Dear dimwit on the phone

[sgreenwell]

Got a teenage son of some friends of ours who works at Wal-Mart, and the stories he tells about people trying to get free stuff are unbelievable.

Said one of them they've seen lately is people making coupons on their computer and bringing them in, expecting them to be honored. And not like 10 cents off a can of soup coupons. But more like a coupon where if you buy 2 xBox 360 games, you get an xBox 360 console for free. Or buy a 42-inch flat screen TV at 50 percent off, and get a surround-sound system thrown in for free.

Said they go to a lot of effort to make the coupons look real, but it takes 3 seconds to tell it's a fake (even beyond the ridiculous particulars of the coupons). And he says they get way pissed off when the coupons are not accepted, with some even threatening to call the cops. By then there's a manager involved, who says, "Sounds good. Let's go to a private room and call the police. You stay with us, and we'll let them sort it all out."

Sounds like that typically gets these people itching to leave the store in a hurry.

My sister worked there for about a year, and I've also had one in town for 3 years at various reporting stops. The police reports are all over the map, from kids ****ing around to desperate people just trying to shoplift food to "mastermind" criminals. The most popular shoplifting technique now seems to be loading up baby carrier boxes or backpacks with other items, and then going through checkout.

 

[Inky_Wretch]

Dear deer hunter's mother,

Listen, it's great that your daughter shot her first deer over the weekend. And I'm impressed it's a 10-pointer - I've not seen anything that big while I've been in my treestand this year.

But we don't run dead deer (or duck or bear or squirrel or elk) photos in the paper. No, we don't run "write-ups" about kids who kill their first deer either.

No, not even when the hunter is 5-years-old.

Sincerely,
Inky, a fellow hunter who thinks your story is bull**** because there's no way that little kid could handle a rifle taller than her and/or deal with the recoil from it.

Maybe you should run them. We do (and have for decades) and it's one of our most popular features. Between November and February we'll probably get around 100 pictures submitted, and we try to run at least two or three every Friday. People love it, it takes little effort on our part, and if it gets them to buy a newspaper or three I have no problem with it.

Same here, though probably not as many pics get turned in.

We run them every Thursday on our youth page.

We don't have room to run them. Back when we had 10-12 pages per day, we did. When we dropped to eight-10, we cut back. When we hit six pages daily, we cut them completely.

And if you're getting 100 and running three per week, are you running them into the summer?

 

[Mark2010]

Sadly, nothing new about "boosting". A lot of times, they'll turn around and try to sell this stuff. Unbelievable.

I will give some leeway to a hungry, homeless person who hasn't eaten in a week trying to get a loaf of bread or a bag of chips. But some of this stuff just makes me roll my eyes.

 

[Batman]

Dear deer hunter's mother,

Listen, it's great that your daughter shot her first deer over the weekend. And I'm impressed it's a 10-pointer - I've not seen anything that big while I've been in my treestand this year.

But we don't run dead deer (or duck or bear or squirrel or elk) photos in the paper. No, we don't run "write-ups" about kids who kill their first deer either.

No, not even when the hunter is 5-years-old.

Sincerely,
Inky, a fellow hunter who thinks your story is bull**** because there's no way that little kid could handle a rifle taller than her and/or deal with the recoil from it.

Maybe you should run them. We do (and have for decades) and it's one of our most popular features. Between November and February we'll probably get around 100 pictures submitted, and we try to run at least two or three every Friday. People love it, it takes little effort on our part, and if it gets them to buy a newspaper or three I have no problem with it.

Same here, though probably not as many pics get turned in.

We run them every Thursday on our youth page.

We don't have room to run them. Back when we had 10-12 pages per day, we did. When we dropped to eight-10, we cut back. When we hit six pages daily, we cut them completely.

And if you're getting 100 and running three per week, are you running them into the summer?

Might have overestimated. It feels like 100. We try to average three per week, but it depends on space. Sometimes it's four or five, sometimes it's only one or two. Point is, it's a steady stream of them coming in, at least a few per week and enough that we're often backed up pretty good by mid-December.
Sounds like you're at a bigger paper, and this is definitely something that's more in a smaller community paper's wheelhouse, but you have six pages per day and can't carve out space for something like this? We typically have three and find room to do it. The pictures usually run as one- or two-column shots and take up about the same amount of space as a regular story would. I'd much rather run those than some throwaway NBA or Top 25 college basketball roundup.

 

[KJIM]

Dear deer hunter's mother,

Listen, it's great that your daughter shot her first deer over the weekend. And I'm impressed it's a 10-pointer - I've not seen anything that big while I've been in my treestand this year.

But we don't run dead deer (or duck or bear or squirrel or elk) photos in the paper. No, we don't run "write-ups" about kids who kill their first deer either.

No, not even when the hunter is 5-years-old.

Sincerely,
Inky, a fellow hunter who thinks your story is bull**** because there's no way that little kid could handle a rifle taller than her and/or deal with the recoil from it.

