Same Paper - Gundy In/Gundy Out

I think national guys often have an advantage in stories like this. They can better work both angles, the place making the search, and the places where the candidates are employed currently.

 

At my shops past and present, reporters needed approval to cite unnamed sources, even on social media.

 

Yes, the editor had to know the identity of the source(s). Then, the editor made the call. And yes, sourcing is/was rejected frequently.

 

Yep, same here. Unnamed sources were a big no-no. Enough to get you fired if the boss was a bad mood the day it happened.

So much of this "reporting" has become like pin-the-tail-on-the-donkey. Throw stuff up against the wall and see if it sticks.

I got caught up in this a couple of years ago. Three days after NAIA team wins national championship, rumor gets out that our coach is interviewing for a D-I job. SE/beat writer is out of town, so I try to do something. I make calls, no answer. talk to the guy at the paper in the D-I town, he's clueless, too. Talk to our AD, he hasn't heard anything. I put something together very short, very vague saying that "there is speculation".

Coach is a god in our town after 6 NAIA national titles. So it would be HUGE news if he left.

Turns out nothing happens. Run into said coach at a hockey game a month later and he asks me why I wrote that. I told him I had to write "something" and wished he had returned my phone call. I felt humiliated.

 

There may be more bad information published chasing coaching rumors than anything else.

Often it's crap supposedly passed on by some "big-money booster" who reads the same message boards as everyone else for his info.

 

Agreed. And given the dick-measuring contest that is college football's fund-raising operation, it's easy and very tempting for a minor booster to sell himself as a major booster.

 

Yep. That and recruiting.

 

To me, it's another example of why if I have to choose between the two, I'd rather be slow and right than first and wrong.

 

Reckless, non-judicious use of Twitter causes problems. Don't blame the medium for foolish decisions by humans.

 

Norrin, dealing with human error is the number one cross to bear in every editor's life. A medium that gives error a chance to flourish in a new space is not going to be welcome by editors. Don't criticize anyone for exercising their God-given right to vent on the Internet

 

The downside of this is that Wally's ego will only get larger. And he'll continue to suck at life.