Scott Nuzum
@apeman33.bsky.social
Former sports writer and not missing that life at all. Asthmatic so bad that I might be allergic to air. Pets: Punky (dog in the avitar), Shadow (cat), Mister (cat) and Gizmo (dog).
A cloth bag full of styrofoam chunks for $14.88 and all I gotta do is vote for him?
December 20, 2025 at 10:27 PM
A cloth bag full of styrofoam chunks for $14.88 and all I gotta do is vote for him?
Holy crap. It took an hour to put all my thoughts down. My apologies if you read it all the way though. I guess I should have found a way to be less wordy.
December 20, 2025 at 9:58 PM
Holy crap. It took an hour to put all my thoughts down. My apologies if you read it all the way though. I guess I should have found a way to be less wordy.
I think I'm finally done now. Had I known I would rant this long, I'd have just made a blog and put the link here.
December 20, 2025 at 9:57 PM
I think I'm finally done now. Had I known I would rant this long, I'd have just made a blog and put the link here.
(The company that bought her father's paper eventually bought ours; that's why she was our publisher.)
So if you're wondering why your small-town newspaper is turning into garbage, it's because someone in an office a state or more away is turning the newspaper itself into a terrible place to work.
So if you're wondering why your small-town newspaper is turning into garbage, it's because someone in an office a state or more away is turning the newspaper itself into a terrible place to work.
December 20, 2025 at 9:56 PM
(The company that bought her father's paper eventually bought ours; that's why she was our publisher.)
So if you're wondering why your small-town newspaper is turning into garbage, it's because someone in an office a state or more away is turning the newspaper itself into a terrible place to work.
So if you're wondering why your small-town newspaper is turning into garbage, it's because someone in an office a state or more away is turning the newspaper itself into a terrible place to work.
I almost walked out before Thanksgiving in 2009. The publisher begged me to stay and it was *still* another 11 months before they found someone.
The publisher eventually left. The Nevada paper was her *family business* before it got bought out and she still decided to leave.
The publisher eventually left. The Nevada paper was her *family business* before it got bought out and she still decided to leave.
December 20, 2025 at 9:55 PM
I almost walked out before Thanksgiving in 2009. The publisher begged me to stay and it was *still* another 11 months before they found someone.
The publisher eventually left. The Nevada paper was her *family business* before it got bought out and she still decided to leave.
The publisher eventually left. The Nevada paper was her *family business* before it got bought out and she still decided to leave.
I got a single $500 bonus, lost PTOs even though the circumstances under which I lost them had nothing to do with me, and got a couple of gift cards from the published that I believe she paid for out of her own pocket.
How the hell did I make it to 2018?
How the hell did I make it to 2018?
December 20, 2025 at 9:52 PM
I got a single $500 bonus, lost PTOs even though the circumstances under which I lost them had nothing to do with me, and got a couple of gift cards from the published that I believe she paid for out of her own pocket.
How the hell did I make it to 2018?
How the hell did I make it to 2018?
I was also still really pissed about an 18-month period in 2009-10 when I had to serve as interim managing editor for almost *18* months while still doing sports. No one would apply for the job. We only interviewed three people during that entire time. I think they were trying to force me to take it
December 20, 2025 at 9:51 PM
I was also still really pissed about an 18-month period in 2009-10 when I had to serve as interim managing editor for almost *18* months while still doing sports. No one would apply for the job. We only interviewed three people during that entire time. I think they were trying to force me to take it
And I wouldn't have had a problem with that.
In 1996, I was just the Sports Editor.
In 2018, I was the Sports Editor, assistant managing editor, backup news reporter, and backup classifieds/receptionist because, hey, *she* gets to go on vacation *sometime*.
In 1996, I was just the Sports Editor.
In 2018, I was the Sports Editor, assistant managing editor, backup news reporter, and backup classifieds/receptionist because, hey, *she* gets to go on vacation *sometime*.
December 20, 2025 at 9:49 PM
And I wouldn't have had a problem with that.
In 1996, I was just the Sports Editor.
In 2018, I was the Sports Editor, assistant managing editor, backup news reporter, and backup classifieds/receptionist because, hey, *she* gets to go on vacation *sometime*.
In 1996, I was just the Sports Editor.
In 2018, I was the Sports Editor, assistant managing editor, backup news reporter, and backup classifieds/receptionist because, hey, *she* gets to go on vacation *sometime*.
I was tired of having to deal with the panic. And the last time there was panic, something inside my head said, "this time, they're going to fire people." And as "just" the sports reporter, despite the fact that I had been there far longer than the other writers, I felt certain it was going to be me
December 20, 2025 at 9:48 PM
I was tired of having to deal with the panic. And the last time there was panic, something inside my head said, "this time, they're going to fire people." And as "just" the sports reporter, despite the fact that I had been there far longer than the other writers, I felt certain it was going to be me
When the floor for being able to pay someone on salary without also paying them over time is raised, small newspaper companies lose their shit. My company was going to try some really complicated manipulation to keep from paying Tammy and I any overtime.