At many of the papers I've seen, this would have gone over incredibly well.

 

[KYSportsWriter]

Dear deer hunter's mother,

Listen, it's great that your daughter shot her first deer over the weekend. And I'm impressed it's a 10-pointer - I've not seen anything that big while I've been in my treestand this year.

But we don't run dead deer (or duck or bear or squirrel or elk) photos in the paper. No, we don't run "write-ups" about kids who kill their first deer either.

No, not even when the hunter is 5-years-old.

Sincerely,
Inky, a fellow hunter who thinks your story is bull**** because there's no way that little kid could handle a rifle taller than her and/or deal with the recoil from it.

Maybe you should run them. We do (and have for decades) and it's one of our most popular features. Between November and February we'll probably get around 100 pictures submitted, and we try to run at least two or three every Friday. People love it, it takes little effort on our part, and if it gets them to buy a newspaper or three I have no problem with it.

Same here, though probably not as many pics get turned in.

We run them every Thursday on our youth page.

We don't have room to run them. Back when we had 10-12 pages per day, we did. When we dropped to eight-10, we cut back. When we hit six pages daily, we cut them completely.

And if you're getting 100 and running three per week, are you running them into the summer?

We don't get that many. Not even close. And we have a 30-day rule in place for photos and results, and we're not breaking that rule to run someone's dead deer photo from November in the summer.

We used to get anywhere from 20-30 photos each deer season, and we'd run them -- as space permitted, obviously -- each week. But now, that number has dropped to 10-15 a season. Maybe it's because social media and all that jazz ... I really don't know what to chalk it up to, but folks haven't been turning those photos in like they used to.

 

[HejiraHenry]

Dear deer hunter's mother,

Listen, it's great that your daughter shot her first deer over the weekend. And I'm impressed it's a 10-pointer - I've not seen anything that big while I've been in my treestand this year.

But we don't run dead deer (or duck or bear or squirrel or elk) photos in the paper. No, we don't run "write-ups" about kids who kill their first deer either.

No, not even when the hunter is 5-years-old.

Sincerely,
Inky, a fellow hunter who thinks your story is bull**** because there's no way that little kid could handle a rifle taller than her and/or deal with the recoil from it.

Maybe you should run them. We do (and have for decades) and it's one of our most popular features. Between November and February we'll probably get around 100 pictures submitted, and we try to run at least two or three every Friday. People love it, it takes little effort on our part, and if it gets them to buy a newspaper or three I have no problem with it.

Same here, though probably not as many pics get turned in.

We run them every Thursday on our youth page.

We don't have room to run them. Back when we had 10-12 pages per day, we did. When we dropped to eight-10, we cut back. When we hit six pages daily, we cut them completely.

And if you're getting 100 and running three per week, are you running them into the summer?

We don't get that many. Not even close. And we have a 30-day rule in place for photos and results, and we're not breaking that rule to run someone's dead deer photo from November in the summer.

We used to get anywhere from 20-30 photos each deer season, and we'd run them -- as space permitted, obviously -- each week. But now, that number has dropped to 10-15 a season. Maybe it's because social media and all that jazz ... I really don't know what to chalk it up to, but folks haven't been turning those photos in like they used to.

People pay for obits in your papers, right? Charge them for running the deer pix, budget it as advertising space.
Every time you get eight (or 12, whatever) then run a full page of them.

 

[spikechiquet]

Dear guy 5 states over than keeps calling us all night for an update to your alma mater's football score:
How many times do we have to tell you we don't give partial scores over the phone?
...
No, sir, we never give out scores.
...
I understand you don't get our paper sir (so thanks for being a loyal subscriber), but we have a website that will be updated after the game.
...
It's good to know you want free up-to-date info from a place that charges for it's product.
...
*click*
Well, then...dial 1-800-382-5633 for more information...that's 1-800-****-OFF.

 

[Kolchak]

Dear guy 5 states over than keeps calling us all night for an update to your alma mater's football score:
How many times do we have to tell you we don't give partial scores over the phone?
...
No, sir, we never give out scores.
...
I understand you don't get our paper sir (so thanks for being a loyal subscriber), but we have a website that will be updated after the game.
...
It's good to know you want free up-to-date info from a place that charges for it's product.

There's some guy who lives a couple states away and keeps calling us to find out scores of his beloved college because apparently he can't get any information whatsoever about a major Division I university where he lives, and he has to keep mentioning that every time he calls. Football, basketball, baseball, softball -- he'll call about all of them.

Recently he called to complain about Podunk Tech A&M's football loss and just went nuts about what he thinks should happen to the coach. I told him I was on a deadline and trying to put the paper out, and his response was, "I know." Then he promptly proceeded to rant for a few more minutes.

I didn't listen to a word he said.

 

[Mark2010]

People pay for obits in your papers, right? Charge them for running the deer pix, budget it as advertising space.
Every time you get eight (or 12, whatever) then run a full page of them.

