Non-daily reporters at NFL training camps

Anyone have an idea of how many reporters working for weeklies and twice-weeklies cover NFL training camps? I know a few, but I have to bite my tongue to ask what they are thinking. Some work on their own time to go to a day of camp, and maybe a game or two.

How does that serve readers or is it just used to stroke one's ego by rubbing shoulders with the beat reporters?

 

Whole lotta blogging going on, remember.

 

unless they're interfering with your job, why do people care whether a reporter at camp is from a non-daily?

 

Can't you say that about most threads on this board? It's not interfering with my job, but it's a discussion topic.

 

Maybe they're working on features?

 

People who read weeklies don't like the NFL?

I'd bet that rubbing shoulders with a beat writer at the mighty local daily is the last thing on anybody's mind. They could be there for any number of reasons, providing their readers with content from a voice they know and trust. Nothing wrong with that.

 

My motto: as long as you don't keep me from doing my job and writing my story (and you don't openly cheer), I don't really care who else has a press pass. Do your job and write your stories.

 

Anyone who asks this question has some serious personal issues.

 

To me, it's not really much different than a non-beat writer (whether it be from small daily, weekly or whatever) being at college football media day or game once in a while. My last shop was a small daily in Iowa, we usually went to college FB media days for stories on local kids at the next level. Same if a local kid made it to the NFL, good feature material.

 

Agreed. Still don't understand why this is an issue, especially if those non-daily reporters aren't interfering with OP's work.

 

This is an issue to Stich because he is at a twice-weekly and trying to get us to validate that going to NFL camp makes him important.

 

An argument could be made about the value of a daily sending a reporter to training camp.