Should papers from non-World Series cities send reporters to cover the game(s)?

Hell, I've seen a paper that doesn't regularly staff the AA team in town pay for the editor to attend World Series games. Of course, he's the same guy who doesn't go to the horse track in his coverage area, but is always at the Kentucky Derby. Doesn't attend college basketball games - except on Saturdays - but is at every Final Four.

 

Oh, the big events are important for writers to get the "real story."

Or, they are an excuse for writers to get a free trip to cover an event that draws in little-to-no additional revenue.

 

Back in the 80s there wasn't even a baseball team in Florida. Yet we sent two writers to the World Series, sent a writer to Australia for the America's Cup, sent a writer to Moscow for the Goodwill Games (all this in addition to the usual French Open/Wimbledon/Olympics travels).

 

There aren't that many papers left which cover the pro franchises every game, home and away.

If your paper has made that commitment, I can see sending the beat writer to the championship series or Super Bowl. With, of course, the caveat that he's supposed to develop locally-oriented storylines (how will this affect the hometown franchise?), not just regurgitate the gang-bang press conference stuff.

 

That's not going to be easy to do with a Royals-Giants match-up. And the off-field stuff is really just rumors and early discussions. Seems like a major waste of money.

 

Not in 2014. For baseball writers, I can see wanting to attend the World Series for the networking, backslapping, drinking in KC/SF element. That's all good. Not sure this justifies the cost.

What always would chap my keister, in my TV sports days, was when we would have to watch the game on a small TV screen in some auxiliary location (a tent, at one NFL stadium) so that some columnist from Cleveland - in an NFC playoff game 700 miles from Cleveland - could write his precious little column.

 

When you've reached the point that it doesn't make sense to cover stuff, then how does it make sense to even publish any more?

 

That's what I'm wondering.

I'm not going to knock any newspaper for sending a writer to the Series. The local readers can only benefit.

But I'm sure there's some openings for bean-counters somewhere if anyone here wishes to apply.

 

Whether or not it's the most prudent use of limited resources is an open question, but yes, papers should cover the World Series. And by "papers" I'm assuming you mean the smaller Division I mid major papers such as the JS. AP would obviously be fine for the 60k midsize dailies that used to cover everything in the 1990s.

 

I'm too lazy to go back and try to find stories from that week, but for the life of me I can't think of what Pittsburgh, Kansas City, Detroit, etc., angles you'd live off for more than one day at a Super Bowl in New Jersey. Yeah, if your city is in line as a future site, that's one thing; otherwise, ??

 

Well, there are 106 players, so chances are greater there's a prominent player from your area. In baseball, there's half as many players and a grower number of those are not American.

 

Which big papers don't travel home and away for professional teams? I remember a few years ago reading that a couple papers weren't traveling with the local NHL teams anymore, or at least, weren't going to all of the games, but I don't know if that's changed. I want to say it was the LA Times and the Ducks, but I could be wrong.

I think you need to travel with the local teams. As Tony said, if you're not doing that, what's the point of getting the paper?

I think the question becomes the big events when a local team isn't involved and certain golf and tennis tournaments that are covered in part to reward columnists and beat writers.

The first World Series I covered I was told, "Oh we're sending the beat writers to cover it as a reward for covering the long baseball season." I stupidly asked, "Well, then why am I going?" and was told, "Oh they said it was too much work for just two people to cover."

There was a lot of that early in my career, me being sent to write sidebars and notebooks from events we really didn't need to be covering in the first place. Not that I'm complaining, I got to cover some great stuff as a result, but it was just stupid.