Two cancelled subscriptions in one week because of me

I strongly disagree.
I'm not taking the "fuck 'em" attitude, yes, they're the customer, but it's obvious you'll never, ever satisfy them and frankly, if you talk to every person that has a gripe, how much of your work day gets bogged down dealing with people who know how to do our jobs better than us?

 

It's not his job to call the ex-subscribers. The newspaper pays salaries to the circulation department. Their job isn't just delivering the paper, it's selling the paper. And if, in their professional opinion, there is a factor causing cancellations, the circulation manager will talk to the publisher.

 

You have to use your best judgement. If people disagree, you can always reinvent your coverage. But ranting parents are not even remotely the kinds of people you want to influence your life.

About 10 years ago, I was at a postseason hockey game in an arena that had a little press box above the ice. The team I was covering lost a game in overtime it had no business even being in contention. Game ends, I walk down the stairs, which takes maybe 15 seconds. The coach is on the bench and a parent is screaming at him. Some of the kids were still climbing onto the ice for the postgame handshake.

So, as frustrating and unfair as some of the calls I get are, I remember that coaches generally get a lot worse and a lot more unreasonable crap thrown at them.

And it's TWO subscriptions, not 20. My guess is you're probably pretty well in tune with what people want, and I hope you have a boss who understands that and has your back.

So go home, enjoy a cold beverage, bask in the warmth of those you love, and keep doing your best.

And don't be afraid to hang up on those who are truly assholes.

 

"So, as frustrating and unfair as some of the calls I get are, I remember that coaches generally get a lot worse and a lot more unreasonable crap thrown at them."

I'm not familiar with any stories of stupid sports parents getting a reporter fired, though it's probably happened. But I've seen plenty of good coaches get it.

 

Me: Well, actually, we did run it. It appeared in Tuesday's paper.

Caller: Oh, really? I don't read the paper every day.

Me: Really? Well, we are a daily paper. Perhaps you should start reading it every day. Who knows what else you have missed?

Realize that the second line from me is said in a way that makes it clear I'm holding the caller in contempt and wishes they would get a swift kick in a tender location.

 

The more important point here is that you can't make wholesale changes because two people call up pissed off. "Fuck 'em" is just rhetoric.

 

Oh for Pete's sake.

If a customer goes into Burger King and raises hell because they can't get filet mignon, does that mean you placate them? Of course not. They're acting like selfish assholes, and if they decide not to go to Burger King anymore because of it, well, there's not a whole lot you can do.

The customer is not always right, especially in our business where the value judgments we make are based on the greatest appeal to the greatest amount of readers, not what Johnny Wad's parents want.

Sounds to me that the stuff being complained about was covered, just not to their satisfaction. That has nothing to do with doing our job, it has to do with a bullshit sense of entitlement and vanity on the part of the people complaining.

If I am pushed, I will ... and have ... explained to readers in a nice way that if I gave them what they wanted, the time and effort required to do what they want takes away from efforts that are more appealing to the greater percentage of our readers.

Some accept that, some don't. For those that don't, fuck 'em, we've got a job to do, we're not their PR agency. Not bending over backwards for the bitchers and moaners has nothing to do with the decline in our industry. That is pure-and-simple selfishness and ignorance on the part of someone who complains.

The silent majority, who never offer feedback good or bad, votes on how you handle this by buying or not buying your paper. They will let you know real quick if you're pandering to some vociferous assholes at the expense of what most people really want in your section.

Here you go, Starman, you can have your justice back.

 

Times like these account for the 51% of the time I love what Starman posts.

 

I have to admit, most Starman rants wouldn't start with, "Oh for Pete's sake".

Call me Starman-lite.

 

it's impossible to cover every sport.

 

Pete.

 

If you cave in to the whims of one or two parents, how long will it be before you're putting the Super Bowl, World Series and NBA Final gamers on the inside because you dedicated the entire front page to a 3,000 word feature on little Johnny Sullivan's four-year old karate meet or little Susie Smith's Majorette social?

If you try to please every parent, you're going to end up pleasing no one.