A shift in power

[Gator]

I got an email from an upset reader this morning whose son's name wasn't mentioned in a youth soccer blurb. Eleven of the 13 players were mentioned, and although it was listed, I must have just glanced over it. So there was no surprise I received an email about it from the parent, who actually submitted it.

Five years ago, I would have shrugged this off and said, "Sorry about the omission, but it already ran and we can't run it twice." Nowadays, with circulation shrinking at a torrid pace, I'm more apt to say, "We can run it again with the two names in there." It was only about 6 inches, or so, and I'm not going to risk losing a subscriber over this.

Which brings me to the point that readers now hold the power in these situations. Sure, we still use journalistic integrity (which in this case doesn't really have bearing), but we don't really have a leg to stand on if we all want jobs in 10 years.

Thoughts?

 

[zebracoy]

I feel very sorry for you if this is an issue.

Those are my thoughts.

 

[Mizzougrad96]

I feel very sorry for you if this is an issue.

Those are my thoughts.

Agree.

 

[Gator]

I feel very sorry for you if this is an issue.

Those are my thoughts.

The life of a sports editor at a small, family-owned daily .... "It's FAAAANNTASTIC!"

 

[Mystery Meat II]

I got an email from an upset reader this morning whose son's name wasn't mentioned in a youth soccer blurb. Eleven of the 13 players were mentioned, and although it was listed, I must have just glanced over it. So there was no surprise I received an email about it from the parent, who actually submitted it.

Five years ago, I would have shrugged this off and said, "Sorry about the omission, but it already ran and we can't run it twice." Nowadays, with circulation shrinking at a torrid pace, I'm more apt to say, "We can run it again with the two names in there." It was only about 6 inches, or so, and I'm not going to risk losing a subscriber over this.

Which brings me to the point that readers now hold the power in these situations. Sure, we still just use journalistic integrity (which in this case doesn't really have bearing), but we don't really have a leg to stand on if we all want jobs in 10 years.

Thoughts?

Whatever power they have is granted. The complaints aren't changing. Perhaps if they're more aggressive about exploring other avenues to force your hand, but there's always been the frequent advertiser, publisher's buddy and Important Person in the Community.

I'd go so far as to say making things right demonstrates more integrity, journalistic or otherwise, than acknowledging a mistake and then not acting on it.

 

[Mizzougrad96]

I interned at a place where they would have freaked out to get a call like this and that was a paper that was over 100K circ.

At my first job (400K+ circ) I remember getting a pissy call from a preps parent and asking my editor what I should do to rectify the situation and he said, "I'm impressed you didn't tell her to stick it."

 

[Mitch E.]

There's probably something wrong if we're starting to think about who holds the power -- journalists or readers. Our job is to serve them and inform them. Unfortunately they can be a pain in the ass, but it doesn't mean we should ignore them or assume they are wrong.

 

[Mizzougrad96]

There's probably something wrong if we're starting to think about who holds the power -- journalists or readers. Our job is to serve them and inform them. Unfortunately they can be a pain in the ass, but it doesn't mean we should ignore them or assume they are wrong.

I have seen sports editors who will stand up to any GM or coach or athlete that just buckle at the knees if they have to deal with an angry prep parent.

 

[Mitch E.]

There's probably something wrong if we're starting to think about who holds the power -- journalists or readers. Our job is to serve them and inform them. Unfortunately they can be a pain in the ass, but it doesn't mean we should ignore them or assume they are wrong.

I have seen sports editors who will stand up to any GM or coach or athlete that just buckle at the knees if they have to deal with an angry prep parent.

Because the prep parent knows exactly what to do: Climb the chain of command and eventually the AME, the ME, the EE or even the publisher will tell the SE to make the parent happy. Even if the parent is wrong. The SE knows the drill and it's just easier to cut it off early. So who holds the power? Well, your bosses do. Just like in any other job. But don't pretend that you hold any sort of power over the readers.

 

[GidalKaiser]

I feel very sorry for you if this is an issue.

Those are my thoughts.

+1

 

[93Devil]

To the parent...

Are they going to play again? Be sure to get their names in then. Maybe you should consider being the person who does the game submissions.

