Questions at press conferences

solid.

 

Thank you

 

I'm sorry gauchos. Maybe when I get a little more experience in this business I'll know better.

 

Jack: How does the fact that this press conference is broadcast live affect you in a major way? You ask questions at a press conference, you write a story, and the story is read by people interested in the team.

Offering the video of this allows fans of the team and people who read your story to get more information - and everybody in newspapers is complaining about decreasing space available for their stories. You are not "doing work for them"! The college could just release a video of the coach's statements. The press confernece isn't the whole story - you have comments from high school coaches and recruiting gurus - heck, we have to have some good use for recruiting gurus.

The point is you make adjustments. People did it with the Internet, sports radio, television, radio, whatever. Spnited did it when he was covering the Chicago White Stockings and the telephone was invented in 1876.

Sorry if I'm wrong, spnited. Maybe it was the Troy Haymakers

 

It can work both ways, you know. I'm doing a signing day story for the Web right now, and I got a quote from the head coach to use in my web story from ESPN-U (we're talking to him in about an hour at the press conference).
Yeah, it can be frustrating when TV people use your questions to get fodder for their 3-minute reports, but deal with it. You can make your stuff better by using the quotes as context and analyzing in ways they can't in their 6 o'clock report. And why shouldn't it be a badge of honor that they use questions you asked?
I also agree with those who said ask your important stuff off to the side - if you can.
When I was getting started in this biz, I covered an NCAA hoops tournament where I asked the coach about a key player's injury not everyone knew about in the main press conference, forgetting that he would be available in the locker room afterward for smaller group interviews.
It was a crime of over-eagerness, and I got pulled aside by several of the more experienced beat guys and told of my mistake. I agreed, lesson learned, and it won't happen again.