Baseball beat at Charlotte Sun (Port Charlotte, FL)

I am going to Bradenton for a family wedding in a few days and thought I might go down to Port Charlotte and drop some stuff off. Is it worth the trip or just have a good time while in Bradenton? I have a few years of experience in the field and I just turned 51 so it would be a different hire for them. Former employees wantto give me the scoop on this place, send me a pm.

 

It appears this one went to Josh Vitale, who was MLB.com's NYY associate reporter last season. https://twitter.com/apse_sportmedia/status/433169742170705920

 

I interviewed there once, long ago. The Texas Rangers were still there. The social life stunk according to those I talked to, unless you were 70 or spent your days off in Tampa, 70 miles up the road. And yeah, the pay was hideously low then, and I took another gig. Considering that was years ago, the promise of "as much overtime as you wanted" probably doesn't exist now with a paper of this circulation having SEVEN people on board. First key to anyone looking that the pay sucks.

 

Ya know, if I had a dollar for anytime someone on this board said "the pay sucks" about any job, well, I would have so much that it wouldn't matter. Mates, it's journalism. We should have all figured out by now that if your goal is to be wealthy, raise a family, own a home or anything like that, well, there are more suitable options.

"I want to go into journalism to get rich" said no one ever.

 

You haven't been there in a while, then, right? Overtime is gone, but hours have not been cut. The staff had one layoff five years ago and that position has since been added back. The town (Punta Gorda in particular) has been transformed since Hurricane Charley and the demographics have been sliding back down the age chart toward something more tolerable.

It's still not Athens or Austin by any measure, nightlife-wise, but there are some bloody brilliant bars there, now. Add in the rebuilt spring training site and its new tenant -- much better fits -- and things are pretty decent all said.

Does the pay suck? It's a newspaper, for chrissakes. That's just a goofy thing to say these days in tearing down a place. ... Oh, and if you were spending your days off in Tampa, then you weren't paying attention to where the truly good places are.

 

It's a good point. "The pay sucks" doesn't really say much. Some folks could be very happy on, say, $50,000 while others would be very hand-to-mouth, depending on one's life and family situation.

There are countless jobs I haven't applied for because the pay was likely too low but looking back, there were a few I wish I'd applied for and then rejected should the pay be too low. (Just publish a range, for crying out loud!)