No APSE thread?

Agree, word for word. I've enjoyed the three conventions I've gone to since I've been SE.

 

Not disputing that. Simply saying that budgets are tight and it wouldn't be the at the top my priority list. If the choice is staffing a local team's playoff road game(s) or the APSE convention, I'm covering the games.

 

That would be my choice as well, and I would hope the choice all SEs would make.

 

How to save money on travel:


1. Drive instead of fly.

2. Have staff double up in rooms.

3. Let AP cover it.

 

just got back into the office from the apse. I went on my own dime, and I don't regret it. the seminars were solid, and hopefully I can make our section better from having attended. I'd like to think what I brought back will help my staff become better too.
just my opinion, but i thought it was worth it, and I'll try to go next year when it's in Salt Lake.

 

To those of you who were there:

Apparently, one of the big topics of conversation was content-sharing like never before. There is this idea to create a national content-sharing operation between allied newspapers (not just newspapers in the same chain).

The idea would be to replace AP with a collective of newspapers who would swap stories and photos for free.

Anybody have more info on this?

I guess what I'm curious is, if say the Cleveland Cavaliers are playing in Los Angeles, does the Plain-Dealer take all of its content from the Times or some other paper out that direction, and not use its own beat writers?

If so, I think this is a horrible idea.

But I don't know that's the case, so I wanted to get some more specifics before dismissing it out of hand. I think it's an idea that could work if used properly, but is likely to drive off whatever audience we have left if used improperly.

 

That's awesome that you went, 2under. I know I got a lot out of my convention visits in Chicago and Orlando when I went.

RB

 

I don't think the content-sharing is meant to totally replace AP or supplant beat writers. It's simply an effort to provide coverage in a clearinghouse. For example, Cleveland can't request a Cavs-slanted gamer from the LA Times. As I understand it, the LA Times would post all of its content to the site and cleveland can pick and choose what it wants to use. It can't request a specific sider on Mo Williams.
Does that make any sense?

 

Implementing content sharing is condoning Singleton journalism. It Sucks with a capital S.
We are in a content sharing agreement with a specific beat and what we get from the other paper is, mostly, rubbish. It has to be rewritten almost in its entirety. We've had some stories that we could simply delete five or six consecutive grafs and not change the meaning one bit.
I do not know how those on the other side feel about what we give them, but I don't think they always use it because their deadlines are worse than ours.

A few months ago, I toyed with the idea of starting a thread along the lines of: What do you do if you're know-nothing management forces you into a content sharing agreement in which what you get from another paper is truly awful? But I decided not to start that thread because if it got too specific, some identities might come out and some feelings might get hurt.

 

Yes, it does.

So, in order to get Cavs-specific coverage, the Plain Dealer is still going to have to send its own guy, yes?

The way I'm understanding what you wrote, papers would use this content-sharing agreement for national stories that they'd normally use AP for. If Kobe Bryant opts out of his contract, for example, the papers in the agreement would use the LA Times story (or whatever) instead of an AP story?

If so, I'm fine with that. More that fine, actually.

I'd just be awfully leery of a system that means to replace writers traveling on major beats.

 

Re: Content sharing

What if you don't have anything to share? Can it be a one-way street? Say I want coverage of the NFL team five hours down the road, but have nothing to offer Big Metro in return for it. Will they still hand it over?

 

according to the folks talking about it, you share what you can and take what you want. there's no limit, there's no minimum.
Let's just say that the Jets are in San Diego and the NYT normally would send four writers, and one of those writers would usually write some notes and a Chargers locker room story. Under the content sharing scenario, maybe the the NYT only sends three guys and picks up some notes and the chargers locker room story from San Diego. So, the Times saves a roundtrip ticket, two nights hotel and meals for eliminating the fourth guy.
that's my understanding. I might be completely wrong.
I think some of the major metros would use it to do away with AP, but my shop wouldn't.

inky: to answer your question -- maybe you use the major metro's game coverage. Maybe you put up the feature on your stud college RB that they pick up at some point or some offbeat story about an obscure bullrider.
One caveat is the web. If I understood correctly, you couldn't post the SF Chronicle's stuff to the web -- only the first three or four graphs with a link to their site. That way they get the web hits.

Some guy: yes, the CPD wants Cavs specific coverage, it has to send its own guys or pay a freelancer.

I hope this sheds some light. It's pretty ambitious, but apparently it's been working in Ohio among something like eight papers.