Dr. Ted Nelson
New Member
I've been a sports writer for 13 years, the last nine at my current shop, a 30K, 7-day a.m. We're a small staff, so we're reporters and designers, thus 99 percent of my shifts are 4 p.m.-1 a.m.
When I started this particular job, I was fine with that shift because I was young and sans offspring. I thought it was a five-year stop at the most, that I would eventually move on to a beat job.
Instead, the crash of the business combined with, if I had to be brutally honest with myself, my probably-no-better-than-slightly-above-average writing skills have kept me at the same shop and that same shift. In the meantime, Mrs. Dr. Ted Nelson and I were blessed to be joined by a daughter, who is now 5 years old and this fall will attend kindergarten all day (9-2). So if I remain in my current position, other than a stray hour or so before and after school, I will see my daughter, the crowning jewel in my life, 1.5 days per week: Sunday and half of my other day off, which is never Saturday.
That realization set some drastic planning in motion. I've been applying for jobs outside the biz - p.r./marketing types mostly - to no avail. Then it occurred to me there is an opening at our shop for a news reporter. I realize the hours would still not be perfect - there would still be night and occasional weekend shifts. But it would be way more 9-5ish than my current 4-1 every single day. I talked to our ME about it, expressed my interest, and he said the interest is mutual. They are keeping the position dark for the summer while we milk our annual interns, and the ME said we would revisit things this fall when/if he gets clearance to fill the position.
At first I was actually pretty excited about the prospective move. Yeah, there are things I would miss about covering sports. But I got lucky: I got into this business for the wrong reason, which is to say I love sports and wanted to do something in sports. But I lucked out, and I love the job. I love the writing. I love the reporting. So from that standpoint, switching does not concern me. And the open news beat is cops and politics (insert joke here about relationship of said beats), so I'd be covering the important, 1A-type stuff. I liked that, and I liked the challenge of making such a drastic career change.
But as time has wore on, doubt has begun to creep in. There's a lot of heavy crap that comes with covering that important stuff as well, and I know that. Do I really want to deal with that every day? Am I prepared to trade in whiny HS parents for politically-driven a-holes and pissed off felons? (I'm sorry, I mean alleged felons.) And maybe I'll miss covering sports more than I realize. I struggle on those days that something on one of my sports beats happens and I think, boy that will be fun to cover this fall.
So I come to the good folks of SportsJournalists.com for any input and/or advice. I've been on this board long enough to know there are so many people here with so many work and life experiences, that I had to come here and get their thoughts.
I thank you in advance.
When I started this particular job, I was fine with that shift because I was young and sans offspring. I thought it was a five-year stop at the most, that I would eventually move on to a beat job.
Instead, the crash of the business combined with, if I had to be brutally honest with myself, my probably-no-better-than-slightly-above-average writing skills have kept me at the same shop and that same shift. In the meantime, Mrs. Dr. Ted Nelson and I were blessed to be joined by a daughter, who is now 5 years old and this fall will attend kindergarten all day (9-2). So if I remain in my current position, other than a stray hour or so before and after school, I will see my daughter, the crowning jewel in my life, 1.5 days per week: Sunday and half of my other day off, which is never Saturday.
That realization set some drastic planning in motion. I've been applying for jobs outside the biz - p.r./marketing types mostly - to no avail. Then it occurred to me there is an opening at our shop for a news reporter. I realize the hours would still not be perfect - there would still be night and occasional weekend shifts. But it would be way more 9-5ish than my current 4-1 every single day. I talked to our ME about it, expressed my interest, and he said the interest is mutual. They are keeping the position dark for the summer while we milk our annual interns, and the ME said we would revisit things this fall when/if he gets clearance to fill the position.
At first I was actually pretty excited about the prospective move. Yeah, there are things I would miss about covering sports. But I got lucky: I got into this business for the wrong reason, which is to say I love sports and wanted to do something in sports. But I lucked out, and I love the job. I love the writing. I love the reporting. So from that standpoint, switching does not concern me. And the open news beat is cops and politics (insert joke here about relationship of said beats), so I'd be covering the important, 1A-type stuff. I liked that, and I liked the challenge of making such a drastic career change.
But as time has wore on, doubt has begun to creep in. There's a lot of heavy crap that comes with covering that important stuff as well, and I know that. Do I really want to deal with that every day? Am I prepared to trade in whiny HS parents for politically-driven a-holes and pissed off felons? (I'm sorry, I mean alleged felons.) And maybe I'll miss covering sports more than I realize. I struggle on those days that something on one of my sports beats happens and I think, boy that will be fun to cover this fall.
So I come to the good folks of SportsJournalists.com for any input and/or advice. I've been on this board long enough to know there are so many people here with so many work and life experiences, that I had to come here and get their thoughts.
I thank you in advance.
