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!

Would you decline an interview opportunity?

Discussion in 'Journalism topics only' started by BB Bobcat, Jan 9, 2008.

  1. BB Bobcat

    BB Bobcat Active Member

    The MLB team I cover is parading players in once a week leading up to spring training, and setting up interviews with the beat writers. While I appreciate the concept, some of the guys they are bringing in are not people that I really feel I need to talk to a month before spring training.

    My inclination is that I just ought to go in and talk to the guys anyway, just as a token to say I appreciate the PR staff bringing them in. On the other hand, if I really don't need them, aren't I wasting their time, as well as mine?
     
  2. alleyallen

    alleyallen Guest

    BB, why not take advantage of the opportunity by injecting a little creativity?

    For example, do a story on how they spend their off-season. When do they get up every day? What's the workout regimen? Do they get a chance to do all those parent things they normally miss, like school plays and choir recitals?

    There's bound to be a story out there.

    I never turned down a chance to interview someone. I talked to a soon-to-be-retiring librarian at Ft. Ben Harrison and it turned out she had a pretty cool side story: she was a pageant judge with Mike Tyson WAAAAYYY back in the day.
     
  3. BillyT

    BillyT Active Member

    You never know.

    God forbid, what if the guy gets hit by a meteor next week.

    He could get traded.

    You also might just find something interesting or have something in your files for a really slow day.

    Can you suggest to the PR guys who they oughta bring in?
     
  4. txscoop

    txscoop Member

    I would think you don't turn it down because what if one day they become stars and turn you down?
     
  5. Bill Brasky

    Bill Brasky Active Member

    I don't think its a bad idea to interview these guys. At the very least, you have a notebook item or a "They're trying to drum up interest in the team by putting these players before the press" article. And no matter how dull these guys are, they probably have something to say about the big offseason news, like the Mitchell Report, or A-Rod's deal, or whatever.
     
  6. MileHigh

    MileHigh Moderator Staff Member

    Should definitely go to the interview, if for nothing else it helps establish a relationship with them that could come in handy down the road.
     
  7. Mizzougrad96

    Mizzougrad96 Active Member

    If they bring them in and you're the beat writer, it's your job to go...

    If there's no story, you don't have to write anything, but you definitely need to be there...
     
  8. shockey

    shockey Active Member

    sorry, don't mean to be rude, but...

    WHAT A STOOPID QUESTION!!!

    you come off as quite the lazy slacker if you blow it off. EVERYONE has a story to tell. find it.
     
  9. Yeah, this is a pretty ridiculous question. It's your beat. Okay, so caravans are boring and usually a waste of everyone's time. But you get time alone with the player afterwards. Imagine the ass-chewing you'd get if you blew off an event where John Pitcher announced that this would be his last season, or that he's upset with the GM over the offseason inactivity...

    Don't be lazy.
     
  10. BB Bobcat

    BB Bobcat Active Member

    I didn't mean to be lazy.

    All I meant was that I don't want to waste their time if I'm not actually writing a story. It's not like I'm not going to have enough time in six weeks of spring training to talk to these guys. I'm also talking about rookies, bench players and middle relievers here.

    But, as I said in my original post, I will go.
     
  11. Screwball

    Screwball Active Member

    They'll all tell you they don't read the papers anyway, so they'll never know. :D
     
  12. John

    John Well-Known Member

    And that might be the best reason to go.
     
Draft saved Draft deleted

Share This Page