More of my "give me something to read" soapbox

Moddy, I'm in total agreement with you regarding the "Give Me Something To Read" rant. Spot on. Unfortunately, nobody in management is listening (or caring) so nobody is getting anything to read. Another reason why it's good you're out of the biz.

 

This was one of the reason why I moved to news.
In sports, I was bogged down with coverage stories. Signing stories. Preview stories. Tab stories. And folos. After 10 years it got old.
I wanted to try something new - I wanted to write something different, something readers would want to see and read. A break from standard stuff.
I have gotten to write - and learn - about a number of subjects and ideas that I like to think my readers enjoyed seeing the daily paper. This was in addition to covering the news standards, like city council and chamber of commerce ribbon cutting.
I'd list some of the stories I've written that I'm particular fond of, but it would out me.

Suffice to say, I am really enjoying my time on the news side. To be fair, I couldn't give up sports altogether. I still cover prep football.

Sorry for using "I" so much.

 

That's great Moddy found something to read. Just fantastic.
Yet, his enjoyment is our nicked vein. It's a peep-hole into a broken paradigm. His entertainment cost him nothing. His entertainment cost Tampa hours, manpower and insurance leverages. That's why hordes of professional journalists -- in Tampa too -- are being forced to find other careers.
He says "give me something to read."
Truth is, my website could give Moddy something to read from here till 2013 and it wouldn't move the needle enough to save one job.
It's nothing Moddy said, but at the heel of a week of frustration.
See where I'm coming from:
We finished an investigative project this week. One damn-good story. Will result in change in a Division I conference and, more than likely, the NCAA. Something we are taught to do. It is our mission. We made sacrifices in coverage to complete the project.
We put it up on the web. Splashy. Interactive graphic. Refer to it from the print edition. Everything you would do draw attention to a special piece.
The project had fewer page views than a months-old Sports and Celebrity photogallery.
As we learn more about the web, we learn success is less about journalism -- i.e. "something to read" -- and more about "input and key words" identifiable by the Google and Yahoo search algorithms.
A wonderful time.

 

Can somebody link to this? PM if you fear the possibility of revealing your identity.

 

Preaching to the choir, Moddy. Sometimes I wonder if I'm the only advocate for content left in my department. At my current and previous stops they want no stories longer than 12 inches and alternative story forms at every turn. And yet people bitch about the decreasing attention spans in our world without ever stopping to wonder if we're part of the problem.

Finally, when I interviewed here I wondered aloud with the ME if I was coming along a generation too late, wordsmith that I am. She pointed out back in the day the deskies still had to lay out pages, which is true. Had I been quicker on the draw I would have replied that there weren't entire teams of editors obsessing over breakouts, photo vectors, entry points and rivers of white. The editors then obsessed over getting facts right, making sure stories were clear enough to the reader and putting headlines over them that drew readers in. Period.

We're losing substance in lieu of style, I'm afraid. No, SockPuppet, it sucks that good people like Moddy are no longer in the business, fighting these battles, though I understand, respect and envy his decision. This attitude of mine likely will follow me out the door but in the meantime I will fight what I consider to be the good fight.