Screen capture from NewsEngin's website
The Dallas Morning News uses software from a company founded by former journalists to report scores online in "real time" for area high school football teams, resulting in “millions of page views,” according to a newspaper online editor.
The Morning News is the “only newspaper in America with real-time scoring,” said Kyle Whitfield, SportsDayHS's interactive community editor. He said the newspaper uses software from NewsEngin[Inc.], “a third party vendor in St. Louis” coupled with a squadron of freelancers that cover 200 Dallas-Fort Worth-area high schools.
The Morning News is the “only newspaper in America with real-time scoring,” said Kyle Whitfield, SportsDayHS's interactive community editor. He said the newspaper uses software from NewsEngin[Inc.], “a third party vendor in St. Louis” coupled with a squadron of freelancers that cover 200 Dallas-Fort Worth-area high schools.
NewsEngin TeamPlayer
“NewsEngin TeamPlayer is a browser-based application that couples the passion of high-school sports with intuitive technology to give news organizations a powerful backbone for their community Web sites and print publications. TeamPlayer can collect, organize and automatically reverse-publish all of a region’s high school sports scores and statistics,” according to NewsEngin's website.
NewsEngin recently announced it has added "70 publications to the roster of news organizations that rely on its Ampere suite of cloud-based content production services."
High School Football Sells
SportsDayHS’s freelancers cover football games from August through December including reporting statistics and writing brief stories. The statistics go into a database and show up on SportsDayHS’s website. Whitfield said the information can be accessed on smartphones also.
With so many eyeballs piercing the website and smartphones to get this unique content, high school is “easiest to sell and most profitable,” according to Whitfield, adding, advertisers want a local audience.
Want a PT Job?
In fact, the newspaper's sports department will host training sessions this summer for freelancers covering the upcoming season. Are you interested in earning some extra cash and having fun at the same time? According to an email Whitfield sent me, this is a part-time job that pays.
College students and others who have experience covering high school football and already live in the Dallas-Fort Worth area should apply, especially if you can write well on deadline and have solid computer skills. To apply, send your resume and clips to SportsDayHS online editor Kyle Whitfield- kwhitfield@dallasnews.com.
Richland College students and me with Photo editor Michael Hamtil (kneeling) at "The Dallas Morning News" 2.23.12, courtesy of "The Dallas Morning News"
Richland College Students Tour Newspaper
Whitfield, a LSU graduate, told some of my Richland College students about his job and how he got it during a Feb. 23, 2012 tour of the Morning News. He talked about editing his college newspaper, studying late into the night and having a strong work ethic.
Richland students observed a morning news meeting and also met Photo editor Michael Hamtil (in picture above) who showed us the photo selection process. Deputy Managing Editor/Sports Bob Yates was our gracious tour guide. He gave us a detailed overview of the newspaper's operation and sections. Did you know the Morning News has won nine Pulitzer Prizes? (I was in the building the day David Leeson won his Pulitzer and it was a wonderful experience watching his elation.)
Some of my students want to pursue careers in journalism, others are interested in public relations. Yates asked whether they wanted to be reporters or writers? After listening to their answers Yates said, “Be a great reporter, editors can help you [write well].”
I recently joined Richland's adjunct faculty and I'm having a good time teaching news writing and, of course, weaving in New Media when it works.
Sidebars and Pluses
March is Women's History Month and I'm rereading excerpts of "With Ossie & Ruby: In This Life Together," a dual-memoir by Ruby Dee and Ossie Davis. Their rich journey in American theater continues to inspire.
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I recently learned that abolitionist Frederick Douglass was among several pioneering black newspaper editors. According to William S. McFeely, author of Frederick Douglass, "At least four other newspapers edited by African Americans were in existence when Douglass announced that the North Star would be published." Douglass announced his intention to publish North Star in a letter dated Oct. 28, 1847 to abolitionist and Quaker Amy Post, according to the book.
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From the Newseum's website: 'Up From Slavery: The Black Press'
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