Darin Gantt leaving NFL beat?

Darin has always been a good guy and a solid reporter on the Panthers' beat. I will miss his work. This is another example of how newspapers kill themselves. They take a shovel, beat themselves over the head with it until they are senseless, and then bury the people who excel at their craft.

 

Every person who tuned into Panthers coverage will miss Darin. It's not that Joe won't do an outstanding job - he's already turned in some stellar work - but replacing that kind of experience isn't going to happen.

I wasn't implying that ignorance was a new factor in McClatchy decisions, for those who were wondering.

Darin, good luck at Winthrop - if you end up really wanting to stay in the Rock Hill area.

 

I like Joe just fine, but this is an incredibly dumb idea. Darin's experience is an important asset but it's also true that his style, his manner, fits the market perfectly. As usual in our business, rather than find a way to make money out of an asset (an ad sponsor for his blog, whatever), the decision-makers think the way to go is to eliminate the asset. Yeah, that's the sure way to profit.

 

This being an idiotic decision has not thing to do with Joe, who is an excellent reporter.
Most papers in NFL cities have at least two veteran reporters on the beat and then usually someone who might split time between the NFL and another smaller beat.

I know of a few where they have four veterans on the beat.

 

I'm sure he will get back on his feet and do well. I imagine the Winthrop fans are about thrilled to have a guy his caliber there.

 

Hmmm ... this update from the live Panthers draft chat moderated by the Charlotte Observer:

http://www.charlotteobserver.com/sportstalk/

Observer SE Mike Persinger said that the Rock Hill Herald recalled him, that basically he was on loan and was pulled back in when Rock Hill couldn't fill a reporter position. Persinger, Joe Person and columnist Tom Sorensen posted, to a man, that nobody was happy about the situation.

Given McClatchy's recent decision-making, that's believable. Still stinks for Darin, the other Observer staffers on the Panthers beat as well as the readers of the Observer, but there it is.

 

Yup. That's how our business is today. Forest, meet trees. I would certainly argue that McClatchy's overall product, and thus its revenue situation, would have been better off in the logn run letting Rock Hill hire some eager young dude to cover Winthrop.

 

Not that Darin isn't eager. Or young. Certainly younger than me. You know what I mean.

 

I agree. Covering a beat like Winthrop is the type of thing that truly is below the threshold of a reporter like Gantt, and he couldn't be blamed if he was less than thrilled about it.

Having said that, I know many reporters taken off a big beat and moved to a smaller one or even a copy desk for one reason or another that had less to do with them and more to do with staffing issues. The ones who got back on the big beats were the ones who worked their asses off on the small beats or the desk.

 

That's not even half the story and they know it.

 

It may not be. But for professional reasons, we're not likely to get anything more. At least Mike Persinger and Tom Sorensen said what they did ... and that's more than we get from a lot of mysterious changes these days.

 

The demotion has nothing to do with Darin. It has to do with papers cutting back on coverage and sharing coverage.