Player's mother e-mails in pictures/What I wish I could do

WFW.

I really don't like the attitude you're portraying in these posts. You're coming across as being extremely arrogant, like you know better how to run your paper than anyone else, and that no one in the community has any right to tell you differently. Attitudes like that are one reason our business is dying.

I'm not saying accept every photo you ever get sent. I'm not saying genuflect to every request any parent or reader makes. But if people are paying for your paper and reading it, they are investing some stake in it and what they want to see in it.

I've mentioned a couple of times that my dad just threw out the insult "lame ass newspaper" talking about the paper I edit, which is also a weekly. When I reacted angrily, he said there was much in the paper that doesn't interest him. Had he simply said what it was without hurling the insult, I'd at least listen and if it was something I didn't see us being able to do, I'd explain it. But he lost me with the insult.

What you're doing is telling that parent, "I don't care about your lame ass team" by ignoring her. It'd be better to say, "we don't have the space to run this photograph. In the future, here's what our guidelines are for photographs." It may not give her the answer she wants, but it's far more likely to build good will than ignoring her.

 

Maybe she can hire a photographer to take desired photo.

 

I was hoping this thread was about a mother sending you photos of herself in some sexy lingerie or something as a thank you for writing a feature on her kid. I'm still waiting for that day. Still waiting.

 

You can't send an e-mail saying, "Sorry, we can't use this?" Would have taken less time than making the whiny posts here.

 

Dont take this the wrong way, but how did you get a job?
A lot of what makes smaller dailies/weeklies successful is an ability to deliver things the bigger dailies can't.
Never mind whether or not you can run the photo; the tude is enough to make someone think you've gone as far as you're going to go.

 

Ignoring it would be impolite.

She didn't do anything wrong.

 

What you should do is act like an adult. Just ignoring her is immature as hell. Just be honest, and tell her you don't have the space to run reader-submitted photos. In other words, grow a pair.

 

Not hard to assume that Mr. X has no future in this business with that attitude.

 

I will say this, nothing to do with Mr. X's petulant and fail-tainted attitude towards one of his readers: you can ask for action art from now until St. Schwimmen's Day and you're a) not going to get it, and b) aren't going to want it. a), because no coach is going to want a photo that glorifies one or two kids over the team, because then he/she will get calls from the parents whose kids weren't in the photos. Unless it's their kids, which brings us to point b) -- if parents are taking action photos, guess which ones you'll be getting? And it's hard enough at most small papers to take/find someone to take decent action art as a professional; what hope does a soccer parent with a $500 Olympia have of giving you good stuff?

To the original point, I had a go-to so down pat that I can give it in my sleep (and have, for all I know). Thank you for sending in the photo of ________; due to space constraints and my not knowing what space I have until the end of the week, I cannot guarantee a specific run date. But I can tell you that I will run this on a space-available basis, and I thank you for reading. Or words to that effect.

There have been weeks where I had enough stuff to fill a whole section, and the office was laizze-faire enough that I could have done it and had a de facto week off, but I have a smidgen more self-respect than that. Plus all those team shots lose their effect if eight run in the same section.

One of the mistakes that I didn't really get to appreciate until fairly recently is that when I ran my sports section, I think I ran it more for my own satisfaction than the readers'. In my mind, I was trying to give them what they wanted, but I stuck to my "I won't do gamers, just features" guns too long, not really realizing that the market probably appreciated the gamers more. I should have adjusted instead of luxuriating in my own self-righteous indignation. God knows you shouldn't run thinly-veiled ad copy or anything patently unethical, but I was serving self instead of the readers, and while I don't think I was hated or anything, I do wonder that I couldn't have done a better job. Oh well.

 

let me get this straight. ace, a gentleman with years of experience, gives you a couple of suggestions on a thread where you ask for advice. you, ignore ace's suggestions and shine him on and come to your own stupid conclusion.

nice work, rookie. i'm sure you'll go far in this business.

 

Ok, I work at a series of small weekly papers and while I admit sometimes it is a pain in the ass to have to deal with parents who want little John or Jane in the paper, the benefits far outway the costs.

For starters, if you're just going to say "fuck you" to your readers and their interests, you're not going to be in this business very long.

Secondly, sure, it might not mean dick to you that little Johnny's 8-9 year old wrestling team finished 42nd a local tournament, but for the parents and loved ones of that team, it does mean something. It means they're interested. And if they're interested, they are picking up your paper.

Right about now is when I expect people to say "Well, you can't let the parents dictate your coverage" and I agree. Letting what one or two parents want to see affect what you put in your paper is completely unprofessional. Running a team photo, however, is not.

Think of it like running a wedding announcement. Sure, it might not mean anything to you and really, it's not news. But your a sliver of your target audience IT IS NEWS. If they don't believe they can rely on the local paper to publish LOCAL RESULTS and local sports news, why the fuck pick it up?

Now, as far as questioning motives go....yes, the parent may be biased. That's pretty obvious. But, who's to say you're not biased if your choosing not to run things you don't deem important? Face it folks, being in the newspaper business (and especially when you're at a small shop) is not all fun and games. Chances are, no one gives a shit about 95% of the stuff you cover. They're only interested in what they're interested in and you're never going to change that. All you can do is hope that you feel you're doing a solid job in reporting what is going on in that town, whether or not you like it.

Not to mention, if you're going to start turning down everything just because a parent or interested party sent it, how the fuck are you going to get those things that no one wants to cover? At my paper, we don't have the manpower to cover Little League games before All-Star season, but you know what? Each and every week, parents send in scores. And when we can, we run them.

Are they news? Maybe. Are they what people want to see? Yes.

So I guess the grand lesson here is: running a team picture may make you feel dirty inside for a day. Not running a team picture, may cost you your readership. And in the ever-declining world of journalism, which side do you think management is going to be on?