Sports Media Guide

[SF_Express]

All:

I'm in great risk of being d_b'ed on this, but somebody sent me a link to sportsmediaguide.com, which has started doing a series of interviews with various sports writers. Helene Elliott is the latest. Gene Wojciechowski, Ray Ratto, etc. Some good stuff. Apologies if it has already been posted.

http://www.sportsmediaguide.com/

Here's who's running it:

About us:

Sportsmediaguide.com is owned and operated by Murray Sorkin and Steve Marantz, graduates of the University of Missouri School of Journalism.

Sorkin is the founder and president of Sorkins Directory of Business and Government in the St. Louis, Kansas City and Chicago metropolitan areas. (www.sorkins.com)

Marantz is a former staff reporter and columnist for the Kansas City Star, Trenton Times, Boston Globe, The Sporting News, and Boston Herald, covering sports, politics and government. He is a consultant to ESPN Original Entertainment.

Steve Marantz can be contacted at [email protected]. Murray Sorkin can be contacted at [email protected].

 

[deportes]

interesting site. hopefully someone will do a q&a with this board's favorite sports editor, bob yates. what would your first question be to yates?

 

[InTheSkeller]

what would your first question be to yates?

"Hmm, what are you wearing?"

 

[slappy4428]

interesting site. hopefully someone will do a q&a with this board's favorite sports editor, bob yates. what would your first question be to yates?

Ever thought about working in Ann Arbor?

 

[henryhenry]

kindred apparently isn't a simmons fan.

 

[Leo Mazzone]

kindred apparently isn't a simmons fan.

What gave it away?

 

[Cosmo]

From the Wojo interview:

"My number one pet peeve is the writer unable to formulate an actual question. What they say is "Can you talk about this?" Sometimes they just say, "Talk about this." I don't know where it came from but whoever originated it needs to be gut-taped to an iron pole and lowered into God's fiery hell – it is the laziest tool in sports journalism."



"There's an art to asking a great question…. it's not the first question that gets the best answer – it's the follow-up."



"If you're a betting man generally speaking the TV and radio guy is going to ask a dumber question than the sportswriter – although it's more of an even proposition these days."

Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes.

God Yes.

I roll my eyes every time I hear the "talk about" question.

Then I fart. Right at the guy who asks it.

Loudly.

 

[Evil ... Thy name is Orville Redenbacher!!]

From the Wojo interview:

"My number one pet peeve is the writer unable to formulate an actual question. What they say is "Can you talk about this?" Sometimes they just say, "Talk about this." I don't know where it came from but whoever originated it needs to be gut-taped to an iron pole and lowered into God's fiery hell – it is the laziest tool in sports journalism."



"There's an art to asking a great question…. it's not the first question that gets the best answer – it's the follow-up."



"If you're a betting man generally speaking the TV and radio guy is going to ask a dumber question than the sportswriter – although it's more of an even proposition these days."

Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes.

God Yes.

I roll my eyes every time I hear the "talk about" question.

Then I fart. Right at the guy who asks it.

Loudly.

That was you!
Cosmo, I think I have sat beside you at several post-game press conferences!

 

[Moderator1]

Love Wojo, even love Cosmo a little. But I've talked about this on here before. I use talk about sometimes because, well, it gets people talking about. Then you can ask a good follow.
I've done OK in the business, have a little clue of what I'm doing. A smidge, eh?
Don't tell me how to do my interviews. I won't tell you how to do yours.

 

[slappy4428]

Pet peeve, there Moddy??

 

[Moderator1]

Yep.
Someone started a "talk about" thread a while back and I basically jumped his ass.
He don't wanna use it? Fine, his call.
We all have different interviewing styles. I ain't no superstar but I've done well enough in the biz to venture a guess that my style works OK.
And I use "talk about" because it does exactly that - gets 'em talking about that.

I find those who look down their nose at anybody's style of questioning offensive. Very much so.

So, yeah, SlapDoggyDogg, I guess that qualifies.

I mean, I ain't Wojo. But I does do OK.

 

[PaseanaARG]

I don't use the "talk about" method of questioning myself, but I don't have a problem with it.

That is far less annoying than questions that are too damn long. Good lord. Y'all remember Ash? I use a digital recorder, and I counted one of his questions: 21 seconds.

Personally, I like asking really obvious questions. I get some great answers.

Examples:
Ben, are you glad you don't have a concussion?
How much does it suck losing your tight end for the season?
Do you think you're fat?
Is your coordinator crazy?

 

[Cosmo]

Moddy ... let me clarify and retract a bit (I have been known to spew a bit of hyperbole on this site, ya know) ... I'm not a fan of the people that I deal with that ask NOTHING but the talk about question. (Mostly radio types who don't know how to ask a real question.) More specifically, the talk about question that deals with a total generality.

Talk about Jake Plummer.
In what context? Seems like just fishing for a sound bite. And the subject probably won't understand exactly what you're trying to get at anyway.

Talk about your decision to switch from a 1-3-1 press to a man defense in the second half.
Now that's specific, and you'll probably get a pretty decent response that opens the door to other questions.

I think that makes sense.

Passy ... I know exactly of what you speak of. Just get to the point, please. Nothing more awkward than spewing out a 30-second question and then having the subject going, 'uh, can you repeat that?'

 

[Moderator1]

Cool.
And I agree.
Talk about has to have a specific something to talk about in there.

 

[henryhenry]

Talk about something else already.

 

[cranberry]

Yep.
Someone started a "talk about" thread a while back and I basically jumped his ass.
He don't wanna use it? Fine, his call.
We all have different interviewing styles. I ain't no superstar but I've done well enough in the biz to venture a guess that my style works OK.
And I use "talk about" because it does exactly that - gets 'em talking about that.

I find those who look down their nose at anybody's style of questioning offensive. Very much so.

So, yeah, SlapDoggyDogg, I guess that qualifies.

I mean, I ain't Wojo. But I does do OK.

The first 100 times I heard someone ask an athlete/coach to "Talk about ..." I didn't like it, either, but I've come around to Moddy's side of the argument. Ffrankly, I don't hear a lot of masterfully crafted questions in most post-game settings and press conferences. Generally, you're trying to elicit someone's thoughts or insights about a certain play or moment of the game. Asking someone to "talk about" it usually does the trick. Then you can have all of the artful and clever follow-ups that you want.

 

[SCEditor]

I agree with Moddy on "talk about." I use it, because it gets a coach or player going, then you can ask follow-up questions. The best way to get a person to give you a good, honest answer is to give them free reign. Then you can get the exact quote, or quote you're looking for on a certain topic after that. I also think it opens them up more than pigeon-holing a conversation.

I had a coach, back when I was a sophomore in high school writing for the school paper, who gave me the best advice when interviewing a coach. Don't make it "Question, answer. Question, answer." Make it a conversation, and you'll get better information out of the interview." To me, "talk about" leads to a better conversation than an interrogation-style interview.

 

[cranberry]

You're essentially introducing a topic for conversation and giving the interviewee the courtesy of an opening statement before the pointed questions begin. It gets results.

 

[Moderator1]

Applause, applause. I've often said we should be in the business of conversing and not interviewing.

 

[Sxysprtswrtr]

Applause, applause. I've often said we should be in the business of conversing and not interviewing.

A columnist I know (and well, work with) treats *almost* every interview as though she/he and the subject are in a bar, having two drinks, casually talking about whatever strikes their fancy.