That's a damn good idea. Why do we give away stuff that people will actually pay for?

 

[HanSenSE]

What a way to start a Monday. Water polo dad whose spawn didn't make all-league, even as honorable mention, sends me a spreadsheet with his son's stats to make sure I'm "not deceived" by the coaches vote and will consider him for all-county, if not MVP.

An MVP? On a team that went 0-12 in league? He may make the team, but his stats are average at best.

 

[Bud_Bundy]

What a way to start a Monday. Water polo dad whose spawn didn't make all-league, even as honorable mention, sends me a spreadsheet with his son's stats to make sure I'm "not deceived" by the coaches vote and will consider him for all-county, if not MVP.

An MVP? On a team that went 0-12 in league? He may make the team, but his stats are average at best.

We had a parent once send us a full press kit on his basketball-playing son, complete with such tidbits as his name should always be listed as Rodney, never Rod. He also listed the kid's top 5 college choices, which included 5 D-1 schools and the local D-3 as his "safety" school. The kid was a decent player and wound up as his school's all-time leading scorer (for a very young school), but the treat was when we brought his name up to the D3 coach. His response:"He can't even play at our level."

 

[Rusty Shackleford]

I can only speak for my company's system, but if the computer doesn't recognized the bar code when scanned, we don't take it. Now, since we do price matching of circulars or online prices, I could see someone trying to fake that.

That would be an awesome felony to committ! You know stores that honor circulars, so you design and print an entire fake circular, making all the deals look normal except the one you want, and you do the "Buy one XBOX 360 game, get the system free!" ad and take it to WalMart or somewhere. Haha.

 

[writerdownsouth]

Had an angry caller say I was biased and only taking pictures of the quarterback on a certain high school's team. The quarterback who is pretty much the entire team and scores at least three or four touchdowns every week. She claimed the offensive line intentionally didn't block in a game a few weeks ago because they were jealous he was getting all the attention.

Really.

 

[Spartan Squad]

Had a mom just ask why I ran a story without photos of her son she submitted. I explained I had space issues and had included them online.

She accepted the answer.

I'm not sure if her appreciation for the article was sarcastic or genuine or if there's another shoe that's about to drop. I'm not used to people being reasonable with their queries/complaints.

 

[Mark2010]

No, not even when the hunter is 5-years-old.

There's something that unnerves me about a 5-year-old with a firearm.

 

[Mark2010]

What a way to start a Monday. Water polo dad whose spawn didn't make all-league, even as honorable mention, sends me a spreadsheet with his son's stats to make sure I'm "not deceived" by the coaches vote and will consider him for all-county, if not MVP.

An MVP? On a team that went 0-12 in league? He may make the team, but his stats are average at best.

Oh, my. Has it really come to this? We're getting complaints about a high school (or is it little league?) water polo all-star team?

 

[Mark2010]

Had an angry caller say I was biased and only taking pictures of the quarterback on a certain high school's team. The quarterback who is pretty much the entire team and scores at least three or four touchdowns every week. She claimed the offensive line intentionally didn't block in a game a few weeks ago because they were jealous he was getting all the attention.

Really.

Petty jealousies. But I do make it a point to mention to our photographers that with teams we cover often, try to get shots of different people so we don't end up running the same kid multiple times in a row. Basketball seems to be the hardest because there are fewer players and the same players usually score the most game-in, game-out.

Question for the board from a real-life situation 3-4 years ago......

Top girls basketball team in the region's star player happens to be the daughter of our publisher. (Transferred in from California when dad got the publisher's job at the paper.) Legit D-I player (got a full scholarship at State U). Editor is worried about a "perceived" appearance of bias and conflict of interest. Orders us not to run any photos of her. OK, fine. But problem is she's the best player on the team and one of the two best in the county. Isn't that sort of reverse bias if we ignore her?

 

[SnarkShark]

Had an angry caller say I was biased and only taking pictures of the quarterback on a certain high school's team. The quarterback who is pretty much the entire team and scores at least three or four touchdowns every week. She claimed the offensive line intentionally didn't block in a game a few weeks ago because they were jealous he was getting all the attention.

Really.

Petty jealousies. But I do make it a point to mention to our photographers that with teams we cover often, try to get shots of different people so we don't end up running the same kid multiple times in a row. Basketball seems to be the hardest because there are fewer players and the same players usually score the most game-in, game-out.

Question for the board from a real-life situation 3-4 years ago......

Top girls basketball team in the region's star player happens to be the daughter of our publisher. (Transferred in from California when dad got the publisher's job at the paper.) Legit D-I player (got a full scholarship at State U). Editor is worried about a "perceived" appearance of bias and conflict of interest. Orders us not to run any photos of her. OK, fine. But problem is she's the best player on the team and one of the two best in the county. Isn't that sort of reverse bias if we ignore her?

Yes

 

[expendable]

You report the news. Period. Doesn't matter of the publisher's daughter is scoring a triple double, or if five years later, her pic is posted in the poin files. Both are news.