Fans who get press passes

The hardest part of the job is convincing other people it is a job.

 

Friends sometimes go with my wife and kids to the college basketball games I cover, and I usually go talk to them at halftime. The friend usually asks what I do during the game, so I explain it a little. Then after the game, when I'm through filing, I'll send the friend a couple of emails. The first one will be my first story, 300 or so words, and I'll explain that this is the story I sent in about 10 minutes after the game was over. Then I'll email the friend my longer story, with quotes and everything, and tell them this I what I sent in about 45 minutes later.

They always seem to "get it" after they actually see what I do and read how it gets done.

 

One of the toughest parts of getting a job out of the business is trying to explain to the people doing the hiring what you do and what your skills are. They also think you get to "go to games."

 

Thank God professional news organizations never sit on a story (for fear of losing access!!).

 

All the other reporters who heard this were probably just fanbois:

Ms. Frey was hired by The Post in 1995 from the New York Times. At both newspapers, she distinguished herself as a sportswriter in an era when women remained unwelcome in many lockerrooms.

At the Times, she covered teams including the New York Mets, whose manager at the time, Dallas Green, once joked to reporters that he beat his wife and kicked the dog to vent his anger about a disappointing season.

“I found out the next day I was the only one who reported that,” Ms. Frey later told Salon magazine. “And that’s a direct reflection of the fact I was the only female in that room. . . . He was joking, everyone knew that, but I was the only one who thought it was inappropriate to make a joke about wife-beating.”

Jennifer Frey, former writer for The Post’s Sports and Style pages, dies at 47

 

It sounds like you have a beef with a person you personally know, but instead remarked on a rather large group of people. I sat next to a newspaper reporter at a college baseball game two weeks ago that actively cheered for the "home" team both nights we worked together, so much so I was a bit uncomfortable since we were sharing the press box with "visiting" journalists and the "visiting" SID. That's not the norm, however, across the board or even for the specific outlet represented that night, so I'll refrain from generalizations about the entire group of folks that work for print media organizations.

Virginia Tech most certainly credentials reporters from Rivals/Scout/etc, and the guy at Rivals is top notch.

 

This needed to be stated again.

 

It's a little more nuanced than that, especially in sports. I don't so much mean they sit on stories. Their message boards are often rife with rumors. They just, when those stories come along, don't do much of anything. As in, nobody looks to them to do that and they don't consider themselves in that business.

Some sites do and do a great job. Others, it's pretty clear the scope of their job is to call recruits and find out what they think of SEC School X.

 

Even explaining what happens on the desk is an uphill battle. Editing late copy, taking late calls, proofing pages, and those West Coast box scores aren't going to jump on to the scoreboard page themselves. And a lot of times, its easier - and better - dealing with those emails asking about JV soccer coverage after deadline, when its quieter in the office.

 

SFIND - sorry you dont like others eating, but it is common. but like JRoyal said in the above quote, its common and you do seem to have an issue with it, not sure why though. when I was covering the St. Louis Cardinals, reporters ate at their assigned seats in the press box all the time. they would bring food up around the 4th or fifth inning. i made sure to keep my food/drink away from others (in my small area), but it was something all reporters did and still do. While covering the Rams it was even worse, the food was there and available before kickoff and people ate all game long.

 

Forget civilians. I'm not sure half the people in the newsroom understand what goes on during a sports desk shift.