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Dear dimwit on the phone

Discussion in 'Journalism topics only' started by Starman, Jan 21, 2010.

  1. Spartan Squad

    Spartan Squad Well-Known Member

    Why do people who know of an event for months wait until the day before to notify me of it? Yes I would love to arrange for my photog to shoot your event, but I need to know to arrange the photog. So because you waited until the last minute, I was busy when your email came in and well, little Suzy isn't getting into the paper.
     
  2. Mark2010

    Mark2010 Active Member

    As an SID, I attempted to always write in a manner suitable for publication.

    As a newspaper editor, I always felt free to use releases (game stories or otherwise) in whatever manner was needed. Often I would rewrite a lead, or edit for length or content. I never once got any objection from an SID.

    Now, I understand that I'm old school, having worked for many years before the age of the internet and everyone having their own websites came along. But my understanding all along was that the purpose of the SID sending this information was to get it into print. I never even whined when the radio station used my newspaper copy verbatim. I laughed and if the publisher wanted to make an issue of it, I left it up to them. But I never voiced an objection.
     
  3. Mark2010

    Mark2010 Active Member

    Batman,

    I knew some folks who used to work at LSU and Mississippi State and they were exceptionally good. A really top-flight SID will include a couple of quotes in the stories and not come across as a real homer, even when their team loses. I bet they were very good to work with.
     
  4. Mark2010

    Mark2010 Active Member

    Batman,

    Your story about the paper sale is why counting bylines totally sucks as a way to measure productivity. I am very reserved about putting my byline on rewrites and stuff. But I told one person once "Come sit next to me for an eight-hour shift and you will be amazed at how much I do..... that never gets a byline. Taking phone calls, writing up summaries, rewrites of press releases, typing in all sorts of agate that I don't get via the wire, answering emails, tracking down schedules and other assorted stuff, laying out pages, making photo assignments so stuff doesn't slip through the cracks, etc." There's a lot more to putting out a good section than just a byline count.
     
  5. HanSenSE

    HanSenSE Well-Known Member

    Don't feel special. That's universal!

    Thinking about something that happened last spring. Team mom from Podunk Middle School's baseball team calls 15 minutes before the first pitch, because it's Jackie Robinson Day and all the kids are gonna wear 42, and can we be there? Uh, no, for a million reasons, but mostly because he's scheduled already.

    But, I think, you had to order the uniforms a few weeks in advance, right? They probably arrived at the school a few days before the game, right? Did anyone think then that maybe, just maybe, the Podunk Shopping News might like to know then? Yes, we'd be at "breaking news" like a major wreck or a fire. But this is a middle school baseball game.

    Naturally, I asked if someone could send some photos in. Of course, she said. Glad I didn't hold my breath waiting, some 13 months later ...
     
  6. Kolchak

    Kolchak Active Member

    Something like that might actually get rid of a few of our dead weight reporters. You would not believe how much overtime they get for how little work they actually produce (most of our reporters are really good, but there are some that know how to game the system). Meanwhile there are copy editors with more bylines than these reporters, which is in addition to working full time on the desk!

    The ones that work the hardest in our sports department are the ones that get treated the worst by the higher-ups.
     
  7. WolvEagle

    WolvEagle Well-Known Member

    I was fortunate in that the higher-ups saw all I was doing behind the scenes, so I didn't have to worry about bylines. As far as photos from the school, we never had to use them, but if we did, I would have been OK with it as long as we credit the school. I'm sure the schools would have been OK with it, too - more pub for them.
     
  8. Mark2010

    Mark2010 Active Member

    Never had a problem with that, either as an SID or editor. This was very helpful when doing a feature on a local guy playing at a distant college. I would use the name of the photog on the credit line.
     
  9. MNgremlin

    MNgremlin Active Member

    After sending out an email to area coaches telling them to send/call their stats in ASAP after games to get in paper because our deadline was pushed up to 11 pm, we still have coaches who call in 5 minutes before deadline. Thanks!
     
  10. DeskMonkey1

    DeskMonkey1 Active Member

    My favorite are the coaches who call in five minutes before deadline to call in a game from the previous day. I take glee in telling them their game isn't getting it the paper nor will I put it online. I might tweet it, though.
     
  11. spikechiquet

    spikechiquet Well-Known Member

    Hell, I have REPORTERS that pull that shit.
     
  12. Mark2010

    Mark2010 Active Member

    Depends what time the games ended. Sometimes these things can drag on and on. Now, if it's a game played before sundown and the coach calls at deadline, then politely read him the riot act.

    We've had the issue of start times come up in different places where I worked. Some schools would move start times up for night events (usually 7 instead of 7:30) after we explained our situation to them in private. Others felt it wasn't worth the while to accommodate us. OK, fine, then don't expect us to go out of our way to accommodate your team, either.
     
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