The Scarlet Sitdown: Targum Inside Scoop with Brian Delk

Welcome to the Scarlet Sit-Down with Alice and Josh, a Daily Targum sports podcast dedicated to covering everything that goes on in Rutgers Athletics. I'm Head Sports Editor, Alice Gordon. And I'm Associate Sports Editor, Josh Myers. And in the Scarlet Sit-Down, we're going to bring on special guests every episode to discuss the hottest topics in Rutgers sports. Our second special guest, though, is non-athlete, though I'm sure you're very athletic, for the new school year is Interim Editor-in-Chief and Head News Editor at the Daily Targum, Brian Delk, otherwise known as B-Delk. How you doing? I'm doing pretty good. How you doing? B-Delk! I'm doing good. So, yeah, so, you know, many of our faithful followers might be a little surprised we usually have athletes on, but we want to do something a little different. We know that a lot of people don't understand how the Targum works, how to apply for the Targum if they want to. So this podcast is going to be dedicated to that. So if you're not interested in that, you know, you don't have to listen. But also, if you are interested in that, interested in how your school newspaper, the inner workings of your school newspaper, of how to maybe join the school newspaper, stay here. So let's get into it, Brian, because you're trained to be the Editor-in-Chief, the big dog of the Daily Targum. You have been here for what, now two years? Going on three. And you started in sports. So you started in sports like us. He's a traitor. He left. But that's okay. It's okay. We still like him. He's a good guy. But yeah. So let's start with how to get involved. So if you want to join the Targum, let's say you're a freshman coming in, you did SUNY's newspaper in high school, even if you didn't, how do you join the Targum, and are there any qualifications? Yeah. So first of all, we don't have any qualifications, any one, regardless of major or interest or anything. As long as you're interested in the paper, you can write for us, really. As long as you're a strong writer, you can write for us. In terms of getting involved, you can go onto our website, dailytargum.com, and go down to the About page, or you can go to the Contact page. Contact page will list every single one of our desks. That is the Sports Desk, the News Desk, Copy, Inside Beat, Opinions. All of our desks will have who is working at the desk, and then the emails to then contact those people. If you want to get involved, you have to reach out to EIC and Manage at dailytargum.com, and that's going to be on our About page. And it's going to say, if you're interested, reach out to these two emails. So if you're not a part of the Daily Targum, you're just a loyal reader, how do you, can you pitch ideas, and how does the article topics, how are they picked? Of course, yeah. Anyone can pitch ideas. We're always open to covering different events on campus, as long as we have the staff to cover it. Whether that be video, inside beat, opinions, news, it depends on the topic, obviously, which section it will fall under. But we're always open to covering different, diverse perspectives on campus. In terms of picking stories, I've worked specifically in the Sports Desk and the News Desk. I've only recently been Interim Editor-in-Chief, so I'm only learning how we do it for inside beat and opinions as well. So I can go down based on each section. So opinions, each columnist, we have bi-weekly columnists, so that would be 14 for each day of the week. That's the full extent of our staff. But we're always looking for people who are interested. They would write opinions articles based on their topics of their choosing. Obviously, the opinions editor can pitch things to them, but obviously, it's their opinion to write what they want to write about. So sports, which is... Our forte. Your forte. We do beats. We'll spare you this one. We'll do beats. Yes, you guys do beats on sports, which is a bit self-explanatory, but I'll let you guys handle that. And then for news, we have a story list for news. So we'll find different stories about different events, different studies that maybe Rutgers researchers have done, different kinds of evergreen stories that we call them that can be done at any time, like student opinions or an exclusive interview with some leader around campus. We'll pitch stories to our writers on that. But we have contributing writers who can write as little or as many articles they want per week. For Inside Beat, we've recently changed Inside Beat. We used to have writers pitch their own stories, but now we're entering a new domain, I would say, with Inside Beat, where we're honing in on the Rutgers community, whether