DMN update

Like him or not, Blackistone was the moral conscience of the DMN columnists, and if his topics made readers uncomfortable, then he was probably doing his job. There's no doubt talking about race still makes people uncomfortable.

 

Yep, Blackistone went through a lot to become a sports columnist. He was a business writer who demanded a bonus of close to $100,000 plus a raise nearly double salary so he could have a desk in sports, sit there scrolling the wire and find subjects to write about. Heaven forbid he would go to the stadium or field or arena and actually talk to someone face to face. No, he would call the beat guys and ask them to run quotes because he couldn't get out there to talk to anyone on his own. Yep, he was the conscience of the DMN columnists, which is not praise of him but rather an indictment of what Yates has allowed the DMN to become.

 

yeah...I think Stand would agree, Blackistone as the moral conscience of DMN columnists he was not. Poke is correct about how Yates has allowed the section to deteriorate.

Blackistone was always good to me as a clerk, but he "big-timed" me (as did Cowlishaw) at a Mavs game one night in the last couple of years. I really couldn't care less, but I think it was indicative of the type of person and writer he had become and that was a sad story. Cowlishaw was always that way. When your shitty to people you perceive as the little guy, you better be willing to pay the consequences. As a side note, NBA beat guy David Moore was around for both of the "big-time" episodes and noted the silliness with me.

I just hate all this for people like Joe "Cheeks" Jansen.

 

Hey, that reminds me. Someone on one of the earlier threads on this subject said David Moore was going to be shown the door. He seems like a real good guy from my dealings with him, and I was wondering if anyone knew what was up with him. Is he in or out, and if he's out, where might he go?

 

Since much of the commentary on some of the DMN columnists has gone negative, here's a contrarian view.

I open the DMN sports page on the Internet about 4 or 5 times a week. I don't see the paper physically because I live about 2000 miles from Dallas and don't take the paper delivered to my driveway. Whenever I see a new column by Kevin Blackistone, Tim Cowlishaw or Gerry Fraley, I open it and read it. Far more often than not, I find them worth reading i.e. entertaining and informative.

If the statements here on SportsJournalists.com are correct and DMN were to lose all three of these guys, their sports section would be seriously diminished in terms of quality.

 

I have to concur. Like them or not, three of their four columnists jumping ship has to hurt the DMN's product. Kevin Sherrington is the lone holdover.

 

i agree on some of the blackistone fronts but he was always the guy i read first. and isn't that what columnists are on board to do? i've said before that he wasn't the same writer he was 5-10 years ago, but he's the best the dmn had and that obviously says something about the section these days. in my opinion sherrington is a better storyteller than columnist, so i think they will be hurting when it comes to rants and raves. this place sounds really f---ed up now and that's sad considering it was reading this section, along with my SIs, growing up that made me want to become a journalist.

 

I think Mr. Rhoden sets a standard nobody else -- Kevin, Terry Moore, anybody -- could approach on this front.

I have found Kevin to be an interesting guy, a good guy, and a good read. And yes, I also like the fact that he never big timed me, either.

I knew Kevin Sherrington back in the day, when he was in Houston. Also a good guy. He also has a point of view, and makes it effectively. I like reading his column.

After that, well, Randy Galloway's still the man in those parts. Karma's a bitch, DMN.