Early Season Beat Writer Change at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette?

Here's a rule for the world off this board, where it matters more than ever: Pay some dues, then maybe try to act as if you are a peer.

 

Because the only way you'll ever know anything about journalism is if you've worked in it for 20 years, dumb cubs!

 

Cute.

Twenty? No. But, more than one. More than a few months. More than an internship.

 

Who you talking to here? Certainly not me.

To be honest, I'd say you learn more at an internship than you would at a small newspaper. (Not all of us are lucky enough to start at, say, the LA Times.) Your editors and colleagues will sit down with you, work on stories with you, etc. because it's their responsibility. You don't get that if you're the one man at a one-man sports shop. If you're busy designing pages and doing reporting and taking pictures, i.e. doing three jobs, how much are you actually improving at reporting/writing (which, I believe, is what most of us care about)?

And as long as the "grizzled vets" don't listen to the "young whippersnappers," this business is going to keep going like it's going. (As mentioned earlier, Google "newspaper" and "circulation decline" if unsure.) Let's say you're 50. How much do you know about how 30-year-olds get their news? How much more does a 30-year-old know about how 30-year-olds get their news? Plus, these "young whippersnappers" are more attuned with Twitter, Facebook, other social networking sites, multimedia formats, etc. that are the new ways to reach audiences. (Not saying old people can't do this, but younger members are more familiar.) If we're going down, let's go down swinging.

Besides, what kind of office mannerism is that? Oh, you're a new hire? Shut up and do what I do. That's the only way you'll improve. Once you reach my age, then you can talk.

 

I didn't say any of those things.

You keep proving my point without realizing it.

 

If you're in this business long enough, you will come across people you can learn from, regardless of a paper's size or reputation. But if you sit around waiting for that to happen, you won't learn much. In this business, as in life, you learn best by doing.

 

Actually, you did. Quit trying to dodge your words. You're saying people need a certain level of experience before their opinions are valid -- "Pay some dues, then maybe try to act as if you are a peer. Twenty [years]? No. But, more than one. More than a few months. More than an internship."

 

If you don't have much experience other than four internships, you're opinions are going to be taken with a grain of salt.

Land a job. I assume you apply for all of these openings you post. If you really want to be a sports writer, then go for it instead of wondering if there is a law requiring companies to give an outside candidate consideration for an opening or wondering how about cover letters. Ambition and effort go a long way to winning people over on this board and in the job hunt.

 

When people ask me what 1988 was like I load up Youtube and show them the video for Sam Kinison's "Wild Thing." When people ask me what newsrooms are like I'm loading up this thread.

 

Something doesn’t add up here. I have two questions.


If the decision to leave came after much deliberation, why did he quit so abruptly rather than give the paper a week or two of notice so they could prepare for the transition?


Also, a couple of days before quitting, he had a public blowup with Pirates flak Dan Hart and a yelling match with GM Neal Huntington (after being scooped by MLB.com on the Pedro Ciriaco incident) that reportedly resulted with the Pirates informing the P-G that Colin Dunlap was no longer welcome covering the team. Did this hasten his departure?


Just wondering.

 

There was nothing, nothing of the sort.
The club never, not once informed the paper I was "no longer welcomed to cover" any team.
This is a feeble attempt --- in your first post on this board --- to assail my credibility. And it will not be done without a response.
Did Dan Hart and I have words -- indeed. Was it because of an outright lie that the Pirates organization told (http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/11142/1148371-63.stm) ... absolutely.

And, point of order here, Mr. Spread Misinformation --- there was zero, none, nada, zilch "shouting match" with Neal Huntington. Never happened. Not once. Ever.

You want to make one post on a message board and try to anonymously flamethrow someone's credibility --- do it to someone else. You will not do it to me.

The decision for me resign had everything to do with my children and not wanting to be "on call" 24 hours a day. It was something I had been thinking about for quite some time, even before I accepted the Pirates beat. I was actually at the park with my kids on Saturday morning when Ciriaco was recalled and wasn't scooped at all on the story (Notice this was posted at 1030am http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/11141/1148310-100.stm) but having to leave the park, go home and write a breaking news story was part of the reason why I began to question everything more.

Again, you want to try to assail credibility, do it to someone else. And at least use facts.
To be certain no one, not one person ever, ever, from the club contacted the paper about my coverage asking that I not cover them. Also, since I have resigned, many people from the organization --- players, field staff and front office staff have contacted me wishing me well and making sure everything was OK.

Also, if your conspiracy is correct -- which it is a million miles from being true -- why the hell wasn't I just shifted into a different role? Wasn't I just assigned something else to cover? You know why --- because I wanted out of daily journalism, on my terms, when I wanted to (now), that is why.

You say "something doesn't add up"...everything "adds up."
Drop the conspiracies, Oswald. I just want to raise my children. And if you want to discuss this further, feel free to email me: dunlapcolin@gmail.com