Petition to MJS: Replace Mike Hunt on Marquette Beat

[MauraDay]

I think we were spoiled with Rosiak -- may never get back to that type of personal, in-depth coverage, but hope we can.

[Silkk the Shaka]

Why doesn't the MJS simply give Hunt his well-deserved retirement watch, and then contract with Paint Touches to provide content?  Wouldn't be all that hard...they tweet from games....they could make them responsible for a pre-game write up, post-game report, occasional blog entries, and a few feature stories per year.  They do a lot of this anyway, and it would be cheaper for them.

Because that would only be logical.

[mu-rara]

Do MJS writers still belong to a union?

[muwarrior69]

You could pay a desperate, hungry, interested (interested being the operative word) recent j-school grad ~$30k/year and get a much better product than what Hunt puts out there. It's actually embarrassing how little he cares about his job. Let him cover something else or let him go.

Signed.

Hunt makes 30K?

[keefe]

Comp time is an alternative to overtime, which reporters are technically entitled, and means the reporters are making up for lost days off in-season by taking time off out-of-season.

Comp time? Aren't these guys professionals or are they punching a time clock?

When a guy gets a Dear John over in the Sandbox we pull him aside, tell him to take 5 minutes to feel bad, then get the f#ck back to work. The extent of our compassion is that we assign a wingman to keep an eye on him but we usually send him outside the wire ASAP to give him something to take his mind off the crap back home. Works like a charm.

 

[forgetful]

Comp time? Aren't these guys professionals or are they punching a time clock?

When a guy gets a Dear John over in the Sandbox we pull him aside, tell him to take 5 minutes to feel bad, then get the f#ck back to work. The extent of our compassion is that we assign a wingman to keep an eye on him but we usually send him outside the wire ASAP to give him something to take his mind off the crap back home. Works like a charm.

 

Five minutes, are you guys getting soft?  J/K...thanks for your time in the sandbox.

[Atticus]

I've read on this very website that by changing my browser settings to "private," I can read as many online articles on jsonline as I want. Are the people that rip off the paper the same group signing the petition?

I'm willing to bet on it.

"I expect the content that I steal to be better!"

You get what you pay for, folks.

[Benny B]

What a huge drop off from Rosiak. Never understood why Todd got demoted to Brewers coverage...

Yeah, because who really wants a BBWAA voting card anyway?

[cet3717]

signed

[The Lens]

It's clear Rosiak was doing everything possible to further his career.  Hunt is KCDC'ing, wait for retirement / buyout.

MJS scribes has nearly carte blanche to create blogs.  They can write all day if they want.  For someone on the back 9, the incentive dwindles.  I mean, not to get too personal but, look how he presents himself in public at press conferences etc.  This guy is well past positioning himself for a promotion.

[MU82]

To those who think it doesn't matter, I disagree. It's always better to have a region's "newspaper of record" paying attention to a subject. Like all newspapers, the JS is more than just what's printed. It has a large Internet presence. For a huge segment of the Milwaukee area, when they say "the press" or "the media," they are talking about the JS. It still "matters." And I would say the same about the Observer in Charlotte, the Times in Seattle, etc. You name a major city, its newspaper of record matters.

To those who believe the JS simply doesn't care about Marquette hoops, many already have pointed out that it had quite good coverage when Rosiak was on the beat. A dedicated reporter -- and by that I mean good at his/her job, not a fan of the program -- will "force" the newspaper to run his or her stuff.

Of course the JS focuses on the Packers and Badgers because it wants to give the most readers possible more of what they want. But an enthusiastic, engaged reporter would be a factor in increased -- and, more importantly, higher-quality -- Marquette coverage.

[Nukem2]

Be careful what you wish for.  JS might bring Tom Enlund out of retirement ...

[keefe]

And I would say the same about the Observer in Charlotte, the Times Pravda on the Puget in Seattle, etc.

[GGGG]

I've read on this very website that by changing my browser settings to "private," I can read as many online articles on jsonline as I want. Are the people that rip off the paper the same group signing the petition?

I'm willing to bet on it.

"I expect the content that I steal to be better!"

You get what you pay for, folks.

I'm not stealing content simply by not using cookies.  Either make it a pay site...or don't.

[Silkk the Shaka]

Hunt makes 30K?

Where did I say that? I'm saying you could get a $30k replacement to do a 10x better job

[dgies9156]

Comp time? Aren't these guys professionals or are they punching a time clock?

Keefe, I love you man and thanks for your service to me and us all.

To answer your question, under federal wage and hour rules, for some strange reason, newspaper writers are hourly employees. Not professionals. When I worked for a newspaper years ago, I kept a time card of everything I did and I was paid overtime.

Ironically, when I went to a magazine, we had a salary and no overtime. We were professionals.

Probably explains Michael Hunt in the extreme. It also explains the J-S policy. We don't pay overtime but you can take comp time. I'm not sure what today's Journalism equivalent of sending someone up to the wire might be (maybe writing obits or covering traffic court), but I absolutely agree with you. Comp time is crap and we knew it in the 1970s. Nobody tracked it!

[keefe]

Keefe, I love you man and thanks for your service to me and us all.

To answer your question, under federal wage and hour rules, for some strange reason, newspaper writers are hourly employees. Not professionals. When I worked for a newspaper years ago, I kept a time card of everything I did and I was paid overtime.

Ironically, when I went to a magazine, we had a salary and no overtime. We were professionals.

Probably explains Michael Hunt in the extreme. It also explains the J-S policy. We don't pay overtime but you can take comp time. I'm not sure what today's Journalism equivalent of sending someone up to the wire might be (maybe writing obits or covering traffic court), but I absolutely agree with you. Comp time is crap and we knew it in the 1970s. Nobody tracked it!

