Journalism Students: Don't Do This

This coach is just being ridiculous and trying to make a power play.

Don't give in to it. Go to the games. Walk the opponents' sidelines if you have to. If he only wants you to talk to seniors, just do that, and whatever you get, that's what he gets.

He'll get tired of being a control freak and having his team get inferior coverage soon enough -- especially if said team does better than go 2-9.

He is the coach of a high school team -- and apparently not even a good one -- and he needs to get some perspective, and realize that yours, and your paper's, is much more broad-based (hopefully).

 

Also, for understanding how lists work.

 

That's the plan for now. There's only four high schools in town, so if we don't cover them there will certainly be a story explaining their absence. Last time I checked, however, we were thisclose to cutting them out altogether. The first road game we don't staff and can't get in touch with anyone at 11 p.m. Friday night because they lost and don't think it needs to be in the paper, I have a feeling things are going to blow up again.

It was more the randomness of this situation that got me to question myself. We'd never had problems with this coach before, at all. That, and another longstanding professional relationship that has apparently soured for some unknown reason, got me wondering if there was something festering beneath all the cheery hellos and handshakes. Something we'd done weeks, months or even years before that left a bad taste in someone's mouth.
It's a small town I work in. You never know when you might need to call on someone. So I don't like having people mad at me without knowing why.

 

E,

The coach may be a total ass or he is trying to hide something bad about this kid transferring. And from what it sounds like, it is the coach who did something bad and not the kid so the kid leaves. IF your ME allows, investigate it.

 

Without going into detail, I think there is some behind the scenes stuff but nothing sinister. The kid, who will be a junior next season, has aspirations of being a big-time athlete and playing college ball. Whether the kid is good enough to get to that level remains to be seen, but his opportunity is probably better at the bigger school across town.
The kid actually left after last football season, sat out his year, and will play football and baseball (he's decent at both sports).

 

Turns out that the Evening News reposted the column, with this disclaimer from Jeff Meade: First, a side note. I have been asked (told) to add context since this column first was published Tuesday. All but the first incident happened more than 30 years ago at my first job in the business at another newspaper. I am not recommending any of this. Do not try this at home. I wouldn’t do any of them again except for the last item because I believe everything is on the record unless a reporter agrees otherwise.

The link: http://www.monroenews.com/news/2012/jun/28/journalism-students-dont-do/?sports

The disclaimer still doesn't justify what he did.

 

That disclaimer almost makes it seem as if he's making light of the situation.

 

Meade talks to Romenesko. He said he "just didn’t feel fired up about any sports issue."
http://jimromenesko.com/2012/06/29/sportswriter-reveals-the-most-unethical-things-hes-ever-done/

 

This column made me think of the unethical things I've done, or at least some things others might perceive as being unethical.

I suspect if we all truly bared our souls, a pretty good list could be made.

 

I forgot to include the I'll start:
--While interviewing a high school football coach after a game, a pop-up thunderstorm hit and soaked my notebook, rendering my notes into mush. I reconstructed a quote or two from memory.
--In a former coverage area, a high school coach was legendary for saying the same things after every game, one set of quotes for a win, and another for a loss. I'd write both sets of quotes during the game, and would compare them after. I used the pre-written quotes on more than one occasion because he had said, word for word, what I had written in advance.
--I've often written, up to two thirds, of a gamer before the game has started.
--In pre-internet days, I would include names of friends in stat boxes for out of area teams.

 

I got fired from my college newspaper (this was when I didn't care about it, because I was a broadcasting major and only cared about being a SC anchor on ESPN by the time I was 26, mind you.):
My car got broken into (left the window down too low and then jimmied my window down to unlock it) near where all the skateboarders hung out.
After the cops were useless in helping, I went down with a recorder and notepad and asked the group of skaters their names and talked to them regarding a "story" for the student newspaper and how skaters felt about topics such as being able to skate in public places and not having a place to skate, crap like that.
I took down all their names and gave the cops the list to have them looked into. One of them put 2&2 together and complained to the EIC. He fired me on the spot.
He & I are still good friends (and he actually replaced me at one of my writing gigs after I got into newspapers) and it's one of those "urban legends" now at the student paper used to scare undergrads into not being dumbasses.

 

I've done this more than once. In cases of tight deadlines, I'll sometimes write two basic outlines. One if the team I'm covering wins, another if they lose. You can leave a paragraph for the particulars and a quote or two and fill them in as the situation evolves. Slap a generic lede on there, include some information on what it means in the grand scheme of things, and you're at least halfway home.
I've also done it when I know I'm writing a featurized gamer and the outcome is secondary to the story. Do the same thing, just leave room for a summary paragraph and perhaps a more timely quote.

It might not be quite what you meant, but I don't really see a difference between doing that and writing as the game goes on.