1. Welcome to SportsJournalists.com, a friendly forum for discussing all things sports and journalism.

    Your voice is missing! You will need to register for a free account to get access to the following site features:
    • Reply to discussions and create your own threads.
    • Access to private conversations with other members.
    • Fewer ads.

    We hope to see you as a part of our community soon!

Should papers from non-World Series cities send reporters to cover the game(s)?

Discussion in 'Journalism topics only' started by lantaur, Oct 21, 2014.

  1. playthrough

    playthrough Moderator Staff Member

    Golf, tennis and major auto races were probably among the first cuts when papers started really hammering budgets. Few papers have dedicated writers on those beats anymore, plus the columnist who covered the Masters every year stopped going.
     
  2. LongTimeListener

    LongTimeListener Well-Known Member

    Do you mean local or national? I'm with you on local stuff. For the World Series or Super Bowl, I'm sure every reporter thinks he/she is going to bring something entirely different, but just about all of it sounds the same. And the stories you might think are better than AP or another wire, there's certainly no payoff in readership or advertising dollars.
     
  3. Appgrad05

    Appgrad05 Active Member

    Suggesting that not sending a reporter to the World Series saves someone's job is strange to me. Yes, travel costs money. Enough to pay that hypothetical reporter's salary for, what, two weeks? Like others have said, a good beat reporter can get value out of being in the same city and venue as the rest of their sport. And at the end of a 162 game season I wonder how many view going back and forth from San Francisco to Kansas City to be a treat. They do it because it's the job.
     
  4. Bronco77

    Bronco77 Well-Known Member

    Interesting discussion, and it makes me recall the days when the Dallas Morning News would send six people to the Super Bowl -- without the Cowboys in it.

    My longtime employer in the late '80s and '90s never went that crazy, but it would typically send a reporter and a columnist to the Super Bowl, World Series, NBA Finals, Final Four, etc. Now, one reporter from that newspaper's parent company generally covers big events for everyone.
     
  5. RecoveringJournalist

    RecoveringJournalist Well-Known Member

    It was a stupid comment from an editor. When I would go to the Super Bowl, I would be asked all the time by co-workers, "Do you get to cover the Super Bowl?" and I would respond, "Yes, I have to cover the Super Bowl."

    Does not covering the World Series save a job? No.

    Could not covering the World Series, NBA Finals, Stanley Cup Finals, the Masters, the US Open, PGA Championships, college football title game, Final Four, Daytona 500, Indy 500, etc save a job? It could, at least in theory, although I don't think papers link one to the other.
     
  6. Michael_ Gee

    Michael_ Gee Well-Known Member

    After "who's got time to read?" which is on the person saying it, not the paper, the most common complaint I hear about newspapers today is "there's nothing in it anymore." Covering things may not add readers, but not covering them sure as hell loses them. Don't say people can't tell the difference between wire copy and the paper's own reporters. They can and do.
     
  7. RickStain

    RickStain Well-Known Member

    Give it 10 more years and the question will be moot.
     
  8. RecoveringJournalist

    RecoveringJournalist Well-Known Member

    By then, the only sources of news will be ESPN, USA Today, the NY Post and TMZ.
     
  9. jr/shotglass

    jr/shotglass Well-Known Member

    And some never tire of delighting in reminding us.
     
  10. Sort of like the 10 companies that control the world's food production. ;)

    http://247wallst.com/special-report/2014/08/15/companies-that-control-the-worlds-food/
     
  11. RecoveringJournalist

    RecoveringJournalist Well-Known Member

    I don't think anyone delights in any aspect of that, but sadly, it's probably closer to reality than most would like to admit.
     
  12. BTExpress

    BTExpress Well-Known Member

    I'll happily sign a 10-year contract right now and say "do svidaniya" in October 2024.
     
Draft saved Draft deleted

Share This Page