Valley vs Minford 12/9

[The Ghost of Swanker]

Sign me up for that $40k part time job

[JJMD24]

JJMD24, would you know a couple of businessmen (or are yourself one) that would like to form a new business that would allow five sportswriters to devote coverage mainly to Scioto County? Trust me, there are people out there that do support the kids, and want to more. But Scioto County has to decide what direction it wants to go in with sports coverage.

I think you may be on to something with your thinking. I love SOSA, the PDT and WNXT guys a lot and they do great jobs. In addition to what they do, I would like to see a blend of what Shayne Combs does with the SVC and what the guys do with the Pickaway County Hoops report. They do player spotlights, highlight the big upcoming weekly matchups and interviewing players. Kind of hyping the big matchups and promoting the kids.

I agree with all of your comments above. That’s all reasonable to do and effective sports coverage that should be desired.

So to do it effectively and get five people covering games, I’d say $35,000 to $40,000 a year for each person with gas paid for on road trips and insurance benefits for each person would do the trick.

If the county can get its 12 high school sports communities and business leaders to commit to that yearly, I believe that can be done.

That would be about $250,000 a year. That would be a hard no from all 12 schools. You are on the right track though so keep the ball rolling.

[KCol]

Sign me up for that $40k part time job

It's not part time if you're covering all 12 high schools. Last time I checked, each team (outside of football) plays three games a week on average (two conference and one nonconference), plus there's the travel to and from the games. That's not counting the time you're putting into stories after the game, editing videos after the game, shooting pictures, and writing feature stories in addition to calling folks.

Can you do all of that? If you think it's a part time job, you need to do it. I'd be happy to discuss more with you if you'd like in a private message and give you a rundown of what all goes into it.

This is exactly the problem Scioto County has. People want to complain about the coverage, but don't have a clue what goes into it. I would agree with you that it would be a part-time job if we just had football and basketball, but it's not just about football and basketball. Other sports need the attention and deserve the attention as well.

[KCol]

I think you may be on to something with your thinking. I love SOSA, the PDT and WNXT guys a lot and they do great jobs. In addition to what they do, I would like to see a blend of what Shayne Combs does with the SVC and what the guys do with the Pickaway County Hoops report. They do player spotlights, highlight the big upcoming weekly matchups and interviewing players. Kind of hyping the big matchups and promoting the kids.

I agree with all of your comments above. That’s all reasonable to do and effective sports coverage that should be desired.

So to do it effectively and get five people covering games, I’d say $35,000 to $40,000 a year for each person with gas paid for on road trips and insurance benefits for each person would do the trick.

If the county can get its 12 high school sports communities and business leaders to commit to that yearly, I believe that can be done.

That would be about $250,000 a year. That would be a hard no from all 12 schools. You are on the right track though so keep the ball rolling.

Why would it be a hard no? If all 12 schools rally together and pay up, that's $20,833.33 per school per year. Not an expensive price tag. And that's not counting if Shawnee State or businesses put money into it that would make the cost less per school.

I'm seeing schools put in seven figures for certain facilities yet can't put lights up at their baseball or softball fields. To me, that's a priorities issue.

Again, until the county and its communities get unified on certain things, you can't say that your kids are being disrespected. There's many other communities across the country that are putting the resources into what they need to put them into. Scioto County has the talent and can put those resources in. It's simply a matter of choice.

I appreciate your kindness in your post, honestly. It's better than Swanker who thinks sports writing jobs are part time. Wow.

[The Ghost of Swanker]

Going to basketball and football games and writing a few columns is part time compared to what I do for a living. Even if it was 40 hours a week

[KCol]

Going to basketball and football games and writing a few columns is part time compared to what I do for a living. Even if it was 40 hours a week

1. Like I said, not just basketball and football games that we cover.

2. Like I said, it's not just writing stories. That's the primary part of the job but there are other aspects to it if you do it right which has been enhanced as social media has grown, which is great because it gives kids more attention that they rightfully deserve.

3. Going to cover games and reporting off of interviews after the game isn't a column. A column is an opinionated piece.

However, I get where you coming from. You have your opinion. Mine is that all jobs are tough, not just yours. I would like to know what you do for a living now since you apparently think sports writing is "part time compared to what I do for a living."

So I'd like to hear your ideas.

[Fan of the youth]

I would love to have more local coverage. I have subscribed to the two local papers available to me for local sports for 30+ years, every year it gets harder to write the check with the shrinking coverage. I never read the college or pro sports or much national news as the coverage is out of date by the time the articles are published. The local stories and local sports are the reasons I keep writing the checks.

[KCol]

I would love to have more local coverage. I have subscribed to the two local papers available to me for local sports for 30+ years, every year it gets harder to write the check with the shrinking coverage. I never read the college or pro sports or much national news as the coverage is out of date by the time the articles are published. The local stories and local sports are the reasons I keep writing the checks.

It will keep shrinking and shrinking if the community doesn't fund what is necessary to keep it going. Without knowing where you are from, I can almost bet that the two local papers that are available to you are owned by regional publishers who are not from the area, with the papers themselves printed 200 miles or more away instead of in house. All of that costs time, which also costs money.

If the 12 communities band together to support five guys (that's all I'm saying, five), then you guys will have what you need, it will be locally owned and it will thrive from there. We have a lot of motivated young guys here who are willing to make that happen, but they have mouths to feed and their own needs to take care of and can't work 60-70 hours a week for $25K with inflation plus already paying for their own materials and gas.

