Cuts in Winston-Salem

My last stop was with a Media General paper. That was about two months ago. My former SE was told not to look for my replacement until at least February. That's really good news to hear right before football season. It's the same on the news side. They are down several positions on the copy desk and with reporters and can't hire anybody. It's not just a hiring freeze, but a deep freeze, with no chance of a thaw in sight.

Too bad about Winston-Salem. I got to visit there recently and the folks there are good people with a good product.

 

I've heard hiring freeze but a temporary one. There's still job postings being put up on the MG board, but I've had two interviews with MG papers turn into a cold trail. It's puzzling. I've heard that they do this every year or so, but at least let papers that already have job openings in the process of being filled finish it.

 

Via Romenesko, the ME's blog entry on the decision.

 

The readers (I hope they are readers, at least) really let the editor have it in their responses. They seem to realize the it doesn't seem like a winner to hope to boost profits by providing a clearly inferior product.

 

I was both a reader and a peer of these folks when I was living in NC, and this is just stupid. The WSJ is on a crash course with destruction, and I'll be happy when it destructs. That paper is garbage.

 

And the News & Record wasn't shy in going after High Point when the Enterprise was taken over by The Borg Paxton. Wonder if they'd take this opportunity to sidle on down I-40 West and make their presence known in Forsyth County.

 

N&R taking over High Point makes sense. Nothing the WSJ has done in the last 5 years has made any sense.

 

Right, which makes their territory a little more vulnerable. I've only had limited experience reading the WSJ in the last few years, but I'd still rank them ahead of, say, Durham and Ashville (my Carolina paper knowhow is pretty much limited to the Piedmont corridor, so I have no clue how Wilmington stacks up). And I'd still jump at a chance to go to W-S, even if only to eat at the Mellow Mushroom and stare at that one hot bartender girl.

 

Fair enough. But as a Wake fan, very little of what the WSJ has done has satiated my interest in Wake sports. If you were an outsider, judging by the WSJ's coverage, you would think the paper was based in Charlotte (at best) or Roanoke (at worst). The editors at the WSJ have a lot to learn about what their readers want to read.

 

No fooling? That's an odd move by GNR, given how gung-ho they were about it four years ago. Plus it's not like High Point has righted its ship -- they're losing subscribers at an alarming rate. I guess the Wu-Tang was right once again: cash rules everything around me.

 

Subscribers aren't the key - it's advertising dollars, and I think the suits are happy that we've made inroads in the 'burbs north of High Point proper. But I don't think we'll ever kill off the Enterprise - lord knows we tried about five years ago, but you can't out-local the locals.

The N&R isn't planning to expand westward. We've got enough to do to fend off the Internet.

As for sports coverage, we do a fair bit of Wake coverage normally, but we've been all over Wake football this season for obvious reasons. It's been a great story all year.

 

Seeing's how I'm, in real life, Dan Collins, I agree with ondeadline. Thanks for the kind words spud. Truth is, times are hard all over this business, and they're pretty hard here these days. And best I can tell, nobody is happy about it. Joe and Dan are really good sportswriters and even better individuals. If you're out there looking for a hire, do yourself a favor and consider these guys. You can do a lot worse.
As for the critique of our coverage of Wake Forest, as the beat guy since 1992 I could mention
a) the six or seven football stories our beat guy has written every week since a couple of days before the beginning of practice (average 20-25 inches a story).
b) the stand-alone advance for every game (20-25 inches),
c) the follow story for every Monday (20-25 inches),
d) the fact that our paper has been the only paper in the state to cover every game, including games at FSU (double-staffed with Lenox) and Ole Miss. We were one of two (along with Burlington) at Connecticut.
e) the by-line coverage we give (through a part-timer Jay Spivey and a stringer Brian Surette) to field hockey and soccer
f) the increasing number of columns written by Lenox and Delong (average 30-35 inches each),
g) the recruiting coverage (every known recruit has been reported with individual story)
h) the coverage of basketball, which also includes a stand-alone advance and staff-generated story for every game.
To mention all that, though, might come off as defensive and small, and I don't want to be that kind of guy. But perception can become reality, which is a really scary thought in these scary times.
So I'll tell you what. If this is a subject that interests you, just check out our paper at www.journalnow.com. You can make it easy on yourself by looking into the Wake Forest team page. All our stories are not in there, but there's enough to hopefully allow you to make an informed opinion if it compares to Charlotte, Roanoke, or anywhere.

Actually the whole issue of what fans at a school should expect/require from a local paper is a hell of an interesting topic. As the beat guy at Wake Forest (which I submit is one of the best college beats in America), I have my own opinions on the subject. I'd be fascinated to hear what those who cover such schools as Vandy, Rice, Northwestern, Tulane, BC and Stanford have to say on the subject.

One more thing. If you're ever in Tallahassee on a weekend, you absolutely have to make it out to the Bradfordville Blues Club, about 10 miles north of town off Thomasville Road. It's the real thing.
Dan