Times buys Tampa Trib

Going through the University of Florida J-School, we heard so many stories about the St. Petersburg Times in its heyday -- the current dean of the school was once the executive editor there -- and all the legendary writers that came from there -- Rick Bragg, Tom French, Roy Peter Clark and Lane DeGregory, just to name a few. For many of us, those stories are what propelled us through school and into this field. We wanted to be like them. Everyone wanted to work at the St. Petersburg Times. Well, it wasn't long after I graduated when the paper changed its name to the Tampa Bay Times. Same paper right? Obviously not. One of my friends I graduated with got a job at the Tampa Bay Times a few months ago. I'm happy for her. But I've slowly come to realize (and this event just affirms it) the paper we heard so much about in school no longer exists. Even worse, the golden age of journalism that Bragg and Co. had the privilege to get their starts in, no longer exists either. I don't think I'll ever understand why God gave me such a love for journalism just so I can watch it suffer a slow and painful death.

 

No shit. Think they might appreciate that he is respected? Nah.

 

Well said. All the writers you mentioned are outstanding. As you seem to have grasped in your post, it is more about the smugness and entitlement that has become ingrained. My father wrote for the Times starting in 1974, coming up with the likes of Van MacKenzie (who hired him), Hubert Mizell and much of the legendary crew that came in the ensuing years. I still have a plaque somewhere from after the Times was voted the best sports section in the nation in the early 80s. Subjective, I know, but that was a widely accepted fact. I went to work there in 2001, and it was a shell of what it was. And if you can look the Trib and Times sports sections from the past 10 years or so and say the Times was better on a daily basis, I'd tell you to have your head examined. Times is a great paper overall, and I am bitter now, no doubt, but the way this was handled says so much about the thinking at the Times. THEY WON. Congratulations.

 

I wasn't trying to be inhuman. It was a cool gesture by Cooper. I'm just thinking of how it might look to some redass SE somewhere -- not defending that stance.

 

No worries. Just a lot of cynical shit on the site these days. Was a very cool gesture.

 

I understand the bitterness -- I've been laid off and forced to bounce back -- but let's not kid ourselves about the Times.
The Times just won 2 Pulitzers for exposing massively important problems on different fronts. They might win another next year for their "Farm to Fable" series that has turned the food world upside down. They own political coverage in the state.

I won't argue there is a large gap between their investigative stuff and their sports product, but their daily sports product still is quite good. I'm talking daily. They break more news. They have stronger headlines, smart cutlines, better deadlines, better stories, better presentation. Not saying the Trib isn't good. It's just not as good.

Today, for example, on an ordinary Thursday the Times pieced together the Rays' 4 homer night with "CONNECT 4" and photos of each homer, connected by a continuing deck head. On deadline ... that's better than good, gentlemen. And that's fairly typical. Obviously they go into the night with a plan, but they routinely adjust to the moment.

Their daily product is better than their Sunday product and certainly their special sections, both of which require creative and nuanced ideas that for some reason rarely carry over from daily. The Times also tends to repeat formats, which makes them less special every year.

So I disagree on daily, but the Trib produced better special sections over the past 5 years, maybe longer. They absolutely crushed the Warren Sapp HOF section, compared to the Times essentially listing 99 facts about the guy. That was probably the biggest recent beatdown I've seen between the two. That was a great special section.

 

Not interested in an argument here, and I agree the Times is one of the better papers in country. The investigative stuff the past 5 years or so has been mind-blowing. Sports-wise, I will never be convinced the Trib hasn't been better overall. And my analysis of the Times is totally the opposite. To me, the only day it's really worth reading the Times is Sunday. The daily sports pages other than the cover are a grey blob.

 

It's all subjective, but it's hardly just my opinion.
Last time APSE voters awarded the Times any Sunday hardware was 2010. And APSE went 20 deep several of those years.

 

Fair point. I was referring more to the paper overall in regard to Sundays. I've enjoyed Jones' media breakdown after big sports weekends in Monday's sections. Otherwise in sports? Meh.

 

I think they have to do the notice so that the local government and officials can know in advance, so they can have an option of organizing some sort of job training, if they wish.

 

Not the Times. The dean led the Sarasota paper and, before that, the Gainesville paper.

 

Hey, it sounded good at the time!