mixing dating and work

Ask yourself how much your paper's publisher or owner has thought about ethics the past two years.

 

go for it

you can always move if it blows up

 

True story:

Years ago, a female sportswriter -- let's call her Debbie -- who covered high schools at the paper I worked for started dating an assistant football coach from one of the schools. She did not tell the sports editor. One night, the SE is watching the local major league baseball team on TV, and, as happens occasionally, the camera zooms in on a passionate couple making out in the stands. SE looks and says to himself, "Wow, that looks like Debbie." Eventually he realizes it is Debbie. And he also realizes who that is she's making out with.

The next day, she's called on the carpet for conflict of interest. Not long after, she was reassigned away from sports. Eventually, she and the coach were married and she wound up back in sports covering a college beat.

Not sure what the moral of the story is, but there you have it.

 

If you date a coach in your beat, then if that school's in a tournament that you're slated to cover then try to assign someone else to the tournament. Likewise for duals.

I don't see anything wrong with it. Hell, like others have said, if your soulmate happens to be a coach and the two of you already like sports, then you've got one big thing in common right there.

 

Interesting scenario. Not too much different than a salesperson getting involved with a client.

On the one hand, we strive to always be professional. On the other hand, where do you meet people? Of the prime areas is in the workplace arena.

So..... my input would be that's its OK to ask her out off the clock and see if she's interested. Take it slowly and see what develops both personally and professionally. Don't do anything you would regret becoming public knowledge. You might lose a beat (or a job) but gain a soulmate.

 

Bone it like you own it.

 

I can probably answer this as well as anyone. The only difference is I dated a head coach for a time. I had been covering the team for a couple of years and one summer the coach and I ran into each other and started talking. One thing led to another and eventually the subject of going out came up, so we did. This led to a relationship that lasted through three seasons with me covering the team. She understood that they got no special treatment, and that was fine.

She ultimately got out of coaching ... and we got married, which we have been happily ever since.

So, my suggestion is screw whatever work tells you is ethical or not. Do what feels right. Your job is just that, a job, not your life.

Had it gone wrong, yeah it would have been a major uncomfortable problem. But, you can't worry about what "might happen" all the time. What might happen is that it leads to something special, but you won't know until you try. If it doesn't work out, deal with that when the time comes.

If someone at work gives you grief, tell them what you do on your own time is your business.

 

I don't see the problem. However, if you have another writer on staff, try to have them cover her team instead of yourself. If you're the lone writer, make sure there's no bias in how you write. Other than that, go ahead.

 

Go for it. Don't think twice about it.

 

If this is a small town, you are going to be accused of conflict of interest no matter what you do or who you bone. Go for it.

 

Before you ask her out you need to write a column detailing exactly why the current head coach should be fired and replaced by your new squeeze. Girls love that stuff.

 

Life's too short not to enjoy the company of someone who enjoys being with you as well. Remember, you're a human being first, a journalist second. If you're think you're in love -- or extreme "like" -- you owe it to yourself to explore it rather than be held back by a set of artificial rules.

But do disclose it to your boss if/when you begin dating. (No need to discuss it if it's just a one-way infatuation.) It is conceivable that this could come back and bite you, employment-wise, if you keep that a secret and, say, something happens between the two of you in public (you're arrested for DUI and she's in the car, you're seen making out in the frozen food aisle at the grocery store, whatever), or if a knowing reader calls the publisher to say your reporting is biased because you're banging the assistant coach. As a boss myself, I don't like to be surprised by an employee's personal behavior, especially when it crosses into the ethics area. But all I need is just the headline ... not the play by play.

That said, go enjoy life and all of the pleasures that come with it.