Jim Wyatt leaving Tennessean

His choice. Great new gig for him with Titans Online, it looks like.

Jim Wyatt Joins Titans as Senior Writer/Editor of TitansOnline.com

 

"The Tennessean will begin an immediate nationwide search for a Titans beat writer," per the newspaper's story announcing the move:

Titans reporter Jim Wyatt leaving Tennessean

Granted, that's a Gannett property, but it is way beyond time for the industry to wake up and fix itself. How a team website, which in most cases is not in the business of breaking news, can lure away a well-sourced reporter and accomplished beat writer like Jim Wyatt is pretty damn telling.

 

Because an NFL team with benefits that the league provides (insurance, pension) is a hell of a lot more stable than a Gannett property. In the end, it's all about the paycheck and caring for your family.

 

Oh, sure they have. Nothing new, really. Just surprised to see Jim go after all these years. Best of luck to him.

 

Also, don't forget Gannett is happy to see him go. They don't give a frick about quality. No newspaper does anymore. They just want to pay little to no money. Pretty soon newspapers will be asking people to pay them to "let them" cover Titans games IMO. It's really a joke. Good luck to him working for a real site that will respect him and pay him.

 

Indeed. I'm surprised it's taken this long for that trend to catch on in the NFL.

 

Does the NFL still provide pensions to staff members? I thought one reason for the officials strike was that the the league wanted to take away thier pensions. I remember reading Goodell explaining that it was only fair to stop the officials retirement plan because NFL office workers had lost thier pensions, including him.

 

Some teams opted out but some remained in. I know Green Bay for sure is still in it because the Web guy from the Jaguars (Ketchmann) left Jacksonville to go to the Packers 3-4 years ago because of that.

 

Aw, poor $44 million a year Roger lost his pension. Heartbreaking.

 

I believe it's now 20 out of 32 teams that hired someone who was covering a team (usually theirs) locally to write on their team website. That pension plan for teams that remain in it is golden, not to mention other benefits. (An acquaintance who went to a pro team site moved his family off his wife's insurance to the plan provided by the team, saved $6,000 a year and got a better plan.) Some teams are loosening up on the latitude given to the writers. As newspapers contract, teams are expanding their operations; the local club in my market has doubled its staff in the past year. Not a hard decision, I imagine.

 

Sounds like you might want to update your skills and look for an exit plan.