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Darin Gantt leaving NFL beat?

Discussion in 'Journalism topics only' started by KaraokeC, Apr 12, 2011.

  1. KaraokeC

    KaraokeC Member

    from the Rock Hill Herald (and Charlotte Observer)'s longtime Panthers reporter via Twitter this morning:

    "Got some news I really never wanted to deliver. As of today, I'm no longer covering the Panthers for the Rock Hill Herald."

    his next Tweet...

    "I've been re-assigned to the Winthrop University beat. Publisher Debbie Abels and editor Paul Osmundson were good to let me stay on."


    Anyone know what this is about? Gantt's been doing great work for the Herald since the Panthers were founded (and recently the Observer, as they became sister papers in '06). I could understand the Herald dropping its Panthers coverage, but only if it were going to share work from the Observer...Until now, it's been the other way around, as Gantt has been responsible for about 80 percent of what's been in the Observer about the Panthers for the past couple years.
     
  2. Mizzougrad96

    Mizzougrad96 Active Member

    He's a great reporter. I'm guessing they're dropping coverage and the Winthrop beat was what stood between him and unemployment.
     
  3. FreddiePatek

    FreddiePatek Active Member

    The Observer hired Joe Person to cover the Panthers this past summer. I would assume he's the guy providing the coverage for both papers now
     
  4. Mizzougrad96

    Mizzougrad96 Active Member

    Hopefully Darin is hired away before NFL season begins.
     
  5. KaraokeC

    KaraokeC Member

    If so, he's going to have to take on a much greater role than he's had so far in order to match Gantt's output. Not saying he can't, it just seems like they're fixing something that ain't broke simply because Gantt's checks say "Herald" on them instead of "Observer". Although I would suspect that both reporters' checks say "McClatchy" on them, so what does it matter whether it's the Herald (33K) or the Observer (200K) figuring NFL beat expenses into its budget? The vast majority of his work ended up in the Observer.
     
  6. Mizzougrad96

    Mizzougrad96 Active Member

    It shouldn't matter, but it does.
     
  7. KaraokeC

    KaraokeC Member

    that's a shame. 18 years of institutional knowledge of the Panthers being put to work on the Winthrop University beat.
     
  8. silvercharm

    silvercharm Member

    Institutional knowledge matters to a newspaper? hahahahahaha.
     
  9. GBNF

    GBNF Well-Known Member

    This sucks. I've only known him via Twitter, but he's smart, witty and very funny. Seems like a great guy. This business makes me sad.
     
  10. Sam Mills 51

    Sam Mills 51 Well-Known Member

    ^

    Yup. My guess, like Mizzou's, is that it was either the Winthrop beat or unemployment.

    Joe Person did tremendous work covering the Chickens in Columbia, but why try and make him pull the wagon alone during the season? Obviously, the beancounters have gotten to this beat given that they had three writers on this beat in addition to Scott Fowler and Tom Sorensen on columns just a couple of years ago. Now this? And tossing all that knowledge in the trash in the process?

    Bad enough that McClatchy is going cheap. Going dumb isn't much help, either.
     
  11. LongTimeListener

    LongTimeListener Well-Known Member

    Before they hired the guy this summer, was Gantt covering the Panthers for the Observer -- as in, the Charlotte newspaper had no beat writer for the Charlotte NFL team?
     
  12. Versatile

    Versatile Active Member

    With all that said, North Carolina is a college-driven market. It's more important they cover the Research Triangle well than the Panthers. That's just the reality of things.
     
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