Three cheers for an ombud (and Courant sports management) comments

http://www.courant.com/news/opinion/columnists/hc-hunter0701.artjul01,0,2763187.column?coll=hc-utility-opinion

"Still, I can't help but notice that the staff works too hard and passionately to make The Courant a meaningful, relevant newspaper and it seems that cost-cutting, financial concerns, industry challenges, synergy - or whatever you want to call it - are conspiring to make it mediocre."

 

Seventy-five cents on the stands and boxes, now, as well.

Are they kidding?

For what?

 

Seventy-five cents on the stands and boxes, now, as well.

Are they kidding?

For what?

To line Tribune's pockets.

 

I hear Karen Hunter will be reassigned to obits, and the Courant will start running stuff from Newsday's ombud.

 

She's dead on in her assessment. It makes the paper look like a Mickey Mouse outfit to the sports readers. I feel for the writers in the sports department. There hard work is going to waste because the dumb asses with the purse strings are tying one hand behind their backs.

 

It's too bad. For a city of its size, the Courant kicks butt and it still does in a lot of areas. But it goes back to what we've said before. You can't cut something and pretend the readers aren't going to notice.

I know it's a pipe dream, but I wonder if once the sale is completed, a limited number of positions would open up. It happened in Orlando.

 

They'll survive and so will their readers.

I don't feel sorry for them. It's happening everywhere. Might as well get used to it. If it's not my shop, it will be your shop that's next. Nothing surprises me anymore in this business. We're a dinosaur in an electronic age.

 

That is, perhaps, an overly-simplistic stand. We gather news. News is still is a commodity.
A commodity that pays the bills over several platforms. (Newspapers, radio, television and the internet). The pie still exists. The newspaper portion is still there. Perhaps, it's shrinking or correcting, but there is still a slice.

 

Just reason 18,383 why -- unless you KNOW you've got the game to take you to the mountaintop --
any talented individual with multiple career options is NUTS to give their heart to this one. To run faster and faster to stay in the same place, for the greater glory of Tribune?

F that.

 

What's the big deal here?
I've read thread after thread and talked to enough sports writers who say people aren't buying the paper to read the gamers anyway.
I'm not one to agree with management cuts in any capacity – it's a sad day when they cut two positions they aren't refilling.
With the Newsday move though it's not like their getting rid of the gamers completely at the Courant. In a way it'll give the beat writers more freedom to do features and columns rather than being bogged down by traveling everywhere with the team.

We might raise a stink when local writers aren't staffed as beat writers, but readers don't care if local joe or newsday joe writes the gamers.
Then with this quote,

I'd be willing to say people who think like that are in the minority. You can only localize gamers so much IMO.