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And now, the latest rush-to-get-the-story-up snafu

Discussion in 'Journalism topics only' started by Andy _ Kent, Jun 23, 2009.

  1. SF_Express

    SF_Express Active Member

    I agree on No. 1, and on No. 2, I think that even in the best of times, getting all those moving parts together to to A) have the beat reporter be sure he saw Vontae Davis during the OTAs and B) having the desk absolutely checking a routine traffic/arrest story with the beat reporter to say, "Hey, we have a Vontae Davis arrest in Illinois today. Didn't you see him at the Dolphins facility today?" would have been problematic at best.

    Considering all the experience the Sun-Sentinel has let go in the past couple of months, from that and simply a manpower standpoint, I don't know that this is as much of a given as you'd hope.
     
  2. Fredrick

    Fredrick Well-Known Member

    I tell you one thing, this rush to get stuff on the Internet is very dangerous.
    Most information centers I know of have taught their beat people how to post stories on the Internet. In this day and age, think how sloppy and scary that really is.
    Some beat person has the ability to get on the Website and put anything up there.
    With a lot of "internet editors" young and stupid, this has implications for some newspaper.
    I mean in the normal news cycle days, somebody writes a story and it gets in the newspaper after being edited. I'm telling you on "breaking news" some places are very lax and let their beat people go crazy posting whatever they damn want in the fury to be first.
    Experience is not the norm anymore; it's scary to think one push of the Internet button can put some incorrect or potentially libelous story out there for everyone to see.
    SLOW DOWN PEOPLE. GET IT RIGHT.

    -- This also has implications for the disgruntled employee. Could get on there and cause a commotion. Scary.
     
  3. SF_Express

    SF_Express Active Member

    A) Depends on the trust level you have with the people who are doing the posting and B) disgruntled employees have had the ability to screw up the product for years and years now, if so inclined and motivated. Sitting here today, though, if I had a former employee, he'd lack the ability to log in to do anything at just about the moment he left.
     
  4. Andy _ Kent

    Andy _ Kent Member

    Just an FYI on the OTAs. They were closed to the media on the day in question so there would have been no beat writers to get a visual.
     
  5. Appgrad05

    Appgrad05 Active Member

    So you're admitting the entire premise of the thread is wrong?
     
  6. zebracoy

    zebracoy Guest

    Let's just make it clear that there are a lot of old and stupid people out there, too.
     
  7. Fredrick

    Fredrick Well-Known Member

    Very true.
    My bad on that one.
     
  8. Andy _ Kent

    Andy _ Kent Member

    No. Why would you jump to that conclusion? It was the Daily Illini that started the whole snowball rolling by rushing to get the story. And the OTA schedules could easily be found on the Web and had scrolled along the NFL Network ticker regularly, so a cross-reference of the date of arrest to the date of the OTA would have raised a red flag to either outlet. I posted that FYI in repsponse to the suggestion that the beat writer be sure he saw Davis at the OTA. The premise of the thread is still very much valid.
     
  9. Ace

    Ace Well-Known Member

    I think the SLOW DOWN AND GET IT RIGHT bus has left the building.

    I think most media outlets are pretty careful to get things right if they are the ones doing the initial reporting, but if it's posted somewhere on a semi-legitimate outlet, it's a feeding frenzy.
     
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