Sporting News/AOL Fanhouse

It's been a busy few weeks, but I've got to get that thread going again.

That said, hang in their Moddy. I know you must feel like you've been punched in the gut, but if I were to bet on one person to survive in journalism it would be you.

People know you, they like you, and they respect you.

And as much a you've done for other folks in the industry, you have karma on your side.

 

Off topic, but how does Reilly still have a job? He's clearly been mailing in it for a while. He was once a must read. Now he's an afterthought. Haven't read any of his stuff in.....I don't know the last thing he wrote that I read.

 

I liked his Cutler column, but that was the first one I'd liked in awhile. He's on ESPN a lot. He has a "homecoming" type show with certain athletes that is pretty interesting. Admittedly, some are better than others...

But from a writing standpoint, he's been phoning it in for the better part of a decade, which is a shame, because when he tries, he's one of the best ever.

 

If something seems too good to be true (Patch salaries and benefits) and you happen to be a journalist, you should know by now that it probably isn't going to last.

 

I was offered a job with Fox Sports in 1999. It was crazy money. It was $20K more a year than I was making. They hired one of the writers from my paper for almost $100K a year. He recommended me and I interviewed and they offered me the job. They said I could travel as much or as little as I wanted. They said I could live wherever I wanted and if I wanted to re-locate later, they'd pay for that.

I was sick over it. Everybody told me to take it. Then, one night my assigning editor took me out for drinks and said, "You're clearly torn about this... Why?"

I told him I thought it was too good to be true. I told him I didn't see anyway they could afford to pay all of the people they were paying these crazy salaries for. It also bothered me that I wasn't at the same level as the other writers they were hiring.

I turned it down. My co-worker who was leaving told me I was "fucking insane"

A year later, everybody at Fox Sports had to take a crazy pay cut (sometimes as high as 40-50 percent). Less than a year after that, they let everybody go.

 

When he was 18, my father landed a job in a mailroom with a local company that paid $0.75 cents an hour.

Forty-one years later, he retired from the same company as a vice president, with a six-figure annual salary, a lucrative pension, full health insurance and a ton of company stock.

That was his world.

Mine has been very different.

Three of the newspapers I worked at were sold when I worked there.

One time, the chain I worked for was sold when I worked there.

I have worked for print publications and online companies where a new editor, publisher or corporate wonk came in and decided to completely change directions overnight.

The point is this: In the old days, you had security.

These days you have none.

Doesn't matter who you are.

Doesn't matter how good you are.

Doesn't matter what you've done in the past.

You have to constantly be looking out for yourself, and always have a fresh resume.

You need to be networking, you need to be aware of opportunities, you have to promote yourself and you have to protect yourself.

More to the point, the only way you will survive is to think like you are self-employed, because at the end of the day, you really are.

 

guess i'm off-topic, but i just checked out my local "Patch" site and it's an absolute cesspool

read a couple sports stories - HS hoops gamers that appeared to be written by 4-year-olds. maybe 350 words, no quotes, written chronologically, riddled with typos & cliches.

there was no news, except a blurb about a local antiques or crafts shop. there were a couple photos of ... something or other ... a shot of the downtown of the local town.

no reason to ever go back there. maybe others will. i can't imagine why.

 

FoxSports is always what I think of when the history of The Web As Escape Hatch comes up. A major push to hire gave way to a purge in virtually no time.

In 1999 and 2000, many college graduates were seeking to be part of a startup, looking for their piece of the pie. In 2001, they were moving back home with their parents.

 

Looking at Patch as a journalism site is a bit off-target, IMO. You should look at it more as a venture capital site. And in the venture capital world, even a $100 million commitment isn't shit. Once that money runs out, if the thing isn't profitable by itself, see ya and it's on to the next pipe dream.

 

Let me know where you're working so I don't take a job there. You're bad luck.

 

Kind of like the Dell dude, yeah?

And lono's post should be mandatory reading for us every day.