Gatehouse and the Super Bowl

If I'm a reader and I've been reading Farley or Ron Hobson (yeah, I know he's retired or semi-retired, whatever) or Megliola since I was 18 years old and I don't see his byline on a story about the best Patriots team ever in the Super Bowl, I'm gonna notice. Here's hoping a lot of people notice and step it up with the letters and emails to the editor. This cannot go on unscathed!
Seriously, it just doesn't make sense not to bite the bullet for at least one guy to cover the week for the whole Gatehouse chain. How is it not justifiable? Come up with some Mickey Mouse advertising gimmick to offset some if not all the costs (that's how Attleboro sends its guy on the road) and get your shit together Gatehouse. Sadly, the end has long ago begun for these papers. This is a huge nail in the coffin over there. Like Gee said, if this is the way it's going to be, end the sham, cram it full of wire copy and reader-submitted local stuff and call it what it is.

 

Point taken.

 

OK, Wicked. Now I understand.

I misread this: "The first three papers all have beat writers on the team, while the other two participate in the company's sharing agreement, " to say those three papers were sending someone."

I completely agree that it's idiotic, especially in the case of a Lenny Megliola or Farley.

Those guys would beat the big dailies out there.

Thanks.

Now I understand.

 

Not to worry. Gatehouse is spending the money to, and this is God's truth, putting the Salem High School student newspaper on its Web site. God, who'd want to read about the Super Bowl if they can read that.
There is a school of thought that says anything on line must be the future. Trust our industry to undergo the dot.com bubble one decade late.

 

This is interesting. Especially since GateHouse sent at least two reporters AND photog to Denver for the World Series. I wonder if something from that experience made them think it wasn't cost-effective to send folks across country.
BTW, a former editor of mine would many times say, "Why should we go there when we can get a story from AP? I mean, that's what we're paying them for."
I cringed every time she said that.

 

So would it be okay to hire a stringer for the week to provide somewhat local copy for the week? I don't ask to start a fight, I was just wondering.

And from a marketing, selling the brand point of view, the paper could do a ton of cross-promotion by having someone out there. Doing call-ins from Phoenix for local radio, assuming they don't already have a show. In-house promotional ads, rack cards. You name it.
For five papers, that four grand is about $800 each to split the coverage travel expenses for the week and you get five times that in marketing.

 

John Tomase is one of the best writers I have ever worked with.

 

That's all readers care about anyway, right?

 

But they try just as hard as the varsity kids!

 

This is a sad day for beat reporters across the county. I can understand using the AP for some road games and if your local team did not make the Super Bowl but the Patriots are making history and the local papers don't give a dam....Its a sad day for sports journalists across the county when shit like this happens.

 

As a former Gatehouse employee I'm shocked to learn they actually sent people to Denver for the World Series. I bet whoever OK'd that got fired.

 

I used to work for a Gatehouse paper. Once, we had a local HS softball team reach the state Elite 8. They were the first area softball team to go downstate in five years. They were also covered by a competing paper. Thus, I of course needed our photog to make the 2.5 hour trip to be there, since I knew damn well their cheap asses were not going to pay for a stringer.

But even paying mileage for an extra person is too much for our publisher to take. He refuses to send the photog down to state. Even when I offer to ride in the same car with the photog. He tells me I should shoot the photos with a point and click. When I point out the rival publication will most certainly be sending a photog, he says, and I quote "If they jumped off a bridge, would ya'll jump off a bridge too?"

I am restrained by co-workers so as to avoid jumping over the desk and beating him to death. Photog and I go to bar in middle of shift to drink. I smoke a cigarette for the first time ever while sober. At some point managing editor finally convinces publisher to let photog come with. Guys from other paper find episode greatly amusing.

I no longer work for Gatehouse, since I decided I'd rather work for myself and be unemployed for several months than stay with them. If you work for them, you should consider doing the same.

The end.