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Tom Dienhart to Rivals.com

Discussion in 'Journalism topics only' started by Kevin Ryan, May 9, 2008.

  1. inkstained

    inkstained New Member

    Shaggy nailed it.

    It would be a lot easier to respect these guys if they ended this charade and just admitted they were fans.

    I want to vomit whenever I hear them describe themselves as journalists.

    They don't play by the rules of journalism. Not even close.

    Kudos to Rivals for hiring some very good reporters and writers. But until they begin to purge this farcical element from their enterprise, it'll be hard to take them seriously.

    And I haven't seen much evidence that such a purging is underway.
     
  2. ateri

    ateri New Member

    Anyone on this board who doesn't think homerism extends beyond Rivals — and into many of your very sports departments — has not been in a college pressbox lately. Get over your whole holier-than-though-ness. Please.

    At least Rivals has figured out the one thing no newspaper can — how to make money.
     
  3. cranberry

    cranberry Well-Known Member

    Does Rivals.com have full-time reporters? Do they pay them?
     
  4. Inky_Wretch

    Inky_Wretch Well-Known Member

    We'll get over our holier-than-though-ness once you get over your condescending attitude.

    Just because you're 10 pounds overweight, it doesn't mean you can't say the 500-pound man is fat.
     
  5. ateri

    ateri New Member

    Pretty good comeback for an 18,000-circ copy editor.

    Assuming that's what you are since you won't post your name. If you're gonna hit and run, man up and say who you are.

    Signed,

    Tom Ateri, retired from the Sacramento Bee.
     
  6. Chi City 81

    Chi City 81 Guest

    I really hate this argument. People on this board have the option of posting anonymously. Some choose to post under their own name. Neither is right or wrong. It's personal preference.

    To argue that anyone who posts anonymously works at a tiny paper in BFE is ludicrous. Some of the very best writers in the business post here, and do it with an anonymous handle.

    I don't give a shit if you worked for the Sacramento Bee. It doesn't make your opinion any more valid than if you worked for the Hungry Horse News.

    Signed,

    Anonymous Poster who works for a Triple Crown winner that's a damn sight larger than 18,000
     
  7. henryhenry

    henryhenry Member

    can somebody clarify this for me:

    do rivals and scouts have formal business relationships with the schools they cover? i mean, how could they provide independent objective coverage if that is the case? if not, how are they any different than the local newspaper?
     
  8. Inky_Wretch

    Inky_Wretch Well-Known Member

    Ah, the old "attack the messenger not the message" ploy. Well-played Mr. Retired from the SacBee.

    Nobody is denying there are newspapers with homers on staff. But the fact some papers home up doesn't preclude us from pointing out some of the local Rivals guys make some newspaper homers look objective.
     
  9. Herbert Anchovy

    Herbert Anchovy Active Member

    It's no coincidence that Rivals' fortunes have climbed with the demise of newspapers. Rivals was bankrupt as far back as 2001, reasonably speaking a "good time" for newspapers.
     
  10. To clarify ... AGAIN ... there is a major difference between the rivals.com national site and all the fanboy sites.

    The national site (which is now owned by Yahoo) has experienced REPORTERS like Olin Buchanan that do a good job on national stuff. They are hardly homers, because they cover everbody, not just one program.

    The same can't be said for some (but not all) of the Rivals school-specific sites. To be honest, I've found some of those guys more down the middle than some actual "journalists" that work for more established print or TV news outlets.
     
  11. inkstained

    inkstained New Member

    For every newspaper writer who's a fan of the team he or she covers, there's 20 or 30 who work for Rivals or Scout.

    Unlike in newspapers, this thing is pervasive and systemic. Most college coaches know that the Rivals guy, or the Scout guy, or both, will be complicit in serving as a mouthpiece for the staff.

    Anyone want to produce an example of a team-specific Rivals guy being critical of a staff? How about a story profiling a recruit who didn't enjoy his visit to that particular school? How about a story uncovering some sort of scandal or something?

    Once again: Rivals has made some impressive hires recently, and good for them. But 90 percent of the team-specific guys are nothing more than shameless shills masquerading as journalists.

    I'd respect Rivals a lot more if they just admitted that instead of claiming these guys are impartial observers.

    Just be honest and admit the truth. That's all I'm asking.
     
  12. Riddick

    Riddick Active Member

    Wow! i love when someone tries to big-time someone else. especially when said big-timer has a whopping three posts on here.
     
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