San Antonio Night Editor slams a pop-knot on TV guys

fishwrapper · Jul 12, 2007

PCLoadLetter said:

Two thoughts on this...

1. I work in TV in an NBA market. Our sports guys would never in a million years run with something about the local NBA team by lifting it out of the paper without getting solid confirmation on their own. If KSAT is running it solely based on its appearance on the paper's web site it's incredibly irresponsible -- but it's also a sad commentary on a reporter if he works in a town with one major league franchise and doesn't have the sources to confirm the news on his own.

Having said that.. the column says they're using terms like "KSAT has confirmed" to mask the fact that they're stealing it. Well, that could mean they've confirmed it, too. If the TV guy read it, called Carlesimo and got the story from him, the newspaper has no beef. If they didn't independently confirm it then they absolutely should credit the newspaper if they run it at all.

2. Count me among those who think this column was weakened by resorting to 3rd grade name calling. If what they're saying is true the paper has a very legitimate complaint, but he made it sound like an 8 year old whining in a sandbox.
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So, let me get this straight...
If the TV guy confirmed the report, it's ok?
If he didn't confirm the report, it's not?
Wow. Thanks, Man.

Evil ... Thy name is Orville Redenbacher!! · Jul 12, 2007

Starman said:

ArnoldBabar said:

Starman said:

They'd read fucking AGATE straight out of the paper. I'd take fucking cross country, fucking wrestling meets, fucking track meets, and the next morning they'd be reading it on the air, down to the 37th place girl trudging across the finish line in 67:15.
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I've heard some boring-ass radio, but it's tough to imagine someone thinking this was a good use of the public airwaves. Good lord.

So Starman, now I'm curious about the aftermath. How did it all go down?
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The radio guys went on the air bright and early at 7 a.m., with a breathless "exclusive" on the Pixley Pirates beating the South County Sabercats 65-48 in a stunning upset as the No. 1 team in Class D downed the No. 1 team in Class C, in front of a screaming crowd, yadda yadda. Lots of quotes from both coaches, players on both sides.

Of course, everything was backward. They had the wrong team winning, the wrong quotes from the winning coaches, winning players, losing coaches, losing players, the wrong players scoring 22 points and grabbing 8 rebounds, etc etc.

They didn't start answering their phones until the switchboard operator came in at 8 a.m., so they went on and on with it for about an hour. They used to have a producer chick in the studio too, as a "coffee talk" sidekick, so they took it and ran with it. "Lots of happy people in Pixley today after that big game last night, right?" "Tee-hee, you bet there were." "Man that was some crowd there, wasn't it?" (They loved to do that, too -- not only steal stuff out of the paper, but imply they were actually there.) "Hey, that Julie Sweetjumper had a great game, didn't she?" "You bet, 22 points! She's got to be a shoo-in for All-State." (In reality, Julie Sweetjumper had nine points.)

At 8:01 a.m., they opened up the phone lines to an absolute hurricane of screaming calls from South County. "WTF are you talking about, we won the game, are you on crack?" etc etc.

By about 8:15 a.m., they sent somebody out to the convenience store, picked up a copy of the (REAL) paper, and realized they'd been had. By 8:30, the gofer was back in the office, and they quickly started going on about "due to technical difficulties, we had an inaccurate score of the game." By about 8:40, they decided to just quit talking about it altogether.

By 8:45, Mr. Station Manager arrived at the station, to be hit in the face by this shitstorm. By 8:47, he was on the phone to Mr. Publisher at our joint. As instructed, the receptionist told him, "I'm sorry, Mr. Publisher won't be in until 9. Would you like to call him back then?"

"No, you tell him to call me the minute he comes in."

Mr. Publisher walks in at 9 a.m. At 9:03, he walks over to the coffee shop across the street for his customary coffee and donuts. The whole place is buzzing over the radio station's fuckup. Hilarity ensues. Strangely, Mr. Station Manager, who usually joined these coffee klatches about 9:30, was nowhere to be seen this day. :

At about 9:55, Mr. Publisher walks back over to his office and dials up Mr. Station Manager. "What can I do for you," blah blah.

Mr. Station Manager instantly launches into a tirade, threatening lawsuits, he was gonna call the station's lawyer and see about filing a criminal complaint, etc etc etc, and WORST OF ALL, he was gonna go right on the air and tell everybody what we (the paper) had done.

"Fine," Mr. Publisher said. "You go right ahead. Be sure to mention how your entire body of news coverage is based upon reading our paper word for word on the air."

That, pretty much, was the end of the conversation.

Although, in the following day's paper, I wrote a followup column on the game. "As anybody who was actually there could tell you, it was a great game," blah blah.
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As for calling Bullshit: I stand corrected.

Great story!

In Cold Blood · Jul 13, 2007

Starman,
Thanks for sharing... what a great story.

I bet the radio people felt about a foot tall that day.

Ben_Hecht · Jul 13, 2007

In Cold Blood said:

Starman,
Thanks for sharing... what a great story.

I bet the radio people felt about a foot tall that day.
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For too many, that would be a growth spurt . . . alas.

hondo · Jul 13, 2007

RayKinsella said:

We are in a business where we can't be making enemies. We need as many friends as we can get, so would it be so bad if we called each TV station around town, and even the radio hacks, and said hey, we will scratch your back if you scratch ours.

I don't mean go overboard and feed them a breaking story (at least not a major one), But we will help them if they need help if they mention where they got the story. Or even better, say on the air: "For more on this, pick up your morning rag" since the TV people have all of 30 seconds to one minute to discuss the story. The radio people on the other hand, a quick mention on the air a few times wouldn't be that bad. I think it is called a business realtionship.
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jeez, buddy...sac up and be a man.

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San Antonio Night Editor slams a pop-knot on TV guys

fishwrapper Active Member

Evil ... Thy name is Orville Redenbacher!! Well-Known Member

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San Antonio Night Editor slams a pop-knot on TV guys

fishwrapper Active Member

Evil ... Thy name is Orville Redenbacher!! Well-Known Member

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