Columnist opening in Orlando

Given that there is no posted opening for a columnist position, I am moving this thread to the Journalism board.

 

Wow. Switching jobs in the past, even if I knew I would take it, I would sleep on it. I would toss that rule to the side, reading that. Good for Jemele.

 

Ummm, not really.
Explain how some poor schmuck at a CNHI paper in Mississippi or an Ogden paper in Minnesota is supposed to be encouraged by the fact that an unspectacular columnist is going to pull down that kind of coin...

 

I strongly disagree with every word you wrote. And making "some major mistakes" is a pretty good sign she's not all that.

 

And she did all of that a while back. She's improved enourmously, and she's a hella great writer. And others have made mistakes along the same level she has, and they don't get earn your scorn. The vast majority of the scorn heaped on Ms. Hill comes from her sex and the fact that she's a youngling, nothing more. Otherwise people would be able to let go of mistakes that happened over a year ago.

 

Sportschick: Gotta tell you, you're sounding a lot like a woman just cheering for a woman. Not that there's anything wrong with that, but there are other criteria for being a good journalist than that. People can disagree with your opinion AND have read Hill's previous work. Bottom line - you sound defensive, and you're assuming criticism of her is based on her gender and youth. TOTALLY disagree. If a man wrote some of the selacious stuff Hill wrote on her blog, that guy would not only NOT be getting promotions, he'd be looking for work, period.

All that being said, I personally don't have a problem with Hill. She's ok, she gives a woman's opinion of sports, as well as an African - American perspective. Hey, if she can do something - ANYTHING - to help restore some of what Ralph Wiley did there, it'll be worth it. Someone's gotta check Scoop; maybe she's just the one to do so.

And as someone mentioned earlier, how can you turn down that bank? Good for her. I hope she does well.

 

This proves the supply and demand theory. There's plenty of "demand" with the web sites, but there's not enough supply (at least not enough "supply" that makes Disney's mouse ears twitch). Just like there aren't enough left tackles for the NFL and not enough closers for baseball, there aren't enough columnists who are qualified to earn $200 k per year. Good for ESPN for offering it, good for Hill for taking it. Is she worth that kinda coin? Nope. If she's worth $200 k then there are some top-notch columnists who are seriously underpaid.
There are some papers with promoted some hard-working, talented women covering major beats. I'm not sexist and I have no problem with that. But getting a job or being promoted because of your plumbing or your skin color or your last name. That I have a problem with.

 

Here we go again.

 

Well, this is a man cheering for Jemele. Whether you like it or not, she is one of us who just made a move we all would love to have made. It does not matter whether you believe she is ready for such a move. Some very intelligent people believe she is, and I think it is naive to suggest it is based only on skin color or gender.

She has written good columns and bad columns. The good ones are very good. The bad ones have been magnified by critics to look worse than they are.

I think this is great for the business and for young journalists who have been told there is no way to scoot past a $40,000 salary. This is proof to the contrary, and I applaud the ESPN folks for showing a job candidate what they believe she's worth. It's not exactly something we have been used to. Everybody wins here: ESPN.com, Jemele Hill and some potentially unknown writer who is about to be courted for a great job at one of the country's best sports sections.

 

Now you see why I took up for Ms. Hill.

I plan to hit her up for a loan.

 

Of course, being on Page 2 means she'll never have to worry about correcting "some major mistakes". Errors don't exist at the WWL.

 

That's my worry - that they're going to encourage her to become a caricature.