C'mon AJC

Interestingly, the Palm Beach Post sent Greg Stoda to the Masters even though its sister paper, the AJC, has a staff to cover the nearby tournament.
Also, the Palm Beach Post held to get the NCAA championship game in all editions.
The Post also has a few graphic artists.

 

Doug,

I don't know you, but I want to assure you I meant no offence. It was something of a snide remark based on another thread that discussed shrinking newsholes at the AJC and elsewhere.

As a former copy desk guy myself, I have immense respect for the job desk editors do in this day of constantly shrinking space. Yes, I've walked in the office many days, looked at the page dummies and wondered 'how on earth am I going to fit everything in?'

I wish you and your colleagues at the AJC nothing but the best.

 

I had an experience quite similar to accguy's last week. Flying home from DFW, I picked up the AJC eager to read about the Braves' opener. I bought the paper, made my connection, settled in, opened the sports section, and found -- virtually nothing. Now I understand it was a night game and that the Braves haven't made the playoffs in three years, but the opening game of the region's most popular pro sports team used to be a big deal. Plus, it was a quick game, like 2 1/2 hours.

Even so -- a photo from the first inning and about a 500-word filler was it. No gamer. No early notes. It all looked like a complete afterthought. The entire sports section was so thin, I had finished it before we rolled back.

I know the AJC has good stuff online -- David O'Brien's blog is tremendous -- but this was the first time in a long time I had picked up the print edition of the AJC, and it was something of a shock. We're talking about a sports section that was once so good, I bought the paper mail delivery so I could devour it all a day late. This isn't a rant against their people, and I understand this is all much bigger than a single Braves game. But I'll probably never buy the print product of AJC again, and that's a heartbreaking admission from someone who used to love it.

 

Every paper has taken a significant hit over the last couple years. If there is a single paper that's better now than it was five years ago, I'd be stunned.

But the AJC, which I once would have considered among the top five sports sections in the country now doesn't cover events like The Final Four and The Super Bowl and it's clear it's had a bigger drop than any paper in the country.

 

What is it going to take for some of you people to understand that the AJC could not staff the Super Bowl? If I want a 12-pack and I only have $3 in my pocket, guess what? I'm shit out of luck. The paper is in hospice -- like many or all are going to be.

 

You're right about the money, but still, no coverage of a Super Bowl or a Final Four for a paper like that DOES show just how bad things are at the AJC.

 

This paper was wearing hip waders in 2005 the shit was so deep.

 

Some years back I was up for an upper-middle gig here -- sides didn't mesh, as it turned out -- but I'm also stunned how steep the fall has been for a product in an area that still attracts lots of newcomers and remains a core city of the emerging South.

 

Because of the storms, that game wasn't over until the carriers already had the headlines in hand.