the possibility of leaving to get a raise.

So I get a job offer, a legit one from a good paper but a place where I wasn't crazy about relocating. Now I go back to meet with the guy. Again, he listens. I assure him I'd prefer to stay but, y'know, $ and opportunity talks. Waiting for him to (ha ha) counter-offer, he grins and says, "I determine what we pay our people. I don't let outsiders determine our pay scale. And I can hire as many people as I want from Scripps Howard."

Walked out telling myself, I'm gone. Not this job offer necessarily and, as it turned out, not the next. But the third one I generated about five months after meeting with that jackass, I left. Got a 33 percent raise too and Mr. Big Shot only learned when the SE posted about my exit. Worst boss I've ever had in the stupid biz, across three decades. He ran off a bunch of us in Sports for some reason, from what was a strong staff.

 

I don't think color has anything to do with whether someone writes the kind of stuff the Athletic prioritizes. But I think that most of the people who read that stuff, and most of the people write that stuff, happen to be white. Here's a challenge: find me a black writer with a major social media following who isn't currently employed by a "destination" company. That's the kind of writer that the Athletic has been targeting. There's just a greater supply of white males who fit that criteria.

 

How accurate were you with your predictions of possible poachees?

 

Gambling journalism -- the kind with calculated odds and such -- will be a hot commodity for news organizations.

 

The drama as where Botchford was going has been more interesting than what's going on with the actual team. A Canuck team that is run by morons.

 

I'm still puzzled by the hires right out of college, for a publication that has previously been hell bent on hiring established reporters that already have a strong following in a particular market.

 

Based on probability statistics, I’d be surprised if any more than 15% of the previous free clickers ante up

 

That’s on the high side. Most likely 10%. Sports writers find out real quick it was mostly their platform and team - not their own brilliance with prose - that made people click. Hell probably do a bit better on average though, since there is nothing else in Vancouver for people to follow

 

It’s a very dangerous city. Scares the shit out of your boy Dejean.