Opinion ID: 686722
Heading Depth: 6
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Staff Writers:

Text: 71 With regard to the staff writers salaried below $250 per week, their day-to-day responsibilities were very similar to those of the staff writers discussed above. For example, staff writer Margaret Burton testified that three fourths of her stories covered hard news, such as the proceedings of the school board, educational issues, trials and court hearings, as well as the legislative hearings. She estimated that only one fourth of her writing constituted feature writing requiring in-depth interpretation or analysis. 72 Staff writer Sharon Goss testified that during her first year at the paper, she spent approximately sixty percent of her time writing what she called feature stories. The topics of these stories were usually assigned by an editor, and rarely demanded the imagination, interpretation, or invention that characterizes exempt newspaper writing. 13 The remaining forty percent was divided between deadline work and clerical tasks, such as compiling local movie listings. During the latter portion of her tenure at The Monitor, as an educational reporter and a regional reporter, she covered educational issues and government and town planning meetings. 73 Staff writer Randall Keith testified that the vast bulk of his first year at The Monitor was spent working the city hall beat. His second year was divided between covering the police beat and business writing. His third year was spent as a regional reporter, covering town meetings and activities. Overall, he described his day to day duties as being primarily the type of general assignment work which could be accomplished by anyone with general intellectual training and ability. 74 As these examples make clear, the employees salaried below $250 had substantially the same responsibilities as those reporters, discussed above, with salaries above $250. Consequently, we find that the record contains ample support for the district court's conclusion that these reporters were not performing the type of work that would qualify them for the artistic professional exemption. Rather, like their higher-salaried counterparts, they were like the majority of reporters in that their work depends primarily on intelligence, diligence, and accuracy. They were not performing duties which would place them in that minority of reporters whose work depends primarily on 'invention, imaging [sic], or talent.'  75