Sports Editor | Pensacola, Florida

Knowing what I know about this shop and its past, stay away.

 

I visit the Panhandle 2-3 times a year. Love taking a Blue Wahoos game when I can but I don't stick around P-Cola for more than a few hours. Saw Billy Hamilton swipe two bags, hit a single and triple, and basically make a White Sox farm team look silly every time he got on base one night. That and the Blue Angels air show on the beach in July are the best memories I've got of P-Cola.

As for the paper, looks and feels like a rag every time I pick it up. Print is dirty, blurry and paper quality is awful. I don't like the town either. Too may jarheads, too many transients, too much crime and drugs. I'd stay the hell away based on my observations of this place over the past 40 years.

 

The few times I have seen the paper it has been disappointing. Somebody could turn it into a pretty decent section, seems like.

 

It's got potential, but so much of that potential is stymied by the system they have in place. Unless things have drastically changed since I left, the "sports editor" isn't a sports editor. I'll be first to admit I had my faults, but you can only do so much when you're handcuffed.

Haven't looked at the paper or website a whole lot in the last four months, but I hear from readers still and they say it's on a big downward spiral. And that sucks because I know how hard that staff can work when motivated.

 

StaggerLee: I'm sure you have a great point, but what was the big problem? I'm guessing the sports editor was really a pure production editor.

 

Now, I have no idea if they've changed their minds, but the day I quit I was night editor, sports editor, producer and print planner. My responsibilities, as they were reiterated to me that afternoon, were to first and foremost be a digital producer. That means take care of the website by refreshing headlines, looking for fresh content, shuffling the home page to keep top-producing content in prominent spots, schedule out social media posts, monitor social media posts, write up press releases and get them on the website in a timely fashion, etc. That was for the entire website, but mainly news front (and make sure the home front looks different on desktop and mobile). Anything I did for the website for sports was done after print deadline, so normally around 11:30 p.m. before I left for the day.

Producer was priority number one, I was told. Besides that, which is a full-time position in most newsrooms, I also had to communicate with the design studio about the print edition (both news and sports). News was supposedly planned out ahead of time (and it typically was), but you know how news goes. Some stories come late (usually 2-3 a night). Some stories come up short. Some stories are long. Some stories have photos that they weren't expecting. some stories don't have photos that they were expecting. Some photos don't have cutlines. Typical print planning stuff on a nightly basis.

After that was done, I could focus on sports (or actually in my case I just had all the balls up in the air at one time, juggling as well as I could). I was discouraged from writing. I was discouraged from taking calls from coaches (which is inevitable with a 3-person staff if you're out covering live events). I was told those were all things that interfered with my true duties.

So, there you have it. Experiences may vary, but that was my experience. I was told, point blank, that sports editor was not a full-time position (which I can even understand in this climate), but the way it was told to me definitely made it seem like sports was nowhere near the priority and never would be. So, I quit a career 20 years in the making, on the spot, on a Friday afternoon with a full slate of football games that night. Shitty thing to do, but people who get treated like shit do shitty things.

All that said, maybe I was the problem. But I wasn't the first to leave, and definitely not the last, in the last two years.

 

Trust me, you were far from the problem in Pensacola. And they go back much further than two years.

 

That might be the worst newspaper job in America ...... although I know there is stiff competition.

 

Let me echo the need to stay away from this place. There is a reason they can't keep employees. My understanding is they have lost nearly 30 people in the past two years. That's a ton for a 30-person newsroom.
They have incredibly unqualified people in key positions just because they have been there a long time.
This "sports" spot became a night editor spot several years ago. They only put the "sports" label back on it to appease people.
The town is ok. It has come a long way since 2000, but it still is run by a couple of people with a lot of money.
Enjoy if you apply. I do have some insight on the place and a small group of people I talk to along Palafox on a regular basis if you need particular information.
But again, to echo stagger, this isn't a sports job until something goes wrong in sports and someone else is looking to pass the buck.

 

I think this is standard operating procedure at most Gannett papers nowadays. I'm guessing at some point they will centralize all the online producer jobs at the design studios. They may even take away editorial control of the print product from the local sites at some point, but that would bring a whole new set of problems.

 

They did all of that at my old shop. Difference is they have someone who knows sports and takes accountability. He's there during the day but I'm sure he shows up at night on Fridays and Saturdays. Him aside, Gannett took away the local copy editing a couple of years ago. Clearly the Gannett way is not the right way, which is one big reason why journalism has been ruined, among several.

 

Wow, I knew it was a hellhole but your words put it in a whole new light.

I'm sorry you were subjected to such bullshit. I thank God I never took the Gannett job that was offered to me, although it was a sweet gig, now it's a pure shit. I also applaud you for having the stones to walk away on your own terms. Most people don't have the courage to make such a move.

Well done, Stagger.