that be basement shows or different people who attend concerts on campus or different speakers that we have across campus or in the local community as well. That includes food, all aspects of entertainment. And for sports, just to briefly touch on it, we have applications for beats. And pretty much a beat is when you get a right about a certain sport. So men's basketball, men's soccer, women's basketball, pretty much every sport on Rutgers. And yeah, you apply, and we usually try to give everyone who applies a beat. They usually do. We've given everyone who's applied so far a beat. Don't want to jinx it, but obviously you apply, and then we assign your beat pretty much, and you cover that team for however long they play. It could be the semester, if they make the playoffs, it could be as long as that. So yeah, it kind of varies by desk. And speaking of desks, do people pick what desk they want to write for, or do you pick? Or not you, rather, but the target picks. So that kind of, I guess, goes into the recruitment process as well. So maybe I'll start there. At the beginning of each semester, we try to streamline, not communication, but we try to streamline recruitment. So at the beginning of each semester, we'll put on our Instagram and all our social medias that we're hiring. And then we'll say which desk we're hiring for, and a link in our bio or a link wherever it be, depending on the social media platform, but there'll be a link to our application. It'll then list what desk you can apply for within the application, and we have one application for the entire target, just to streamline everything for us. So at the beginning of each semester, it'll be advertised that we're hiring, and you can look at what desk you want to apply for, and then you choose what desk you want to work for. Whether that be sports, news, opinions, and yeah. We're open to people applying to all, you know, different desks. But especially for news, we don't allow news people, news writers to write for opinions at the same time that they write for news, but you can write for news and sports and it'll be all at the same time if you have the time, you know, as your student. So how can people get positions, like how can they become a sports editor or a news editor? Yeah, you really have to start out as a contributing writer. We really have to see some growth from you. You know, everyone starts at a different level. I know I was not the best sports writer. You can ask the last sports editors. Yeah, Jack and Dylan gave you, they've told you this, right, they gave you the most improved award. Which, there's no real awards, obviously, but Jack and Dylan are like, he was like, oh, we gave Brian the most improved, or they said B-Dog the most improved award. Yeah, I think throughout, you know, all the editors give their writers feedback. I know you guys give writers feedback, I give writers feedback as well at the news desk, and we're going to do that for opinions and inside beat as well. All the editor positions are paid. Yeah. As you know, they're varying rates, but they're all at minimum wage or above, obviously. We've got to comply with, you know, labor laws. We're complying with labor laws, don't worry. But yeah, I would say, this is going to be a cliche answer, but I mean dedication, you know, showing that you care about the paper and you care about the people within the paper to then be able to move up to a position where you could lead people and then bring on people and then be the one to give people the most improved award throughout, through various feedback and through various communication with them. But I would say, you know, being open to feedback, taking in feedback, taking in criticism. Communication is key. I mean, we're a newspaper, communication is... It's a big one that seems obvious, but a lot of people, I would say, don't necessarily do well. Yeah. And at the same time, we're all full-time students. I mean, everyone that writes here, everyone that works here is either an undergraduate or some, I mean, we have some graduate writers as well, but we're all full-time students. So we understand that, you know, times are tough sometimes. It's midterm season, almost every season, it feels like. So, but open communication and then, you know, communicating back and forth with us is really, really important. And we like to see that when we're picking out who to choose next. And finally, you know, we're very visible on campus, obviously. What is the... I feel like a lot of people, I didn't, at least when I was a beat writer and wasn't coming to the office, don't know what, like, how the sausage gets made. That's the saying, like, right? It's an interesting term, Ellis. No, that's