Standing out in the crowd

Wait, you imagine that moving up in the sports reporting business is going to bring you a higher-paying, less-stressful job?

 

You wouldn't call that moving up?

 

I'd call that getting out of journalism.

 

I'm sorry. How exactly am I "screwing over every other person who works in the industry?" I'm not talking about putting in unpaid hours every single week to cover games and put out a section. I'm talking about every once in a while working some extra time on a great story. And working on a great story is something I actually enjoy doing for its own sake. I'm not naive to the state of things and I don't see myself as some hotshot moving up the food chain to glory. Hell, I'd be surprised if I'm still working in journalism in 10 years. But I'm working in it now, and while I am and don't hate it yet, I'm going to do the best I can to get better and build a career. If that means occasionally working on writing a feature at home, so be it. I fail to see how I'm doing anyone else any harm.

 

When you work unpaid hours, you are reinforcing the notion that it is okay to expect reporters to work unpaid hours. That notion has infected the entire industry.

 

Everyone has to do what's best for them. Working your butt off on the clock is admirable. Before deciding to work off the clock, think what it can accomplish. Is a major jump on the horizon or will it help you just get a title and more work down the road, and a minor increase in pay.

But if you work unpaid, the bosses magically think the next guy coming in can pump out the same amount of work. What if the next guy has other things to do?

 

Look, I'm not saying anyone should make a habit of working off the clock. Far from it. But if you're at a job where there is not time on the clock to write the kind of stuff you need for clips, what are you supposed to do if you need clips?

I have worked on a story off the clock two or maybe three times. In every case it was something I worked on mostly while on the clock but needed some extra time with to perfect. My bosses didn't know I was doing so, and they've never asked me directly or indirectly do any unpaid work. If they did, I would put up a fuss.

 

Really just two or three times working off the clock? I work on a copy desk -- as in, a place where our hours are slotted to fit 40 -- and often come in early and leave late. Just about every day, in fact.

I do it mostly because I like my work. I'd rather be there than doing something unproductive at home.

 

It's <i>writing</i> not snack cake delivery. People write off the clock all the time. It's part of wanting something to be good.

 

I'm not sure I've ever met a decent journalist (writer, copy editor, designer, editor, whatever) who didn't work off the clock at least some. Might not have been every day, no, but every now and then, yes.

 

Pick your spots. If you have a great feature you're working on, put extra time into that, and if that means you have to phone in a couple previews or notebooks, so be it. Get a base of 10-15 clips you're truly proud of and send them everywhere.

Also, enter your stories in every contest you can. Fair or not, a few writing awards can be the difference between who gets a job and who doesn't.

Every time I switched jobs during my time in the business was right after I'd won an APSE. That's not a coincidence.

 

It's a business.