KC Star's Sam Mellinger on **** Vitale

[brandonsneed]

Thought some folks might like to read this interview with the Kansas City Star's Sam Mellinger, who recently wrote a great profile of **** Vitale.

I was amazed that he wrote it in two hours. I mean, I've turned around two-hour features for papers before, but I thought this story was too good to have been done that quickly. Figured maybe he wrote it in a morning. But two hours? Holy crap.

http://www.heygoodcall.com/journal/2011/9/20/interview-the-kansas-city-stars-sam-mellinger-on-****-vitale.html

Update 9/20/11 at 5 p.m.

As per people much smarter than me, here is Mellinger's story:

http://www.kansascity.com/2011/09/07/3127666/vitale-crusading-for-the-young.html#ixzz1YVW22V2H

And I've changed the bit.ly link to the HGC link.

 

[Piotr Rasputin]

http://www.heygoodcall.com/about-goodcall/

Anyone ever seen brandonsneed and Matt Stephens in the same room together?

 

[brandonsneed]

http://www.heygoodcall.com/about-goodcall/

Anyone ever seen brandonsneed and Matt Stephens in the same room together?

Not sure I get it. Who's Matt Stephens? He posts around here, right? That's about all I know.

 

[Ace]

I don't know anyone who has met **** Vitale who doesn't like him as a person.

And -- as has been stated numerous times -- Vitale is very good and generous with the local media.

 

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

I don't know anyone who has met **** Vitale who doesn't like him as a person.

And -- as has been stated numerous times -- Vitale is very good and generous with the local media.

Yup.
He once bought me a lap dance!

 

[steveu]

I get tired of his "Dookie V" schtick. That said, I've heard nothing but positive things about him away from the broadcast table.

 

[Ace]

I don't know anyone who has met **** Vitale who doesn't like him as a person.

And -- as has been stated numerous times -- Vitale is very good and generous with the local media.

Yup.
He once bought me a lap dance!

He's a prince!

 

[JJHHI]

http://www.heygoodcall.com/about-goodcall/

Anyone ever seen brandonsneed and Matt Stephens in the same room together?

Not sure I get it. Who's Matt Stephens? He posts around here, right? That's about all I know.

Something something, shameless self-promotion, something something.

 

[Central-KY-Kid]

Why wasn't the KC Star story linked?

http://www.kansascity.com/2011/09/07/3127666/vitale-crusading-for-the-young.html#ixzz1YVW22V2H

A bit dishonest to link us to your fledgling site -- hence the reference to Matt Stephens (and biofile!) -- for your take on someone else's work instead of us giving us Mellinger's direct link. And you didn't need to use the bit.ly link (unless of course you thought people wouldn't click it if it was the HGC link).

Most web site links will fit here fine without running them through bit.ly.

Don't use us to build up hits/visits to your site, although I doubt I'm the only one who had no clue HGC existed before I clicked the link (same thing with biofile).

 

[Cubbiebum]

Why wasn't the KC Star story linked?

http://www.kansascity.com/2011/09/07/3127666/vitale-crusading-for-the-young.html#ixzz1YVW22V2H

A bit dishonest to link us to your fledgling site -- hence the reference to Matt Stephens (and biofile!) -- for your take on someone else's work instead of us giving us Mellinger's direct link. And you didn't need to use the bit.ly link (unless of course you thought people wouldn't click it if it was the HGC link).

Most web site links will fit here fine without running them through bit.ly.

Don't use us to build up hits/visits to your site, although I doubt I'm the only one who had no clue HGC existed before I clicked the link (same thing with biofile).

This.

 

[brandonsneed]

Why wasn't the KC Star story linked?

http://www.kansascity.com/2011/09/07/3127666/vitale-crusading-for-the-young.html#ixzz1YVW22V2H

A bit dishonest to link us to your fledgling site -- hence the reference to Matt Stephens (and biofile!) -- for your take on someone else's work instead of us giving us Mellinger's direct link. And you didn't need to use the bit.ly link (unless of course you thought people wouldn't click it if it was the HGC link).

Most web site links will fit here fine without running them through bit.ly.

Don't use us to build up hits/visits to your site, although I doubt I'm the only one who had no clue HGC existed before I clicked the link (same thing with biofile).

This.

Ahhh, I see. Sorry, didn't mean to be shady or anything. I've fixed it all now, as you can see. For what it's worth, none of that was intentional. Just copied-and-pasted the bit.ly link from my Twitter feed; wasn't trying to be sneaky. Also, just didn't think to include the Mellinger piece. All innocent mistakes. I was in a bit of a hurry and thought of you all here and felt like sharing.

Of course, the extra clicks are nice, but that's not my main motivation for posting here. Mostly, I thought journalists would like hearing what other journalists had to say about the subjects they're covering.

Anyway. Sorry if I broke etiquette or something. Carry on.

 

[Elliotte Friedman]

Surprised newspaper websites themselves don't do more of this. I'm amazed by how much people seem to like the "inside baseball" of our jobs -- especially when it comes to how we put together stories or, in tv, how things get put on the air.

I was doing a radio show once where a caller asked how between-periods interviews work. Now, anyone who's ever watched HNIC knows no matter how hard we try, they can be rather mindless. But, I was explaining who gets first choice when there are several different outlets working the game and the next 10 or so callers wanted to build on that and other parts of the show. They really like that kind of stuff.

So, when someone comes up with a great feature, don't understand why it's places like Brandon's blog or The Big Lead who do the good interviews/behind the scenes pieces about it. (Cue the Fozzy Bear photo. I don't care, I like the site.)