the saying. Like, what's the editing process? Obviously it's different. That's a saying? Yeah, how the sausage... That's a saying. You didn't know that? Now I do. Yeah. So how, okay, so I'll finish then. So you finish. Brian, how is the sausage made? Yeah, what's generally, obviously it's different for every news opinion, but what's generally like the editing process at the Targon, when you get an article from a beat writer or from an editor? Now, is the sausage grilled or is it fried? Do you fry sausage? You don't fry... I don't think you fry sausage. I mean, you can fry sausage. If you can fry Oreos, you can fry sausage. That is very true. You should put that in a quote book. Maybe. I'll let you answer, Brian. Yes, it does vary from desk to desk in terms of, you know, how many hands it's going through. But I'd say mainly it goes from the, so the writer will write the story and then they'll pass it off to the editor, us, you know, depending on the desk, obviously, and then we'll hand it off to a copy desk. And we have copy editors who will, we have two, well, we have two and three, we're expanding roles because we're trying to expand production as well. We have at most, or at least two copy editors that'll fact check, verify what information is said, verify everything, that everything is factual within the article, and then they'll hand it back to either a editor-in-chief or a managing editor, or they'll hand it back to the editors that handed it to them in the beginning. So it'll go from the editor to the copy editor and then back to another editor, and then after that, we'd say it's like the third hand that it's been through. It'll then be read through one more time, make sure everything is, you know, factual, everything is copacetic, and then they'll then schedule that to be published on our website. Yeah, so it goes through like at least four, not hands, but four looks. Four or five. Usually more. But yeah. So yeah, so now let's get to more phone questions, you know, obviously. So first off, we got two phone questions for you, I think. Yeah, two. We ask every guest here, and you're not an athlete, but you're still a distinguished guest. No, wait, no, actually I want to talk about that. He is an athlete. Remember, WRC Targum game. Oh, yes! We got to talk about that. Come on, now. So yeah, so we have a WRC Targum game, very, very competitive. We needed some more recruits. We say, oh, B-Del, come play. No one's seen him play. No, no, no, I'll tell a story. Yeah, you tell a story. So literally the night before the Targum game, which was going to be played at the Jersey Max arena, and it was really cool, by the way. How much did you pull off? I was like, hey, B-Del, I was like, hey, B-Del, do you want to play? Like literally the day before, and he's like, yeah. So I had to quickly get his information to the guy who was doing the play-by-play at the stadium, which was cool, and the radio guys as well who were calling the game. And B-Del said yeah, and he came on to the court. I think he scored, what, like three baskets? You scored eight points, right? Four baskets. And he played, he was like the secret weapon. He was seriously the secret weapon. We did win by a lot more than eight points, but you were still the secret weapon. You came in the second half, you scored six straight. I think you had the third or fourth most points, because I think Jack Bissea did the stat sheet. So you had the third or fourth most points, which was pretty cool. I don't know if you knew that. Now you do. What is your favorite place to eat in New Brunswick? How does that correlate? Well, because you always ask the athlete's stat, because they've got to eat a lot. And Brian needs to eat a lot to score another eight points. It's a valid question. So yeah, what's your favorite? Yeah, how do you score eight points consistently on the basketball court? I mean, I'm going to have to be basic and say Chipotle, to be honest. The one on George Street? Or just in general? The one on George Street. I've gone there once. I don't really walk to George, because my sister took me. It's pretty deep. Shout out Josh's sister. Shout out Jordan. No, but they're open until like 1045, which I like, because I'll come from the office and then I'll go to Chipotle. But if they're not open, I can always go to Jafe's, and I know that they'll be open because they never close. Are they open until like four? Until like three or four in the morning, and then they open again. But like on weekdays too, right? Yeah. We talked about Jafe's. I'm not a huge fan of Jafe's. They're inconsistent. Very inconsistent, yeah. It's either just... Yeah, but they're always open. Open. They're consistent, but inconsistent. The