Wow. That is astounding. I am trying to picture Woodward and Bernstein punching in on the loading dock, lunch pails in hand, then heading into the salt mine. I can just imagine Deep Throat asking for a late night meeting and Bernstein replying, "Uh, can we do it tomorrow morning around 10? I'm off the clock at 5..."

How does that work for embedded journalists in a war zone? (We called them Ernies.) Ernies went outside the wire on patrols that could last 12-15 days. A combat patrol is a 24/7 evolution so I am guessing every day out equaled 3 full work days or 2 comp days. What a nightmare to have to administer.

[Dawson Rental]

Signed.  I'm not sure how the J-S will ultimately react to this since most of the signatures seem to be from out of state.

[keefe]

Signed.  I'm not sure how the J-S will ultimately react to this since most of the signatures seem to be from out of state.

Oh, I am pretty certain they are taking this petition very seriously. If we can collect a couple dozen more signatures they will probably dismiss Mike Hunt for cause and ask us to form a selection committee to identify his replacement.

I just read through the comments on the petition. I believe the endorsements calling Mike Hunt a hack and a disgrace will have particular resonance with his Managing Editor. I think that this effort will gain even more traction if we can escalate the personal insults.

I also appreciate the gentleman from Austin, TX stating he, "expects more from his local paper!" I am sure the management in Milwaukee will note that expectation.

This is nothing less than Scoop's finest moment. It is humbling to be in the presence of greatness and to witness history being made. Somewhere, David Thoreau weeps.

[MU82]

Wow. That is astounding. I am trying to picture Woodward and Bernstein punching in on the loading dock, lunch pails in hand, then heading into the salt mine. I can just imagine Deep Throat asking for a late night meeting and Bernstein replying, "Uh, can we do it tomorrow morning around 10? I'm off the clock at 5..."

How does that work for embedded journalists in a war zone? (We called them Ernies.) Ernies went outside the wire on patrols that could last 12-15 days. A combat patrol is a 24/7 evolution so I am guessing every day out equaled 3 full work days or 2 comp days. What a nightmare to have to administer.

All kinds of newspaper employees are "overtime exempt," including most foreign correspondents, many columnists, assistant editors, editors, many photographers, etc.

Employees at the many newspapers I used to work did not punch a time clock. They merely turned in their hours at the end of the week on a time sheet. If the schedule said they were to work Tue-Sat 11-7, they wrote down Tue-Sat 11-7, even if they worked different hours every day. They usually only put in for OT if it was obvious; otherwise tried to make up the hours. For example, if a ballgame goes 11 innings, requiring a 9 1/2 hour day, you don't put in for OT. If you can "find" an hour and a half sometime later, you take it, otherwise you eat it. If a ballgame goes 21 innings, requiring a 15-hour day, you might try to put in for OT. But, as in a lot of workplaces, OT at newspapers is frowned upon and many employees don't dare put in for it out of fear of being replaced. It's illegal, of course, but it happens. Lawsuits happen over it, too.

[MUFC9295]

At least wait for the game to finish so you can get back to complaining about our coach, players, program, Bradley center, university board, Ners, Chicos... No need to pile on a journalist from a paper you don't subscribe to.  Most posters here seem to know more or boast as such. Why do you need mike to tell you the news you already know.  Go spend more time outside with your kids family and friends.

[keefe]

All kinds of newspaper employees are "overtime exempt," including most foreign correspondents, many columnists, assistant editors, editors, many photographers, etc.

Employees at the many newspapers I used to work did not punch a time clock. They merely turned in their hours at the end of the week on a time sheet. If the schedule said they were to work Tue-Sat 11-7, they wrote down Tue-Sat 11-7, even if they worked different hours every day. They usually only put in for OT if it was obvious; otherwise tried to make up the hours. For example, if a ballgame goes 11 innings, requiring a 9 1/2 hour day, you don't put in for OT. If you can "find" an hour and a half sometime later, you take it, otherwise you eat it. If a ballgame goes 21 innings, requiring a 15-hour day, you might try to put in for OT. But, as in a lot of workplaces, OT at newspapers is frowned upon and many employees don't dare put in for it out of fear of being replaced. It's illegal, of course, but it happens. Lawsuits happen over it, too.

I kind of figured from what dgies said that this is an anachronism from a time when this made sense. Your explanation makes sense in terms of how it is actually employed. I would think that if your job is to cover a baseball team and the games run longer you eat it as your job is to cover the team. I would be curious to understand what caused this in the first place - must have been some abuse of reporters more than a century ago.

On a somewhat different note, I still get the Seattle Times and NYT and my wife was a long-term sub to the Washington Post Natl Weekly until it folded a few years ago. It is shocking to see how sparse the local daily has gotten. Fact is, the metropolitans will all be gone with only the communities providing local coverage. I am old enough to remember when every major city had numerous metro papers fighting it out editorially. A free press has guaranteed our liberty more than anything else for more than 300 years. 

[77ncaachamps]

Signed.

But I hope MJS has a better option to go to.

Hate to say this but: Hunt's coverage in the MJS is "better" than no coverage.

[WarriorFan]

I subscribe to JS online.  Have read it daily for 30+ years regardless of where in the world I've lived.  Current MU coverage is the worst I've seen.

[Tums Festival]

I think we were spoiled with Rosiak -- may never get back to that type of personal, in-depth coverage, but hope we can.

What's sadder still is Todd is now covering UWM hoops too.