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Bad preps correction

Discussion in 'Journalism topics only' started by Perry White, Aug 28, 2006.

  1. MU_was_not_so_hard

    MU_was_not_so_hard Active Member

    At least he got back to you.
     
  2. HandsomeHarley

    HandsomeHarley Well-Known Member

    This happened to me at my last gig (no, I didn't die in a car crash).

    I was brand new and doing the football preview section. We run a photo of two kids, one a junior, and we say something like "Entering his senior year, so-and-so is expected to blah, blah, blah"

    I find out later that the kid died in a car crash.

    I made it a point to contact the mother and give her a heads up. She started wailing on the phone, making me want to wail. I felt so bad.

    Never, ever assume.
     
  3. TwoGloves

    TwoGloves Well-Known Member

    Confirming that at least he wasn't dead.
     
  4. Perry White

    Perry White Active Member

    Here's another one
    http://www.dispatch.com/news-story.php?story=dispatch/2006/12/02/20061202-A4-06.html

    via http://www.regrettheerror.com/2006/12/extra_pain_and_.html
     
  5. DrRosenpenis

    DrRosenpenis Member

    Yo, bartender. Jobu needs a refill!
     
  6. Football_Bat

    Football_Bat Well-Known Member

    Folks, I'm sorry, but there is a reason why you scan obits.

    If you have a stud senior athlete in your area who kicked it, and you miss it, you deserve to turn in your sports journalism card. Thanks for coming. Here's the consolation prize: Wedding annivesaries.
     
  7. Pilot

    Pilot Well-Known Member

    You got a card? Damn it. All I got was a sports journalist thong.
     
  8. EStreetJoe

    EStreetJoe Well-Known Member

    Maybe my paper does it differently than other papers.
    When a high school athlete in my coverage area dies in a car crash, the news reporter handling it will come over to sports asking if the beat writer is there and if he/she knew the kid, and ask for the coach's and AD's number to get comments on the kid.
    If other papers do it this way, there's no excuse for listing a kid as a returning player in a preview if he's dead. You should already know that. If you were off the night he died, someone else should have mentioned it to you or you should have at least noticed the story in the paper.
    Even if the headline read "Four teens die in crash" skim the story to see if one of your players was involved.
    So I agree with Football Bat. You should know if a star athlete in your area has kicked it. In your coverage area how often do teens die in car crashes (or other accidents)? I'm guessing not too often. If one of your athletes dies, make a note of it, so you won't forget come preview time.
     
  9. Perry White

    Perry White Active Member

    Another one... http://www.regrettheerror.com/2007/04/additional_pain_1.html

    Due to a reporting error in Wednesday's editions, the Boston Herald listed Peabody High School's Courtney Corning as one of its players to watch in Division 1 softball this season. Corning, a Greater Boston League all-star in softball, died Jan. 5 from injuries sustained in a car accident. She is being memorialized this season by both the Peabody High softball and baseball teams, which have dedicated their seasons to her memory. The Herald regrets the error.
     
  10. Big Buckin' agate_monkey

    Big Buckin' agate_monkey Active Member

    Wouldn't leave that rum sitting around with this group.
     
  11. BillyT

    BillyT Active Member

    OK, glad I read all the way through the thread or I would have DPed on Perry's post.

    I had meant to post it the other day.

    I read the correction at lunch. I teach in the school Courtney attended.

    In reference to what EStreetJoe said: I completely agree with you, but in this case, it was the big-city paper 20 miles away. The Herald probably never reported or death, or if it did, it was a small story that probably didn't get to sports. (She wasn't a star, just a solid varsity player who was going to be a captain).

    It just seems to me that you don't write a preview without running names past a coach or AD.
     
  12. MonitorLizard

    MonitorLizard Member

    Maybe someone should do a story on the number of prep athletes killed in car accidents. This thread gets more alarming with each post.
     
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