A “Rant” about “Reporting” “Sports” from the “Bleacher” by a pissed off writer
“Sadly, those writing on the internet have become accustomed to writing for free, and what results is the bastardization of journalism.”
Writin’ ain’t easy.
If you attended college or can remember back to high school days, you can attest to this.
Of course, writing professionally is even more difficult, what with all the grammar rules and style guides to memorize.
And as it turns out, making a living off of writing is an even more daunting goal.
Yet, it hasn’t deterred this young man from chasing his dreams and attempting to do what he loves – even if that means being burned multiple times by multiple websites.
We live in a wonderful age, in which technology bridges gaps – both geographically and socially – allowing people to communicate with one another in ways we never thought possible. Social media has changed the game. We can share our life stories with people we haven’t seen in years on facebook or tweet a complete stranger and illicit a response. Simply, we can connect with more people, more easily, than ever before.
Similarly, many of the websites we get our information from can be considered social media as well; they have profiles, messaging and the ability to leave comments at the end of articles.
It’s social media that’s allowed me to become a journalist (the subject of my first book) on my terms by following the unbeaten path.
Though, I’ve been beaten down along the way.
In 2009, I began with Bleacher Report, posting piece after piece to their site, gaining an audience and sculpting the skills it takes to be a decent writer. Over three and a half years, I poured blood (paper cuts), sweat (deadlines) and tears (spelling errors) into B/R, spending thousands of hours writing over 400 articles and taking even more time to be their lead Denver Nuggets writer and a featured Denver Broncos scribe for seasons; connecting with fans through comments and working with incompetent editors.
What was earned through all that work? A cheap hoodie and baseless hopes of ever actually earning money with the site. The powers that be regularly sent emails celebrating me as one of their best writers, saying money could be earned if I just kept working away. Give me a break. After three and a half years of working without end for basically nothing – all while the site grew larger and more profitable – I was fed up and left B/R, frustrated but not defeated.
Ironically, they landed a deal with Turner Sports only months later, as it turns out their model of getting wannabe journalists to write for free is quite profitable indeed.
Screw integrity. Damn credibility. Forget quality writing.
Senseless slideshows that deceptively boost page views are where the money is.
Journalism has taken a big blow from Bleacher Report, and the website continues to bastardize the once-great profession.
Certainly, they’re not the only ones.
Recently, Rant Sports came calling, with false promises of making money through their site. Even though it sounded too good to be true, I fell for their sales pitch.
They lured me away from Examiner – whom I was with for three years – by saying I could make double or even triple the amount I was currently making.
So I jumped ship, signed their contract – which is basically an insurance policy for the site to fire writers at any time and take their would-be earnings – and began writing in full faith that it would be worth my while.
For six weeks I toiled tirelessly and conformed to their strict guidelines. The minimum article numbers were met, every piece with an opinionated “spin” as well as editing the articles just right – bolding team and player names, linking to their appropriate team pages on the site etc. It was a ton of extra work, but I went with it. And when I did something incorrectly, they sent email after berating email, saying in faceless fashion, “You didn’t conform to the style guide. Refer to it and fix your mistakes.” But they wouldn’t tell you exactly where the misstep came, just that it happened over the last month. And you weren’t allowed to contact editors to clarify on what you could improve upon. Similarly, editors were faceless – I was never contacted by one unless there was a “mistake” in a piece meaning they couldn’t publish it – and they were a joke.
Once incredibly ignorant instance stands out above all others.
I landed an interview with a former Colorado State running back through twitter; called him, recorded the interview, transcribed his words and put them together in a piece for the site. A great deal of work but all part of the labor of love.
Once it was finally published – because editors work only until a certain time of day, pieces could take 12 or more hours to publish after writing them, which was absurd – I sent out multiple links, including one to the player himself. It detailed his growth over the last year, how he came close to landing with an NFL team and is currently working to live the dream of playing professionally. But after reading through the piece, I was shocked to see all the quotes had been removed. The result was a choppy piece with no flow. It was a terrible embarrassment to have out in the public eye.
After contacting support – which was usually unresponsive and again faceless – I had to resend the piece in an email and at long last, it was correct to the way it was written, some 24 hours after the original was brutalized by a moronic editor.
A few weeks later, on my birthday nonetheless, another piece was held from publishing by an editor because they thought the quotes were stolen – a sign it happens all the time for them – even though I explained over and over again I am credentialed and obtain quotes myself.
What wonderful relationships they’re forming over at Rant. Ridiculous.
Most incredulous though, was the tiny amount of money they offered me after spending six weeks and writing 47 total pieces – $10.79.
Well, excuse me as I rant on that for a second.
$10.79?! That’s barely enough for a Chipotle burrito – with double meat and guac, nonetheless – and a drink.
It was a slap in the face. A spit in the eye. A kick in the family jewels.
I’m beaten, but not broken.
Now, I realize Colorado State isn’t the most popular college football team, but many of those pieces were on CSU basketball – who was finishing their most successful season and making a run in the NCAA Tournament as well – though support (whichever “person” it was) plainly excused away the tiny earnings as what should be expected.
If 60 hours were spent writing those 47 articles, which is likely a low estimate, that’s $0.18 per hour. Children in factories made more in the early 20th century, and were more well-respected by their bosses.
Sportswriters deserve to be compensated fairly for their work, just as anyone else in any other field, but Rant is working writers instead of working for them.
I’ve discussed this with a famed Denver sportswriter before, and he’s the one that put this silly little thought into my head.
Well, Hell, it makes sense.
If news outlets are going to be credible and respected in the field, they have to land the most talented and credible journalists, which can only happen if they pay writers appropriately.
Bleacher Report has conformed lately, at least in a small part, by paying a select few while still allowing a vast majority of their content to be produced by any kid with access to a computer and the internet.
Likewise, Rant Sports pays a couple of their most prolific content producers decently, while the rest are left to fend for scraps. And they take a great deal of the revenue generated by all the writers, putting more money back into their pockets than anyone else.
Sadly, those writing on the internet have become accustomed to writing for free, and what results is the bastardization of journalism.
A “lone wolf” mentality is created as writers have to fight for themselves; damn a site helping the lowly writer build his brand or bank account. Writers become jaded and the work suffers. Asking them to always have a spin perverts the message as the writer has to search for a stance that may not even be there.
The environment becomes saturated with garbage articles with little or no credibility, hurting journalism on the whole.
But, if it makes dollars, does it have to make sense?
For B/R and Rant, apparently not.
