Make that one full-timer instead of two full-timers.
Quote:
It's all a matter of philosophy. The bottom line is readers, yes, but many newspapers think the way to please readers it to go hyper-local. Under that philosophy, in a town like Helena, you write about the Saints, the high schools and any athletes from that town who are successful. Unfortunately, MSU and UM will both fall by the wayside in comparison to anything having to directly do with Helena.
In newspapers, we are struggling. Bad. You all might not like the decline in coverage, but if it were up to ANY of the sports writers and editors in this state, we would cover EVERY SINGLE THING HAVING TO DO WITH MONTANA to the best of our ability. The problem is, we are all so freakin short staffed, it's not possible whatsoever. The IR couldn't cover the Cats and the Griz if they wanted to. They don't have the resources.
At the Chronicle, we are getting by because I'm on salary and I refuse to let our product slip (even though it has despite my efforts in both size and scope). It's a rare occasion that I'm awake and not doing something related to the Chron. We are also at a disadvantage statewide because the IR, Missoulian and Gazette are all owned by Lee, so they can share content. The Missoulian has a six-person staff, the Gazette is working with seven staffers. The IR has four full-timers. That's 17 people to cover different areas of the state and share content. We have two full-timers — Myself and Gidal.
The Tribune is down to three full-time and one part-time guy.
The point is, it's fine to be dissatisfied with the coverage of your local paper and we always love feedback. But you must understand that we are all handcuffed by money-hungry corporate f***ks who want to run newspapers as a business rather than an essential part to maintaining a free-flowing democracy. Or in the sports world, serving small communities in a rural state like Montana where sometimes the biggest news of the day is in the realm of athletics.
[Colter Nuanez, now former sports editor at the Bozeman Daily Chronicle. Hat tip:
Jim Romenesko]
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