Politics dude doesn't think WaPo's Nats writer can handle politics

Trump has absolutely been a great cover for political writers. Who are we kidding? Leaks aplenty and he’s in the media constantly.

It was far harder to cover Obama.

 

Sports writing is great preparation for news writing. In sports you sometimes also have to be a cops reporter (when an athlete gets arrested), a medical writer (when one is injured), a weather expert (when a rain delay hits), even an obituary writer. (Feel free to add any examples I’m omitting.)

And in sports, every night is Election Night.

 

Also a business reporter if you are covering a major college (coaches' contracts, coaches' buyouts, TV deals) or the pros (big contracts, salary caps, TV deals, franchise sales, stadium negotiations, threatened franchise shifts). Even the AD at the high school I attended more than 40 years ago has an MBA and spends much of his time dealing with financial matters. Wasn't unusual for larger papers to have sports business reporters before cost-cutting became a way of life.

 

I would also add in that more and more sports coverage revolves around social media, what an athlete tweets, who they unfollow is considered news - probably more than actual game coverage.

 

A move from a major sports beat to politics could be terrific. To believe otherwise, in a general, broad-ranging way, is ridiculous.

That said, I read Janes' full good bye post and, although it was intended as a farewell to her baseball beat, I would like to know a bit of her thoughts on her new one, too. I got that she apparently thinks it might just be time to move on to something new, and I can see how that could be. (I also don't think this was a for-now thing. I doubt she'll ever be back on a baseball beat).

But why politics? Not that I think she can't do it. I'm just curious if this has ever, or long, been an area of interest, knowledge or passion for her that we just never knew or realized?

And what, and who, sparked the conversation about this switch? It seems as if, perhaps, Janes approached the paper about what else she could do, in lieu of baseball coverage. Or, as Hondo suggested, is the staffing thin at the Post in terms of people available and willing to cover a major politics beat for an election year? I wonder where the interest regarding this move originated, and what prompted it, if it's anything other than just that it's obviously a great opportunity if someone wants to change direction significantly. I'd be interesting to hear.

 

We've all had the experience of having to turn around a story quickly when something breaks - walkoff homer, late basket, Stanley Cup overtime, etc. A skill that comes in handy newsside.

 

He’s not wrong

 

Politics is competition, too. Intense competition. The stakes are biglier (!), too, and there are important and compelling stories in virtually any direction you want to go. Every day.

Why do critics ridicule a sports writer for landing a beat that offers so much career, personal and intellectual growth?

 

You can’t cover an election writing about WAR or launch angle all the time

 

No it's more about crosstabs, donor base, volunteer engagement ratios.