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Check out Cleveland.com! Is this what being sports journalist has come to?

Discussion in 'Journalism topics only' started by sporty, Apr 15, 2019.

  1. sporty

    sporty Member

    What are your thoughts? Seems crazy and a tad desperate to me.

    Want a closer relationship with our writers? Sign up for their personal text messages as we expand Project Text: Chris Quinn

    Want a closer relationship with our writers? Sign up for their personal text messages as we expand Project Text: Chris Quinn
    Updated 12:50 PM; Today 12:00 PM

    By Chris Quinn, Editor and President, cleveland.com/Advance Ohio

    We launched a product a few weeks ago in which people pay a few bucks a month to get a text message or two each day from some of our expert sports writers, and we had no idea what to expect.

    I’m happy to see that hundreds of you have found value in the personal thoughts of Browns reporter Mary Kay Cabot, Ohio State expert Doug Lesmerises, Cavs beat writer Chris Fedor and Paul Hoynes, dean of the Indians writers.

    Because of that success, we’re expanding Project Text beyond sports, so you can get to know even better some of the other reporters you’ve been reading for years.

    We’re not talking Tweets here. And this is not news reporting. What you get, for $3.99 a month, is a message or two a day from people you care about, with their thoughts about the news they report, the inside story of how they do their jobs and whatever is on their minds. And unlike with social media, where logarithms allow you to see maybe 10 percent of what our writers produce, these text messages go straight to your phone. You never miss them.

    What kind of messages am I talking about? Consider this one from Mary Kay a week or so back:

    I arrived home from the NFL Annual meeting yesterday and have some thoughts on Freddie Kitchens and OBJ. I believe Kitchens got on the phone with Odell and got him pumped to come to Cleveland. I know he shared with him that he knows what it's like to have your life turned upside down and to have to leave your longtime home. I think Kitchens really got through to OBJ and helped him get his trade frown turned upside down. I'm sure he assured him he'll have input in this offense, and that his production will be off the charts. Above all else, he sold him on the idea of winning a Super Bowl, and OBJ wants that more than anything.

    That’s good stuff we’re selling, and if you buy it, you not only get a special kind of access to our writers, you support their work in a way that can help sustain it. If you find value in the work we do, this is a way to help us keep doing it.

    The complete lineup can be found here, or you can click on the individual links. This is how we are expanding it:

    Rock Hall Insider, with Troy Smith. Since joining cleveland.com more than five years ago, Troy Smith has established himself as the region’s leading voice on pop culture. His expertise on music is unmatched, and he spends a lot of time wandering around the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. Look for messages from Troy about the meaning that some of the artifacts hold for him, opinions on bands that belong in the hall or don’t and exclusive info on what’s ahead at Cleveland’s vibrant music shrine.

    Cleveland City Hall, with Bob Higgs. This region consists of many dozens of municipalities, but everyone is interested in what goes on inside Cleveland City Hall, partly because so many of us pay a lot of taxes to Cleveland without representation. Bob is a veteran reporter who has been covering City Hall for a couple of years. People like Bob, and they like talking to Bob. Through his text messages to you, he’ll give you a front-row seat as he navigates the sometimes logic-defying decisions that happen at City Hall, to help you understand them.
     
  2. Fran Curci

    Fran Curci Well-Known Member

    This doesn't sound like a bad idea. From the writer's perspective -- and workload --- isn't it very similar to twitter?
     
  3. Sports Barf

    Sports Barf Well-Known Member

    Do they ever text “u up?” to readers
     
  4. Regan MacNeil

    Regan MacNeil Well-Known Member

    Paul Hoynes is going to accidentally text the eggplant emoji and I am extremely here for it.
     
    Danwriter likes this.
  5. TexasVet

    TexasVet Active Member

  6. wicked

    wicked Well-Known Member

    This is my view.

    I’m assuming the writers are using some sort of program (perhaps Google Voice?) so they can send out “texts” with a masked number.

    Are the readers able to interact with the reporters? With each other?
     
  7. MeanGreenATO

    MeanGreenATO Well-Known Member

    I love that a new idea aimed at saving subscriptions is immediately labeled crazy and desperate.

    It's essentially the same as someone who has notifications on for someone's Tweets. But this gives off the vibe of exclusivity for something writers were doing for free anyways.
     
    Last edited: Apr 16, 2019
    PaperClip529 likes this.
  8. tapintoamerica

    tapintoamerica Well-Known Member

    Are the reporters compelled to respond and get in exchanges with the text subscribers? Sounds like it could get creepy for female reporters. I presume, as others have suggested, that this isn't the actual cell phone numbers of the journalists involved.
     
  9. HanSenSE

    HanSenSE Well-Known Member

    I could text for the Plain Dealer?
     
    Fred siegle and Batman like this.
  10. Songbird

    Songbird Well-Known Member

    Sounds like something Leslie Knope came up with.
     
  11. playthrough

    playthrough Moderator Staff Member

    Right. And if they're really selling hundreds of these at $3.99 per month, well, someone's finally got some business sense.
     
    FileNotFound likes this.
  12. Junkie

    Junkie Well-Known Member

    My guess is, they aren't. If anyone is paying actual money to get a text from Chris Fedor, the term "disposable income" has taken on a whole new meaning.
     
    cake in the rain likes this.
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