taqueria on Eastern Ave is a lot better. But they're not always open. They're not always open. Yeah, but the food quality is better. These are solid choices. None that we can judge you for. All right. Finally, Asta was originally... You're a bit of a replacement. A great replacement. But we do have to address the elephant in the room. Asta was our managing editor who was supposed to come on. She fell ill. The goat. She fell ill. She's okay though. We wish her a speedy recovery. Yes. Now here, Asta's really into sports movies. She gave us her favorite movies to briefly discuss. We want to hear yours, and we'll go down the line. But first I want to say Asta's because she did give us... It's very important that we say these. I don't actually have any of the... No, I have one of these movies in my top three. So I'll spoil that. One is Field of Dreams, which I've never seen. I need to see it. You've never seen Field of Dreams? Two is I, Tonya. I know that one. Three is Moneyball. I, Tonya is about the skater who like... Yeah, Tonya. Who like... Did she like hire someone to like hurt... Allegedly. But yeah. So that's her big three. You can judge her down in the comments or agree with her. Ryan, what's your big three sports movies? My big three? Like the first thing that comes to mind... Yeah, what comes to your mind? Space Jam. Like that is... Which one? The first one or the second one? The first one. I didn't even watch the second one. I think Space Jam is like the hallmark of my childhood. That movie and like Home Alone, I think I've seen both of them. Like the first Home Alone and the second Home Alone, I've seen those at least ten times. At least ten times. Sports movies. Space Jam. Remember the Titans? That's a good movie. Fire movie. Yes, my family loves that movie. We have that on DVD, Blu-ray, everything that you can get it on. We have it on that. In terms of the last sports movie, I can't... Maybe it's Moneyball? I've seen that movie a couple of times. Brad Pitt, Jonah Hill. Can't go wrong. Gotta love Jonah Hill. What a man. Love Jonah Hill. And 21 Jump Street. I mean, it's a different genre, but yeah. I never realized how many sports movies I like, which would make sense because I like sports. I'm a sports editor. But when Oscar originally said this, I was like, I don't really watch sports movies. But now I'm thinking about it. There's some classic sports movies. And my number one is maybe the most classic of them all, most basic answer, and that's Rocky. Rocky is... I guess that does count as a sports movie. I love Rocky. It is great. And number two is... It also has childhood sentiment because I used to watch it all in the car during long road trips in the summer when I went on road trips with my family. And that's The Sandlot. The Sandlot's a fantastic movie. And maybe not the best out of all the great sports movies, but emotionally, for me, that has to be two. And three, I had a lot of... It was Moneyball for a second. It was Remember the Titans for a second. But I switched it up, and I went Rudy. Just because I love the end of Rudy. The end of Rudy and, like... It's great. It's very corny, but it's great. But Rudy is... I embrace the corniness of it, and that's my three. And Jerry Maguire. There's a lot of good sports movies. But yeah, whatever. I don't have a distinct top three, but there's three movies that I really like. 42 up there, a million percent. 42 is an amazing movie. And I remember seeing that with my dad, so it was just a great movie. 42, great movie, because it's telling the story of Jackie Robinson. And very fond of Chadwick Boseman. Obviously, rest in peace to Chadwick Boseman, too. But yeah, my next one would be... It is very difficult, yeah. What I was just saying, I feel like I don't really watch that many sports movies. But then when you try to think about it, you're like, wow, I've seen a lot. You've seen a lot. Wow. All right, listen. That was very productive sports. We did a lot of Moneyball. I think that was our most... Which is fair. It's a great movie. But yeah, leave in the comments. Like and subscribe. Leave in the comments what you think about each movie. Do you agree? Do you disagree? Or do you have your own? You know, all that stuff. But anyway, thanks for watching or listening to The Scarlet Sit-Down with Alice and Josh, your podcast for everything rugby and athletics. Thank you, Brian, for coming on, and good luck for the rest of the semester. I mean, I will be seeing you. But regardless of our audience, good luck the rest of your semester as well. Don't forget to follow The Scarlet Sit-Down on Spotify and YouTube at The Daily Targum and Instagram at Scarlet Sit-Down RU. Stay tuned for more podcasts in the coming weeks.