One-man shop covering your own kid

And it wasn't really that hard to do, was it?

The closest I've ever come to this situation was when my old high school, coached by my cousin, came across state to play a local team in the state hockey playoffs. I loved the opportunity to catch up with my cousin before the game and (with two other reporters) interview him after the game. I read my own story in the paper the next day and was struck by how balanced it was.

I think that's a reflection of how skewed local coverage of anything can become, the fact that it took my cousin coaching the other team -- my high school -- to achieve something close to what everyone talks idealistically about as "balance," getting both sides of the story and treating them as equally important.

 

I interned with a guy who pissed off his mom because he refused to make an exception after his sister got a DUI.

At my first stop, I worked for an editor whose two daughters played on the basketball and volleyball teams. He actually went the opposite direction. To avoid any accusations of bias, he never ran their photos. One week, I didn't take any photos other than some of his daughter. He had no choice. She was the only starter whose action photo had never been in the paper. I do the same thing with Little League. I go out of my way to avoid accusations that I favor my son. He doesn't like it, either. But I don't need the extra BS from parents.

 

If you cover all the kids like a biased, overly positive parent, you don't have to change anything when your kid hits varsity.

 

I have an admittedly simplistic view of this. If you're a one-man shop, and your kid plays for a team that must be covered, you cover it. And you try hard to be as objective as you can. And if your kid scores four touchdowns, you can't ignore it. Maybe a disclaimer, or perhaps a column at the beginning of the whole thing saying what's going on.

Certainly not ideal. Might be necessary in the real world with limited resources.

 

I agree with SF. I think this can be done. Don't seem to be a lot of good options.

 

Demonstrate that you'll be objective with your kid by starting a Twitter account and repeatedly calling him "the Whore of Acne."

 

To me, when your kid is good and possibly the star of the team is when the conflict really hits. Ideally you would treat your kid and your kid's team just the same as if your kid wasn't on the team. If you tend to focus on the good skills players, keep doing that, regardless of whether your kid is one of those players or not.
If murphyc Jr. leads his team to a state title, I'd be trying to find someone else who writes well to cover the team. If there was no other option, I'd cover him just like I would any other player. I wouldn't add words like "incredible" or "fantastic" to describe his play. Nor would I insist my son's team coverage get extra play (i.e. front page photo or teaser, etc.) when that wasn't done before son joined the team, unless the team is having a historically good season.

And newinthefield, good topic you started.

 

I think we do a good job for a website that just does prep sports. www.midvalleysports.com

 

Slappy's right about that top writer. He was a pro's pro before they were in high school, while they were in high school and after they graduated. He is fair - plain and simple.

That writer works for a daily, but he lives in our nondaily's coverage area. I did a feature on his youngest, who was a very good runner. I did mention his father in the story, but how this young man grew up around high school sports was an important part of the story, I felt. And, his father is so well known and well respected in prep circles statewide.

Cool thing his father did (don't know if he still does): He is/was one of the timers at our paper's all-area track meet.

 

Nothing like someone who nuked because they were sick of being picked on, coming back and under their new handle lecturing a newbie about having tougher skin...

 

I wasn't a one-man shop but I had a somewhat similar circumstance.

In my case, when I was a senior in college and stringing for the local paper, the editor had to make sure not to assign me to certain college games because my girlfriend (now wife) was the team captain.

I didn't want to work her games, I wanted to go cheer her on. So in that respect, I can't imagine you actually want to write about your child's team, do you? The whole thought of covering my wife's games was just weird to me. I don't even know how I could've done it.

Surely, some strings can be pulled so you don't have to face it.

 

So what happens when the reporter's kid misses the game-deciding extra point in overtime? [/crossthread]