Sports Writer, Parkersburg, WV

Not denying any of that, but Odgen is still from all account a miserable chain for which to work. Got offered $15,000 at one of its papers in 2001. I'm fairly sure the computers and I were the same age. I'd be willing to bet they're still offering in the mid-teens at some of their holdings.

 

Interviewed at an Ogden paper once (about 25-30K circ.). Starting pay was about 28K. Didn't get the position, but it didn't seem horrible to work for. Fairly new office and the equipment wasn't ancient.

But each paper could be different.

 

My interview was a 15K evening paper in a town where they also had a 20K morning paper. Cost of living, to be fair, was pretty low, but still.

Maybe they've upgraded the equipment, but it seemed like last time I saw an opening at an Ogden paper, they weren't paying well. Like you said, though, each paper could be different.

 

(Maybe I'm outing myself, but whatev.)

MM, sometimes the pay ain't worth the hassles. I'd rather not have to make a decision at all, of course, but: Would you rather work for a company that pays a couple grand more and sends down corporate edicts every five minutes about "real life. real news," cuts budgets the second it loses 1 percent of ad revenue and bends over backward to be a pain in the ass when it can, or a paper that lets local people do its own thing and provided a decent amount of support from up on high? Look, money is important, trust me. But I have been on both sides of the fence, and I have found myself happier after taking a pay cut.

 

Wicked: all that is understood, and I doubt seriously I'd be comfortable in a newsroom environment created by, say, Gannett. But Odgen has, at a good number of its publications from what I understand, pay poverty wages. In my case, the city is Wheeling, W. Va. Pretty little town, framed by the Ohio River to the west and mountains to the east. And I was on the verge of taking the job. But while money can't buy you love or happiness, $15,000 a year makes experiencing both a tall, tall task.

 

Agree, MM. There has to be some basic, living wage. You couldn't even live on $15,000 in BFE, W.Va.

 

Amazing that they publish Grit and the Utne Reader...

When I was in college I freelanced at home for an Ogden paper in Ohio. Bad, bad scene. No upside at all.
(But it's fun to go to my old paper and laugh at the stuff that the knuckleheads who work there produce. The current SE is a religious, johnny fairplay goofball and his columns always inspire a chuckle or two.)