Brutally honest interview with Flyers writer who left the Inquirer

Wow. Tim Panaccio recently left the Philadelphia Inquirer for one of Comcast's Web sites and in this interview he just doesn't hold back. At all.

http://www.the700level.com/2008/11/our-interview-w.html

This was also linked on the APSE site.

Some snippets:

Q: After so many years of covering the Flyers for Philadelphia's largest-circulation newspaper, why did you leave the Inquirer during the off-season?

A: Jim Cohen took over the Inky sports department in January. He is not a hockey guy. He moved me to the Eagles beat on May 22. He said that hockey was "irrelevant" and the Eagles far outweighed other beats. Cohen didn't understand nor appreciate that my "passion" was hockey and not the stinkin' Eagles. They ended up moving Ray Parrillo, another displaced hockey guy, back onto the Eagles to back up Bob Brookover. On May 22, I began looking for another job...

Q: Working for CSN Philly, your offering is now entirely web-based. As a long-time newspaper veteran, was there any hesitation to leave the medium?

A: It was the easiest decision I ever made. Why? Newspapers are dying. The web is the future, and smart newspapers look at the web as an ally and not an adversary. The Inky/Daily News still haven't figured that part out yet, which is going to hurt them long into the future...

Q: Are there any differences between your current approach to covering the Flyers versus when you handled the beat for the Inquirer?

A: None. Everything I did for the Inquirer, I now do for Comcast, except it appears on the web. I can write longer. I can write additional stories without worry about an Inky editor telling me there's no room for a sidebar because we have 7 Eagles stories tomorrow. There are NO deadlines. I can hang around longer after games to get the player or two I would normally miss if I were still on the Inquirer's insane deadlines...

And the reader comments are just as volatile. Among them:

* How is it possible for Jim Cohen, head of the PHILADELPHIA Inquirer sports department, to say that hockey is "irrelevant" in this town? It's amazing they would hire someone who is so clueless. This is the same sport/team where the fans consistently sold out the building in the midst of having the worst season in franchise history. Philadelphia hockey fans are fortunate to have someone like Tim Panaccio, who possesses an honest passion for the sport, giving us our Flyers coverage.

* Hate to break it to you, Tim, but the audience for philly.com -- which you so nonchalantly claim is dying -- DWARFS your new site. There's really no comparison. I don't see too many paying ads on CSNPhilly.com, either. Not a good sign. See, you need ads to pay bills. And didn't Comcast just shutter their DC and Boston sports outlets? Yep, they sure did. I wouldn't get too comfortable -- we'll see if you still have this job in a year. You old farts trying to kick the business on the way out make me sick.

 

Jesus. That second comment just goes so far as to show the level of arrogance some people display.

As for Jim, right about now I'd argue Philadelphia is a baseball town, especially a PHILLIES town. Eagles will have their following, but... uh, what team helped you sell all those papers again?

 

I agree with the Flyers writer who says the NFL is the most controlled and orchestrated. Aaaaaaamen!

 

Panaccio isn't one to bite his tongue.
Nice to see an honest and passionate assessment and defence of what he does/ did