That was my last straw.
That was my last straw.
December 20, 2025 at 9:46 PM
When the floor for being able to pay someone on salary without also paying them over time is raised, small newspaper companies lose their shit. My company was going to try some really complicated manipulation to keep from paying Tammy and I any overtime.
That was my last straw.
That was my last straw.
The collapse of small-town journalism is inevitable. It's not because nobody want to know what's going on. It's that bringing the news to people costs too much.
You should see a newspaper company panic every time the feds propose changing overtime regulations...
You should see a newspaper company panic every time the feds propose changing overtime regulations...
December 20, 2025 at 9:44 PM
The collapse of small-town journalism is inevitable. It's not because nobody want to know what's going on. It's that bringing the news to people costs too much.
You should see a newspaper company panic every time the feds propose changing overtime regulations...
You should see a newspaper company panic every time the feds propose changing overtime regulations...
And, remember, my $28K was after *22* years. Rookie writers don't get offered anything close to that.
Feeling sick? Tough. The company eliminated sick days to replace them with PTOs and you're not going to waste a PTO just because you have a fever. Go to work and make everyone else sick too!
Feeling sick? Tough. The company eliminated sick days to replace them with PTOs and you're not going to waste a PTO just because you have a fever. Go to work and make everyone else sick too!
December 20, 2025 at 9:42 PM
And, remember, my $28K was after *22* years. Rookie writers don't get offered anything close to that.
Feeling sick? Tough. The company eliminated sick days to replace them with PTOs and you're not going to waste a PTO just because you have a fever. Go to work and make everyone else sick too!
Feeling sick? Tough. The company eliminated sick days to replace them with PTOs and you're not going to waste a PTO just because you have a fever. Go to work and make everyone else sick too!
To be considered below the poverty line, a single person must make less than $15,650.
Wonder why small-town writers eventually move on and leave the profession? No upward mobility — big papers are short-staffed, too — and pitiful pay in a strange town with almost no time off.
Wonder why small-town writers eventually move on and leave the profession? No upward mobility — big papers are short-staffed, too — and pitiful pay in a strange town with almost no time off.
December 20, 2025 at 9:40 PM
To be considered below the poverty line, a single person must make less than $15,650.
Wonder why small-town writers eventually move on and leave the profession? No upward mobility — big papers are short-staffed, too — and pitiful pay in a strange town with almost no time off.
Wonder why small-town writers eventually move on and leave the profession? No upward mobility — big papers are short-staffed, too — and pitiful pay in a strange town with almost no time off.
Local journallists love(d) being journalists. But the reality is that it's not worth the effort if the pay or the support sucks — and in the high majority of cases, they both suck.
I never made more than $28,000 a year. The max amount one can get in disability per year is about 70 percent of that.
I never made more than $28,000 a year. The max amount one can get in disability per year is about 70 percent of that.
December 20, 2025 at 9:37 PM
Local journallists love(d) being journalists. But the reality is that it's not worth the effort if the pay or the support sucks — and in the high majority of cases, they both suck.
I never made more than $28,000 a year. The max amount one can get in disability per year is about 70 percent of that.
I never made more than $28,000 a year. The max amount one can get in disability per year is about 70 percent of that.
Garden City's paper has new ownership now. But I doubt it can save the Telegram. The Telegram was down to skeletal remains when they bought it. And if Gannett hadn't sold to them, Gannett probably would have found a way to sell the bones.
December 20, 2025 at 9:34 PM
Garden City's paper has new ownership now. But I doubt it can save the Telegram. The Telegram was down to skeletal remains when they bought it. And if Gannett hadn't sold to them, Gannett probably would have found a way to sell the bones.
And let me tell you that Garden City's photographer is a goddam superhero. At one point, when a reporter had quit and a new one hadn't been hired yet, his e-mail address was the contact for EVERY department except advertising. He was putting out three editions a week by. his. fucking. self.
December 20, 2025 at 9:32 PM
And let me tell you that Garden City's photographer is a goddam superhero. At one point, when a reporter had quit and a new one hadn't been hired yet, his e-mail address was the contact for EVERY department except advertising. He was putting out three editions a week by. his. fucking. self.
I get angry when I see the Telegram in the news rack at Dillon's (Kansas Kroger for those of you from out of state). They use a huge picture to kill space a lot of the time. One reporter and one photographer can only fill so much space on their own.
December 20, 2025 at 9:30 PM
I get angry when I see the Telegram in the news rack at Dillon's (Kansas Kroger for those of you from out of state). They use a huge picture to kill space a lot of the time. One reporter and one photographer can only fill so much space on their own.
