Wednesday, June 09, 2004
The letters you wish you could send ...
I've been a journalist for 13 years and I write for MLB.com, baseball's official website. I sent an innocent email (with an attached resume) to the sports editor at a major newspaper to inquire about possible baseball writing opportunities there.
Here's the response I got:
Since it will not appear on this jackass' desk or in his in-box, I share it with all of you at rahoi.com:
Here's the response I got:
Hi Doug. I'll be perfectly honest: We've received many inquiries from folks at mlb.com about writing opportunities and I've told them all the same thing: I view mlb.com writers as employees of MLB and I would consider them ahead of folks trying to make the transition from regular P.R. back to journalism but behind all other print baseball writers. And right now I have a long line of print folks wanting to work here. I've heard all the arguments about MLB.com's "independence" but coverage of recent controversies makes it clear to me that my position is the correct one. I'm sure there are sports editors who would not agree, but this is how I feel. I wish the best of luck in your search for a writing job.
So I wrote -- and didn't send -- my ideal reply.Since it will not appear on this jackass' desk or in his in-box, I share it with all of you at rahoi.com:
Thanks for your honesty. I'll be perfectly honest with you now.
I am not a flack for MLB, nor am I a PR person. I have a little bit more pride -- and experience -- than that.
I was working in print sports journalism. That's how I started my career. In fact, if you had looked past the words MLB.com in my email or if you had even gotten so far as to look at my resume, you would have noticed that I was at the Oakland Tribune for four years (1995-1999).
Fighting the good fight for the integrity of journalism got me a whopping $29,000 a year to live in the Bay Area after three "raises" in four years, all of which totaled about 88 bucks a week. Before taxes.
I received a 52 percent raise to take an Internet job, NBCOlympics.com, and I worked tirelessly as one of two editors for a 15,000-page web site that required seven-days-a-week, 10-hours-a-day shifts sometimes. I did more work in an average day than copy editors at the Trib would do in two weeks.
That company folded after two years, so I took the only sportswriting job I could get, with MLB.com.
So now I'm on a baseball beat. I travel with other print beat writers. They ask me for advice as much as I ask them. Believe it or not, the Los Angeles Times, of all papers, occasionally uses material I've written and attributes quotes that I get that they're unable to get. The Orange County Register, too. And the Los Angeles Daily News and Riverside Press-Enterprise.
I don't get Marriott points or frequent-flyer miles on airlines. I don't get weekend home games off. I cover at least 30 more games per season than any of the print guys.
I've covered all the national events -- World Series, All-Star Game, etc. I covered the Caribbean Series from the Dominican Republic and broke two stories from there that were all over the papers and radio stations in the United States the next day.
I am friendly with some of the biggest names in the baseball print business. I've earned their respect and I've had many of them tell me that they enjoy the work I do and value the timeliness with which I deliver it.
Since you have no respect for MLB.com and therefore no respect for me, my writing and reporting ability, my contacts, my relationships with players, my experience or my potential, you're probably not even going to read most of this email and you almost certainly won't respond.
That's OK.
My four years in newspapers (Oakland Tribune, 1995-1999, in case you've forgotten) and your email continue to teach me how talent, desire, work ethic and character are so often overlooked or simply ignored in this business.
So thanks again for your honesty, and remember my name. You'll regret that you didn't give me a chance.
I am not a flack for MLB, nor am I a PR person. I have a little bit more pride -- and experience -- than that.
I was working in print sports journalism. That's how I started my career. In fact, if you had looked past the words MLB.com in my email or if you had even gotten so far as to look at my resume, you would have noticed that I was at the Oakland Tribune for four years (1995-1999).
Fighting the good fight for the integrity of journalism got me a whopping $29,000 a year to live in the Bay Area after three "raises" in four years, all of which totaled about 88 bucks a week. Before taxes.
I received a 52 percent raise to take an Internet job, NBCOlympics.com, and I worked tirelessly as one of two editors for a 15,000-page web site that required seven-days-a-week, 10-hours-a-day shifts sometimes. I did more work in an average day than copy editors at the Trib would do in two weeks.
That company folded after two years, so I took the only sportswriting job I could get, with MLB.com.
So now I'm on a baseball beat. I travel with other print beat writers. They ask me for advice as much as I ask them. Believe it or not, the Los Angeles Times, of all papers, occasionally uses material I've written and attributes quotes that I get that they're unable to get. The Orange County Register, too. And the Los Angeles Daily News and Riverside Press-Enterprise.
I don't get Marriott points or frequent-flyer miles on airlines. I don't get weekend home games off. I cover at least 30 more games per season than any of the print guys.
I've covered all the national events -- World Series, All-Star Game, etc. I covered the Caribbean Series from the Dominican Republic and broke two stories from there that were all over the papers and radio stations in the United States the next day.
I am friendly with some of the biggest names in the baseball print business. I've earned their respect and I've had many of them tell me that they enjoy the work I do and value the timeliness with which I deliver it.
Since you have no respect for MLB.com and therefore no respect for me, my writing and reporting ability, my contacts, my relationships with players, my experience or my potential, you're probably not even going to read most of this email and you almost certainly won't respond.
That's OK.
My four years in newspapers (Oakland Tribune, 1995-1999, in case you've forgotten) and your email continue to teach me how talent, desire, work ethic and character are so often overlooked or simply ignored in this business.
So thanks again for your honesty, and remember my name. You'll regret that you didn't give me a chance.
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