Small Colorado daily draws flak for football photo

Horseshit.

If you want to "provide things for your customers" why not just write that the home team wins every game?

You're a journalist. You write what happened. You owe your reader your agency and discretion, but you don't just provide what they want. You tell the truth.
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Where did I say "lie about what happened" anywhere? I don't believe I did. If I did, then I apologize, because that's clearly wrong. Nobody wants to read lies.

I write what happened. Every bit of it factual. I also write it intentionally in a way that flatters the local teams. And I don't see anything wrong with that. If the absolutely horrible girls basketball team from around here loses 70-15 again, but one girl gets a season-high nine, then that's going to be what I focus on.

 

I think we all saw it.

Now that that's out of the way . . .

 

I can't wait to go home and tell my girlfriend I have absolute proof I'm not the most cynical guy in the world.

This is an interesting debate, if not a heartbreaking one. Yeah you're a little more careful with high school kids than you are with the pros and college guys. At the end of the Arizona/Arizona State game last weekend, a senior who up to the last punt return was having a great game muffed the return, giving the ball back to UA and ending his career in the worst imaginable fashion. It happens. Everybody felt bad for the kid but the media still wrote that it was what happened. BECAUSE IT WAS.

Now, if that had happened in a high school game you probably don't pile on the kid, you say "Local High had a chance to take the ball the length of the field and score, until a muffed punt return cost them the game." Then you name the kid, get a quote from him about how much anguish he's in and move on. But you don't gloss over it.

No, "They lost and, oh, by the way, Local High's rival retrieved a muffed punt return in the final minute."

You've gotta be the conduit from the game to the readers. And even if the readers were there, I'm of the mind they appreciate an accurate retelling of what happened. You're gonna write it sympathetically, get the "woe are we" quotes. That's what happens when teams lose.

Yeah, we cover teams. But that doesn't mean we're supposed to cover up the facts.

 

They said they used three photos.

 

There's a difference between not lying and reporting the truth. One can lie by omission.

"The band played a medley of 70s soft rock songs at halftime," might be a true statement.

"Johnny Smith fumbled at the goal line with 30 seconds to go and his team trailing by 3," might be a true statement.

Putting the first one in and leaving the second one out doesn't mean you've told the truth.

 

But what if the band featured one of the football players? Would it then be OK to lead with that?

 

Yes, but why stop there, you could go with....

It was the best of times and worst of times for Johnny BandPlayerJock as he blurted out notes to 70's tunes at the half like nobody else can but then fumbled at the goal line to lose the game in the final 30 seconds....

 

Rick is dead wrong on this one.

He is right in that you have to do a little bit more pandering in small town newspapers than in bigger newspapers but at the end of the day you can't be the company shill.

There is nothing worse than the local yocal at these small papers who try to become the man by writing puff pieces and making every thing that happens out to be the world series or nba finals and then puts himself in the story by writing he'll shave his head if a team wins and then going and doing it, and writing about it and shit like that....

You don't have to go out of your way to negative and you don't have to be critical - but if a kid fumbles on the 3-yard line in the final minute of a four-point loss or throws a pick six late in a game that enables the other team to win -- you are not doing your job if you don't write about it and include the kids name.

That is, of course, unless you refer to the kid who hits a game-winning homer as "player x" as well.

 

RICKSTAINVILLE (AP) -- The Local Heroes' state championship hopes ended in a nightmarish finish yesterday as the Podunkers escaped Home High Stadium with a 38-33 victory in the semifinals.

The loss was even more harrowing to the Local Podunkers than the overtime defeat at the hands of the Visiting Podunkers in Rickstainville a year ago.

Instead of The Drive, the Local Heroes will have to live withThe Fumble this during the long offseason.

A tremendous comeback by Marnie Kosar and the Local Heroes was foiled when Visiting Podunk cornerback Jeremiah Castille recovered a loose ball at the 2-yard line just as the ball carrier was burrowing to the Podunk end zone for an apparent tying touchdown. It was the seventh play of a frantic Local Heroes drive that began at its 25 with 3:53 left.

Castille knocked the ball from somebody's left arm (we won't say who, but you know) near the one-yard line and recovered at the three with 1:05 left.

 

I'm not going to pretend to know Rick's situation, such as what kind of management he has to work with, or what his community has in the way of other media, but I think he's way off. People will bitch about stopping subscriptions and pulling advertising, but in a small town with one newspaper, if you're doing compelling, accurate stuff, people will read it. You will not lose the subscriptions or the advertisers, at least not for long.

You do what's right. You do a good job. You don't need to sugar coat everything. You'll gain the respect of the community and actually make your publication more valuable in the long run.

If the fumble was the best picture I had, I would have run it, with the name.

 

Damn you.

 

That's classic.....Well played.

And we could have a lot of fun with this......

RICKSTAINVILLE (AP) -- An player who tried real hard but shall remain nameless missed a 47-yard field goal as time expired which enabled the New York Giants to hold on to a 20-19 win over the Buffalo Bills in the Super Bowl......

RICKSTAINVILLE (AP) -- North Carolina beat Michigan last night and won the national championship, the second of the Dean Smith era.
However, a big reason they won was because this one player, who had a great season and played great all game, but shall remain nameless, called a time-out as time was running down yet the Wolverines didn't have one left and that resulted in technical foul being called......

RICKSTAINVILLE (AP) -- The Steelers beat the Cowboys, 35-31, to win the Super Bowl but probably wouldn't have won the game had a Cowboys tight end, who tried really hard and will some day go to the Hall of Fame, dropped an easy touchdown pass......