Five guys paid at what I suggested above gets the necessary needs taken care of and with five guys, 5 games times 2 local teams playing each other means that 10 of the 12 local schools get coverage from somebody in one day. Who doesn't want that?

I'm tired of seeing all of these complaints from the community and then an idea is suggested that will fix the problem, but nobody wants to job on board. If you want to fix the problem, it takes dedicated time and dedicated money. That's how effective sports programs are built. That's how anything in life is built. It takes an investment with well-intended time and well-intended money, not just one or the other.

More change is going to be coming one way or another. The right side of the change can be done if the correct decisions are made.

[Fan of the youth]

I would love to have more local coverage. I have subscribed to the two local papers available to me for local sports for 30+ years, every year it gets harder to write the check with the shrinking coverage. I never read the college or pro sports or much national news as the coverage is out of date by the time the articles are published. The local stories and local sports are the reasons I keep writing the checks.

It will keep shrinking and shrinking if the community doesn't fund what is necessary to keep it going. Without knowing where you are from, I can almost bet that the two local papers that are available to you are owned by regional publishers who are not from the area, with the papers themselves printed 200 miles or more away instead of in house. All of that costs time, which also costs money.

If the 12 communities band together to support five guys (that's all I'm saying, five), then you guys will have what you need, it will be locally owned and it will thrive from there. We have a lot of motivated young guys here who are willing to make that happen, but they have mouths to feed and their own needs to take care of and can't work 60-70 hours a week for $25K with inflation plus already paying for their own materials and gas.

Five guys paid at what I suggested above gets the necessary needs taken care of and with five guys, 5 games times 2 local teams playing each other means that 10 of the 12 local schools get coverage from somebody in one day. Who doesn't want that?

I'm tired of seeing all of these complaints from the community and then an idea is suggested that will fix the problem, but nobody wants to job on board. If you want to fix the problem, it takes dedicated time and dedicated money. That's how effective sports programs are built. That's how anything in life is built. It takes an investment with well-intended time and well-intended money, not just one or the other.

More change is going to be coming one way or another. The right side of the change can be done if the correct decisions are made.

Easy there bud. One paper is owned by company bleeding it dry from Texas and the other is local but scraping by. I keep paying hoping it will get better, knowing if I bail like most subscribers have they will fail. Your plan is ambitious I would support more local coverage of all events. I am a consumer. The way it works I purchase the product and along with the money made for ads you sell, again because I am reading the material, the bills are paid and you make a salary.

[KCol]

I would love to have more local coverage. I have subscribed to the two local papers available to me for local sports for 30+ years, every year it gets harder to write the check with the shrinking coverage. I never read the college or pro sports or much national news as the coverage is out of date by the time the articles are published. The local stories and local sports are the reasons I keep writing the checks.

It will keep shrinking and shrinking if the community doesn't fund what is necessary to keep it going. Without knowing where you are from, I can almost bet that the two local papers that are available to you are owned by regional publishers who are not from the area, with the papers themselves printed 200 miles or more away instead of in house. All of that costs time, which also costs money.

If the 12 communities band together to support five guys (that's all I'm saying, five), then you guys will have what you need, it will be locally owned and it will thrive from there. We have a lot of motivated young guys here who are willing to make that happen, but they have mouths to feed and their own needs to take care of and can't work 60-70 hours a week for $25K with inflation plus already paying for their own materials and gas.

Five guys paid at what I suggested above gets the necessary needs taken care of and with five guys, 5 games times 2 local teams playing each other means that 10 of the 12 local schools get coverage from somebody in one day. Who doesn't want that?

I'm tired of seeing all of these complaints from the community and then an idea is suggested that will fix the problem, but nobody wants to job on board. If you want to fix the problem, it takes dedicated time and dedicated money. That's how effective sports programs are built. That's how anything in life is built. It takes an investment with well-intended time and well-intended money, not just one or the other.

More change is going to be coming one way or another. The right side of the change can be done if the correct decisions are made.

Easy there bud. One paper is owned by company bleeding it dry from Texas and the other is local but scraping by. I keep paying hoping it will get better, knowing if I bail like most subscribers have they will fail. Your plan is ambitious I would support more local coverage of all events. I am a consumer. The way it works I purchase the product and along with the money made for ads you sell, again because I am reading the material, the bills are paid and you make a salary.

I wasn’t being rude to you. Sorry for wasting your time and I do honestly appreciate the rundown and your support.

[Fan of the youth]

This is not a waste of time, I know parents in larger areas are jealous of what coverage we currently have. I agree more coverage would be good. I for one would strongly consider to paying for more complete coverage. Sadly what I see now, and I understand why, certain schools are covered more because revenue followers the consumers, it will always be this way. The angle that may succeed is harder stories that are more in depth. The weekly predictable beat downs will never draw an audience besides the local school supporting diehards. Good luck sir.

[KCol]

This is not a waste of time, I know parents in larger areas are jealous of what coverage we currently have. I agree more coverage would be good. I for one would strongly consider to paying for more complete coverage. Sadly what I see now, and I understand why, certain schools are covered more because revenue followers the consumers, it will always be this way. The angle that may succeed is harder stories that are more in depth. The weekly predictable beat downs will never draw an audience besides the local school supporting diehards. Good luck sir.

What you said is accurate and that is what bothers me. That’s partly why I had the idea that I had, because putting more money into more guys takes care of the imbalances that can occur due to a team’s following/non-following or success/non-success. I do appreciate the support.

[HamPorter]

Schools aren’t going to pay for journalists to cover them

Go find sponsors if you want to do this, that’s what every other outlet does