Big news in Michigan

You're right, J.D. If you're writing most of a gamer five days early, how is that truly giving the reader something newsworthy on Saturday? And believe me, I understand the deadline issues. Deal with them every week. But that doesn't mean we can't do better. We should be aiming higher than that.

Just shows that this industry continues moving in the wrong direction when it comes to providing our readers information. We're selling them short. They're getting less hard news. In essence, we're telling them what they want. We're straying from what we're best at, which is reporting.

Blogs, video and podcasts are important supplements to our overall product, but too many newspaper publishers and CEOs are telling us to report less and do more with much, much less. And I don't see it ever changing.

 

I read somewhere on another board that the Michigan Booth Newspapers were planning on going all online. The site that the newspapers currently share - MLIVE is a major player.

It wasn't from a credible source, so I hate to bring it up but I wonder if this is the first step.

Damn.

 

If that were true, they wouldn't need to move the copy editors and page designers to Grand Rapids. Even under the job pledge, they're allowed to lay people off if the stop publishing a daily paper.

So if they were going online only, they'd lay these people off.

Cold, but true.

 

Are you insinuating that people in AA love Obama while people in Grand Rapids have shrines to McCain?

 

I'm not saying I agree with the decision, but we live and work in a virtual world. Obviously, you need reporters locally, but reporters can send stories electronically to anywhere in the world. Why should a newspaper chain invest in multiple desks when they can centralize that operation?

In a centralized desk, you do run the risk of having editors without community knowledge. But that knowledge can be learned over time.

My biggest beef with it is if it impacts deadlines. If the deadlines are unrealistic or don't allow for reasonable news gathering (i.e., getting prep gamer quotes at halftime), then it's not worth it.

 

That's a good thing. At least GR is a nice area, but it's not like the News was in the hood or anything in the first place. Real shitty.

 

Not a fan of this style, Jay. It means you're going into the game with a predisposition, and if something completely unexpected happens, it makes it harder mentally to adjust -- or you get a gamer with a bunch of B material that really has nothing to do with what happened.

 

if you like far right leaning, bunker mentality "GR-against-the-world" Stepford thinking, i suppose

 

An interesting update on Carty's blog ... the Jackson Citizen-Patriot appears to have censored a blog post from one of its staffers describing the looming changes.

http://papertigernomore.blogspot.com/2008/11/wow-cit-pat-censors-its-own-blogger.html

 

They do have the best football teams in the state over there. And ScAmyway.

 

Writing in advance doesn't always work, I admit, but "reporting" in a high school game?
Come on.

You know what reporting means to me? Going through 400 pages of campaign finance reports, hoping to find one nugget. When you find it, you start making calls, when then doesn't work you get in your car and go looking. Then you go by the hall of records and get more information. Then you call some more people. Then you hit the street again, burning up some shoe leather.
Or in my case, shoe rubber.
Game coverage, in my opinion, is not the same as reporting. A beast of a different color.
That isn't to trash the efforts of those covering games, but it isn't the same.

 

"Hey Jimmy. I know it's Tuesday. But pretend you scored two touchdowns and ran for 90 yards and The Dickweeds won by 13... Can you tell me how you feel, in case I dont have time to ask later?"


And if you're writing ANY play-by-play from a high school gamer, you aren't doing your job... no one gives a fuck about PXP. A play or a series, maybe. But for the game? No.