Challenges face sports writer

I was in Jackson Hole, Wyoming recently when I ran into Gordon Wittenmyer, a sportwriter with the Chicago Sun-Times.  Wittenmyer had been a sports writer for  the Seattle PI and The Seattle Times.

He now covers the Chicago Cubs for the Chicago Sun-Times,  a job made easier by the fact that this Lou Pinella managed team is leading its division and has a good shot at winning the whole shooting match.

Wittenmyer was born in Federal Way and has worked his way up the newspaper sports chain to become a big time sports reporter for a big city newspaper, and the envy of thousands of young men and women who would do just about anything to have his job.

But for all his success, Wittenmyer has the same worries as thousands of other newspaper reporters and staff members.  Will his newspaper be around in the future?  Will he hold on to his job and become a senior sage of sports writers?  Are newspapers a doomed industry?

It doesn’t matter how far up the ladder one climbs, challenges outside your control continue to cast shadows of doubt.

Wittenmyer recognizes he’s in a unique profession, doing something he loves and getting paid for it.    And the Cubs running the table makes his choice of careers even more inviting.  If only newspapers would come out of their tail spin – – perhaps . . .