"Leon Carter is The Laughing Stock ...........

In this case Loopy was actually in Green Bay but there have been other times when he was home on his lounge chair and decided what story he was going to write-- trumping the writers who were actually at the game.

 

Shouldn't this be on JTO? It's a journalism topic.

Oh and Little Lord Fauntleroy's Tynes column? Not one quote from the kicker.

http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/football/giants/2008/01/21/2008-01-21_giants_turn_chills_to_thrills.html?page=0

 

I think my father was the last person I heard refer to "Little Lord Fauntleroy."
Nice reference, 'beat.

 

Thank you, sir.

Irish upbringing and all.

 

Major props for spelling "Fauntleroy" correctly, too.

 

Apt, as well.

 

This is the whole story, to me.

Absolutely let your lead guy do the big story, or whatever story he wants to do. That's what he's paid to do.

But don't force the rest of the staff to bow at his altar. Let professionals do their work with dignity and integrity.

 

"And it all . . . goes . . . back . . . to LEON, Leon, Leon . . ." (and, of course, Mort the Sport).

 

That doesn't mean it's right. Skilled reporters and good reporting are the only things that distinguish the news industry (print or online) from other media. Opinions are a dime a dozen. Everyone has one and practically everyone has the ability to publish one.

This isn't about gamers vs. columns, either. Nobody reads gamers. People look to news publications for well-reported news -- compelling, accurate, behind-the-scenes information that they can't get somewhere else.

I know dozens of people who are more closely attuned to sports than Lupica and whose "shoot-from-the-lip" opinions are far more interesting and enlightened. The ability to write well or turn a clever phrase doesn't work in the absence of good reporting.

 

I agree.

In this case, it seems as though The Emperor does not have enough respect for his colleagues to discuss with them what he wants to write and what the coverage plan is.

 

That's not his job. It would be nice, but not his job. Morale and structure comes from the top, especially when you have a star system.

 

Whatever little I have done in the business--and admittedly, compared to some here and Lupica, himself--I have always observed the beat writer talking with the columnists and sidebar writers on what they're going to write.