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i'm without speech

Discussion in 'Journalism topics only' started by shockey, Aug 12, 2008.

  1. SF_Express

    SF_Express Active Member

    Well, simple disagreement then. Today, if you beat the press release by two hours, and nobody else in the world has that story, you've gotten a scoop.

    Almost every scoop eventually comes out somewhere eventually. In this world, you have something two hours ahead of everybody else, and it rockets all around the web because of you, you've done something.
     
  2. He put a lot of work into that moment, and for that he should be proud. I'm not diminishing that. I'm proud when I beat everyone on something.

    But good God, the column is beyond stupid. And poorly written.
     
  3. The Big Ragu

    The Big Ragu Moderator Staff Member

    He didn't beat the world by two hours--if he actually did have it first. The phone calls and text messages were flying furiously when the trade went down. It's not like everyone didn't know Favre was going to get traded. So everyone and his uncle was on it and waiting for the phone call or message. And it's not like there weren't multiple sources feeding multiple people within minutes of the deal being agreed to.

    We can agree to disagree. I just have trouble seeing something that is about to be announced with a press release as a scoop, if someone gets it a few minutes before everyone else. I'm not taking anything away from Jay, believe it or not. He is a hard worker and probably worked the Favre story harder than anyone else. But after reading the link that began this thread, I really think the guy needs to get a grip and get an understanding of the relative importance of knowing about the Favre trade when the whole world was going to know within minutes anyhow.
     
  4. buckweaver

    buckweaver Active Member

    Agree to disagree. Yes, he got it first. Good for him, and I mean that. He worked hard for it and that's a good thing.

    But it's an insignificant achievement, in this day and age. The news was already coming out -- just a matter of when, and where.

    I, like Ragu, just happen to think a "scoop" is much more impressive when the story is something nobody else has, rather than the timing of news that everyone knows is coming.
     
  5. shockey

    shockey Active Member


    DING! DING! DING!

    well said, buck. to me, a "scoop" is a story breaking news that, if you didn't report, would not be reported for a good deal of time, if ever.

    the favre trade wasn't a "scoop,'' by any measure, by that definition. everyone knew he was about to be dealt to the bucs or jets.

    "glaze" was the first to learn it was to the jets. bravo. but it isn't as if it was going to remain a secret much longer. if "glaze" doesn't get his call, the trade still happens, right?

    this entire favre saga was a sickening example of what happens in today's 24/7 news cycle. jay was the first to report it was finally a done deal and to whom. had to be a great rush for him and a disappointment to espn's mort, si's peter king and all the green bay/n.y./tampa media.

    i'd like to think if any of those burned had gotten the news first to "break" the news, they would've taken their bows a little more gracefully than jay/FOX did.

    all's i'm sayin'.
     
  6. Batman

    Batman Well-Known Member

    I guess that makes sense then, that the leg work had been done for a while and it was just confirmation. And now that I think about it, I'm sure he kept working the story and refining itas needed. At first, it just seemed like an awful long time to have something in the hopper.
    This is why we should think before we post :)
     
  7. Bullwinkle

    Bullwinkle Member

    Yeah, but in this case, it might not have been until the next day. To Cheeseheads who were living and dying with this story every minute of every day, that IS significant. And to those who say, "Well, it would have come out in a few hours ..."

    That's not true! [/Gundy] ;D

    Without Glazer, ESPN turns off the lights and gets ready for another day. They didn't have a clue this deal was going down when it did. But after Glazer broke the news, you better believe ESPN was out "confirming ..."
     
  8. buckweaver

    buckweaver Active Member

    As an aside, I would say this is comparable to "breaking" the Obama VP choice story.

    Everyone knows the news is coming between now and Aug. 27 (when the VP nominee gives the convention speech.) Whether it breaks today, tomorrow or it's revealed on the stage in Denver in two weeks ... it's an inevitable story.

    Yes, it's nice if you get confirmation first. But it's not the same as if you broke a story that nobody else had. Now, THAT's an accomplishment.

    As a copy editor, I'd compare it to the difference between catching a comma splice versus catching a fact wrong. Yes, it's good to get both -- they're both errors. But the degree of importance is vastly different.
     
  9. Joe Williams

    Joe Williams Well-Known Member

    I'm with The Big Ragu and Buck on this, and I appreciate them framing the issue so well.

    These "timing" scoops are overrated. And so, frankly, are scoops based on quotes, a principal popping off just because a) he was in the mood to pop off, or b) someone asked him a particular question at a particular time. I've had to educate a sports editor or two on the logistical impossibility of being in two places at one time, i.e., if the malcontent nose tackle is ripping management on one side of the room while you're working on a one-on-one with the quarterback on the other side of the room, odds are that two reporters are going to have something that the other one didn't have. Did one of them scoop the other? Hardly.

    We cheapen the word "scoop" when we apply it to stuff like all that. But when it's a story that wouldn't otherwise come out without a reporter's digging, leg work, contacts, schmoozing, whatever, that is far more legit.

    Even then, you should act like you've been there before.
     
  10. Bullwinkle

    Bullwinkle Member

    God, maybe when I get 20,000+ posts, I'll be as smart as you.

    Until then, I'm a dummy who always ends up agreeing. Well put.
     
  11. Italian_Stallion

    Italian_Stallion Active Member

    Just to add to the words of Buck, Ragu and others, let's not forget that the reason so few reporters break real stories (the kind that nobody else is going to have in 30 minutes) is that everyone is focused on being first to report the story that even the readers know is about to break.
     
  12. Bullwinkle

    Bullwinkle Member

    How do you classify the Tim Donaghy story?

    This was a over year ago, so I'm probably misremembering [/Pettitte] here, but I think the NY Post had that story way ahead of anyone else. Caught everyone by surprise. Nobody saw it coming. Other media outlets, including ESPN, "confirmed" the story within hours. Soon, every outlet was adding new information. ESPN. Fox. CBS. Big papers. Little papers.

    The story would have come out eventually, just like the Favre story.

    But the two seem like completely different animals.
     
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