A sports department in Mississippi is essentially dead

Well, at least you retired first. This could have been happening directly to you.

 

Those in charge think the news hole can be filled with cheap stringers, AP and other outside copy. Since the deadlines are so earlier since the paper is printed three hours away in Jackson, I guess they figure the average reader won't miss it or will read about the War on the Shore on Facebook.

I remember when that section had a Saints beat writer who doubled as the Sea Wolves (ECHL hockey team that folded) writer, a columnist, a Southern Miss beat writer, a sports editor, a prep guy, a night editor (before I was laid off in 2008) and an agate clerk. Now there are 12,000 circulation papers with bigger staffs.

 

My paper in northwest Ohio is under 10,000. We have two full-timers (including the sports editor), two part-timers (including me) and two stringers covering 14 high schools, a Division II college and a Division III college.

 

Um, Captain?

 

The Captain retired a couple of years ago.

 

That is correct, sir. I posted more about Sun Herald sports on my blog Wednesday.
The end of Sun Herald sports as we know it - Pictures of Tilly

 

I wanted to use a Crime News tag for my latest blog post.
The end of Sun Herald sports as we know it - Pictures of Tilly

 

It's "newsroom reinvention." I mention it in my latest blog post.
The end of Sun Herald sports as we know it - Pictures of Tilly

 

My first paper, a 16,000 daily which I thought had one of the best small-paper sports staffs in America when I was young, got the same treatment in classic Gannett form.

Three-person staff, plus stringers. The two writers left for greener pastures, and soon after, the 35-year sports editor was offered a news-side position or nothing. He took nothing and went golfing.

That paper now has one kid with next to no local knowledge as the lone sports byline.

 

Gannett paper in flyover country in my former state of residence did the same thing. Used to be a 6-person staff, with a couple of part-timers, 3 part-time clerks and a healthy freelance budget - now it's one person who is still a full-time college student, no freelance budget, no clerks. No local agate of any kind, because "metrics" and all.

This paper was probably circulation 55,000/95,000 about 10 years ago, and I would guess it's 20,000/40,000 today. This is in a city with a highly popular D-I school and minor-league baseball team, a couple of successful D-II colleges, a couple of NAIA schools, 2 high-level PGA events and about 130 high schools in their coverage area. And one kid to handle it all.

Management there takes the stance that "sports doesn't sell," so whenever the edict comes down to make cuts, they have carved up sports. The paper gets hammered by sports fans, but they just decide every critic is wrong.