Garden City is a town in Southwest Kansas of about 30,000 people. Fort Scott is one-fourth the size of Garden City. Nevada is barely bigger.
At least Fort Scott and Nevada are able to cover their communities. Garden City's paper is a zombie, ruined by Gannett. Three days a week. ONE reporter.
At least Fort Scott and Nevada are able to cover their communities. Garden City's paper is a zombie, ruined by Gannett. Three days a week. ONE reporter.
December 20, 2025 at 9:28 PM
Garden City is a town in Southwest Kansas of about 30,000 people. Fort Scott is one-fourth the size of Garden City. Nevada is barely bigger.
At least Fort Scott and Nevada are able to cover their communities. Garden City's paper is a zombie, ruined by Gannett. Three days a week. ONE reporter.
At least Fort Scott and Nevada are able to cover their communities. Garden City's paper is a zombie, ruined by Gannett. Three days a week. ONE reporter.
The newspaper in the town I now live in (my hometown) once had a newspaper that served 11 or 12 counties. Right now, there are two people that I know of that work in the local office. One is a photographer. Their sports coverage is entirely press releases.
This is Garden City, Kansas.
This is Garden City, Kansas.
December 20, 2025 at 9:26 PM
The newspaper in the town I now live in (my hometown) once had a newspaper that served 11 or 12 counties. Right now, there are two people that I know of that work in the local office. One is a photographer. Their sports coverage is entirely press releases.
This is Garden City, Kansas.
This is Garden City, Kansas.
My paper once had seven people in just the newsroom. Now the *entire organization* might have only NINE full-time people.
NINE! In two towns!
Wondering why your small-town paper is going to shit? Because your small-town paper is probably just as short-handed (or even worse)...
NINE! In two towns!
Wondering why your small-town paper is going to shit? Because your small-town paper is probably just as short-handed (or even worse)...
December 20, 2025 at 9:24 PM
My paper once had seven people in just the newsroom. Now the *entire organization* might have only NINE full-time people.
NINE! In two towns!
Wondering why your small-town paper is going to shit? Because your small-town paper is probably just as short-handed (or even worse)...
NINE! In two towns!
Wondering why your small-town paper is going to shit? Because your small-town paper is probably just as short-handed (or even worse)...
...and press staff work there. So my guess is:
Publisher.
Shared managing editor.
Advertising.
Head of the press room.
Classifieds/circulation.
Are the only full-time positions in Nevada.
Publisher.
Shared managing editor.
Advertising.
Head of the press room.
Classifieds/circulation.
Are the only full-time positions in Nevada.
December 20, 2025 at 9:23 PM
...and press staff work there. So my guess is:
Publisher.
Shared managing editor.
Advertising.
Head of the press room.
Classifieds/circulation.
Are the only full-time positions in Nevada.
Publisher.
Shared managing editor.
Advertising.
Head of the press room.
Classifieds/circulation.
Are the only full-time positions in Nevada.
When I started at the Tribune in 1996 there were seven people working in just the newsroom. I presume Nevada's staffing was similar.
So now, I know for a fact that only four people work in the entire building in Fort Scott. The only reason Nevada would have more is because the publisher...
So now, I know for a fact that only four people work in the entire building in Fort Scott. The only reason Nevada would have more is because the publisher...
December 20, 2025 at 9:20 PM
When I started at the Tribune in 1996 there were seven people working in just the newsroom. I presume Nevada's staffing was similar.
So now, I know for a fact that only four people work in the entire building in Fort Scott. The only reason Nevada would have more is because the publisher...
So now, I know for a fact that only four people work in the entire building in Fort Scott. The only reason Nevada would have more is because the publisher...
If Tammy, who is the managing editor of *both* papers (editing, writing, photos, supervising), needs time off, who does that work in Nevada? The reporter in Fort Scott would take over there, but can he work on both papers at the same time? Nevada has no other full-time people.
(Still more)
(Still more)
December 20, 2025 at 9:18 PM
If Tammy, who is the managing editor of *both* papers (editing, writing, photos, supervising), needs time off, who does that work in Nevada? The reporter in Fort Scott would take over there, but can he work on both papers at the same time? Nevada has no other full-time people.
(Still more)
(Still more)
So now, instead of actually having a staff (despite the fact that they're the "main" paper of this hub and produce four editions a week versus Fort Scott's two), Nevada now borrows Fort Scott's managing editor and uses exclusively stringers to write stories.
December 20, 2025 at 9:16 PM
So now, instead of actually having a staff (despite the fact that they're the "main" paper of this hub and produce four editions a week versus Fort Scott's two), Nevada now borrows Fort Scott's managing editor and uses exclusively stringers to write stories.