More fun in Tampa

A mole inside the Tampa Tribune newsroom passes these three tidbits along. Be sure you read the last bullet item to fully appreciate the gravity of the first two.

* The advertising department needs help. So much help that, according to an e-mail distributed to all employees, "anyone who provides an advertising sales lead that can be closed by one of our sales representatives will be entered into a lottery for a pair of [club-level tickets to an upcoming Bucs game]. ... The advertising representative who closes the sale also will be entered into the lottery. Go out and pitch to your favorite places you do business with daily. You could even offer to take them to the game if you win."

* The circulation department needs help. So much help that, according to another e-mail distributed to all employees, "any employee who sells a subscription [using the attached form] will be entered into a lottery for a pair of [club-level tickets to an upcoming Bucs game]."

What wasn't in the e-mails, but certainly implied: "Our ad and circulation departments are working re-e-e-ally hard, but they're just not getting the job done. Reporters, right after you make your initial daily beat calls, do your interviews, post blog items, file early leads to the Web, rewrite for print, do your talkback with the TV partner, record your podcast, make the daily beat follow-up calls, work on your weekender, create online-only content and perhaps cover an event tonight, as long as you're out there, why don't you see what you can sell? And, you copy editors, you're not doing anything in the daytime before you show up to work around 4 p.m., right? Maybe you can, you know, ask around or somethin' before you come in to read copy, select photos, do layouts, take calls from coaches and psychotic readers, post to the Web, coordinate with Graphics, send stories to the online and broadcast partners, contribute to the AP report, and deal with writers and photographers."

* In other news, executive editor Janet Coats announces there will be as many as 20 additional newsroom layoffs by December.

Good lord. Can we take up a collection for these beleaguered people or something?

 

Now that they have all that extra help, probably a lot.

 

You go, girl.

Please. The sooner the better.

 

I was trying to explain to a non-journo buddy of mine today how TBO.com used to be one of my favorite online newspaper ventures.
Not so much anymore.

 

If you cannot fucking sell advertising in a market where a goddamn baseball team is playing in the fucking World Series, you do not belong in this business. Period.

IS IT THAT HARD???

 

Hell, they can scalp those club-level Bucs tickets they win in the sales and circulation lotteries.

 

Smells like a trade-out.

 

If Carl Crawford takes over as the Parenting editor, it's over

 

The Tribune has a marketing agreement with the team and receives stadium tickets, a luxury box, reserved parking, non-watered-down sodas, actual-meat hot dogs, etc.

(If it was a wisecrack remark, it gave me a chuckle. I figured I'd reply both ways, just in case.)

 

I am all a twitter

 

I still have yet to have anyone give me a satisfactory answer as to why it's so difficult to sell advertising in the sports section.

"Well, women make all the purchasing decisions now."

Uh huh, and they don't have kids playing prep sports? Friggin' bullshit.