Our space in the newspaper has a monetary value, and to rerun the same story twice is not cost effective to the business model of the newspaper. Also, each team has a designated person to submit information. If we had 3-4 parents from each team submitting names and information, that would create errors and confusion in the reporting.

Have a nice day.

 

[mediaguy]

Are they really going to drop their subscription? No.

 

[Gator]

Well, I ran it again. For me, for our paper, in the long run, it was just the easiest solution. Was it a smart monetary decision? No. Was he really going to cancel his subscription? Probably not. But, and this was the point I was making with this tread, I have to work a bit harder, and maybe do things I don't really love doing to keep a reader happy.

Today, when they pick up the paper, that reader will be happy. So I'll feel pretty good about my job. That's much easier than answering an email from the EE about why this guy is calling to ***** at her.

Truth be told, I think I just hated this guy because it was his kid who was left out. He submitted the results, and I'm wondering if he would have made such a big stink if it was another kid.

The moral of the story is youth parents will eventually drive all of us small-town SEs to new careers.

 

[baddecision]

Good call, Gator.

A side note: When irate parents-slash-"subscribers" call, it's fun to engage them in polite conversation about the rest of the content in the paper. In the vast majority of cases, it quickly becomes obvious these people aren't subscribers -- aren't readers -- at all. Furthermore, if they really are subscribing solely to follow their son/daughter's exploits in youth sports, guess what they're going to do when their kid graduates and/or stops playing youth sports? Stop subscribing. So that's a weak argument.

The truly important point is the simple idea that you really should just make things right -- and if you can't do it the first time, do it now.

In the aftermath of a mistake, large or small -- and I've made and had to deal with some doozies -- work on ways to reduce the possibility of repeating these errors. Improve the submission process. Print out reference rosters of kids' teams if you have parents who spell poorly. Improve your own attention to detail; using a highlight marker to cross-check names sometimes helps. And when you've screwed up, admit it and try to fix it.

To that end: EVERY shop should have a written policy about CX's -- developed over time and informed by your wealth of experience, your interest in fairness to the customer and common sense. Another huge key to minimizing complaints is to be consistent in how you handle things, and this helps that.

 

[Mitch E.]

Gator, would he have been happy if you ran a one-inch correction listing the omitted names? In return you could have done up a mock page with the corrected version of the story and sent a print out it to him. That might work if he was only concerned with the "scrap-book" part of it.

 

[bigbadeagle]

Are they really going to drop their subscription? No.

In this day and age, when people are looking to cut pennies, that's a helluva assumption to make. People are looking for reasons just like this to shave expenses.
I would have run a correction/clarification, saying Johnny Pissant and Elmer Turdboy were inadvertently omitted from the story about the ****bag championship soccer team and the error is regretted as much as Leon Durham letting the ball go through his legs in 84.
I'm no fan of re-running the entire thing in the print product. However, putting it on the Web in all its glory, is something else.

 

[mediaguy]

By all means, run a correction. An omission was made. Re-running a note in its entirety to placate a single reader isn't in the best interests of the rest of your readership.

 

[93Devil]

By all means, run a correction. An omission was made. Re-running a note in its entirety to placate a single reader isn't in the best interests of the rest of your readership.

Exactly.

You made one parent happy, but how many others did you lose a little street cred with?

 

[Freelance Hack]

I agree on running a correction. That would have been my preferred route. Still would have gotten the kids' names in the paper, too.

Now that my son is playing Little League and Youth Soccer, I'm starting to get a better feel for the parent's perspective, too.

The C-J's Neighborhoods section prints the scores and goal scorers for our soccer league. A couple times, a girl who scored on my son's team had her name omitted. They weren't irate that it happened, but they were disappointed.

It's a small group of people, but yes there are still people who will buy a paper (or two) or print off the web page showing their child's box score or photo. They don't care about any ads or any front page news. It's for their cubicle wall at work or the fridge at home.

I know it sounds cliche and trite, but it does help to think about the reader. Agate and youth scores seem like a chore, but they're in the paper for a reason. People do read them.

 

[flexmaster33]

Gator, would he have been happy if you ran a one-inch correction listing the omitted names? In return you could have done up a mock page with the corrected version of the story and sent a print out it to him. That might work if he was only concerned with the "scrap-book" part of it.

I've done that on rare occasions.