 

[brandonsneed]

Why wasn't the KC Star story linked?

http://www.kansascity.com/2011/09/07/3127666/vitale-crusading-for-the-young.html#ixzz1YVW22V2H

A bit dishonest to link us to your fledgling site -- hence the reference to Matt Stephens (and biofile!) -- for your take on someone else's work instead of us giving us Mellinger's direct link. And you didn't need to use the bit.ly link (unless of course you thought people wouldn't click it if it was the HGC link).

Most web site links will fit here fine without running them through bit.ly.

Don't use us to build up hits/visits to your site, although I doubt I'm the only one who had no clue HGC existed before I clicked the link (same thing with biofile).

This.

Just another note: You must not have actually read the interview at the GoodCall link. That IS Sam Mellinger talking about **** Vitale. Not just me talking about Sam Mellinger talking about **** Vitale.

 

[Central-KY-Kid]

Why wasn't the KC Star story linked?

http://www.kansascity.com/2011/09/07/3127666/vitale-crusading-for-the-young.html#ixzz1YVW22V2H

A bit dishonest to link us to your fledgling site -- hence the reference to Matt Stephens (and biofile!) -- for your take on someone else's work instead of us giving us Mellinger's direct link. And you didn't need to use the bit.ly link (unless of course you thought people wouldn't click it if it was the HGC link).

Most web site links will fit here fine without running them through bit.ly.

Don't use us to build up hits/visits to your site, although I doubt I'm the only one who had no clue HGC existed before I clicked the link (same thing with biofile).

This.

Just another note: You must not have actually read the interview at the GoodCall link. That IS Sam Mellinger talking about **** Vitale. Not just me talking about Sam Mellinger talking about **** Vitale.

1) Not sure why HGC is linked BEFORE the KC Star article ... or at all (you did say it's NOT all about hits).

2) On the HGC link, there are four grafs on YOUR thoughts on Vitale before Mellinger is even mentioned and 14 grafs BEFORE Mellinger is quoted (not including the article) about how the article -- now 13 days old by the time you blogged about it -- came about.

That being said, I agree with Elliotte Friedman that blogs don't have to be the only one that do these types of features and profiles (although it was the Kansas City columnist, which was later sent out on the McClatchy wire and appeared on many McClatchy sites).

FWIW, I don't read biofile's and Matt Stephens' stuff either when they're the ones tooting their own horns.

If was riveting/important/newsworthy enough to be posted, surely someone else would have posted it.

 

[brandonsneed]

Why wasn't the KC Star story linked?

http://www.kansascity.com/2011/09/07/3127666/vitale-crusading-for-the-young.html#ixzz1YVW22V2H

A bit dishonest to link us to your fledgling site -- hence the reference to Matt Stephens (and biofile!) -- for your take on someone else's work instead of us giving us Mellinger's direct link. And you didn't need to use the bit.ly link (unless of course you thought people wouldn't click it if it was the HGC link).

Most web site links will fit here fine without running them through bit.ly.

Don't use us to build up hits/visits to your site, although I doubt I'm the only one who had no clue HGC existed before I clicked the link (same thing with biofile).

This.

Just another note: You must not have actually read the interview at the GoodCall link. That IS Sam Mellinger talking about **** Vitale. Not just me talking about Sam Mellinger talking about **** Vitale.

1) Not sure why HGC is linked BEFORE the KC Star article ... or at all (you did say it's NOT all about hits).

2) On the HGC link, there are four grafs on YOUR thoughts on Vitale before Mellinger is even mentioned and 14 grafs BEFORE Mellinger is quoted (not including the article) about how the article -- now 13 days old by the time you blogged about it -- came about.

That being said, I agree with Elliotte Friedman that blogs don't have to be the only one that do these types of features and profiles (although it was the Kansas City columnist, which was later sent out on the McClatchy wire and appeared on many McClatchy sites).

FWIW, I don't read biofile's and Matt Stephens' stuff either when they're the ones tooting their own horns.

If was riveting/important/newsworthy enough to be posted, surely someone else would have posted it.

Look, I just figured that since this is a new blog, not a ton of people would see the interview who would enjoy it. So I shared it here. It's not like I'm trying to brag or get hits. Just trying to share something cool with people who I knew would appreciate it.

So, um, sorry?

 

[Monday Morning Sportswriter]

I love watching people get taken down this way.

 

[YGBFKM]

The lesson of this thread is that if you're a writer, you should strive to never have anyone see your work.

If someone wants to post a link to a story, interview, etc., more power to 'em. If you don't like it, don't read it. A thread like this makes sj sound likes it's full of bitter assholes who want as many people as possible to go down with the S.S. Journalism.

 

[brandonsneed]

The lesson of this thread is that if you're a writer, you should strive to never have anyone see your work.

If someone wants to post a link to a story, interview, etc., more power to 'em. If you don't like it, don't read it. A thread like this makes sj sound likes it's full of bitter assholes who want as many people as possible to go down with the S.S. Journalism.

Thanks, YGBFKM. It's really okay. I don't take anything said here personally, for better or worse. Learned that the hard way. Just trying to bust my ass and do some good work and hopefully create something great. This website is a fun little side project that occasionally gives me a way to talk to people about interesting things, things that—once again—I thought some folks here would enjoy once they learned about them.

I knew some folks here would give me some sh*t if I posted this. That's fine. I mean, I wish they wouldn't, but hang out around here long enough, you know to expect it. And once I know to expect it, it's really no big deal. Didn't bother me a bit.

Well, it did a little: Kind of bums me out that people would take time to rip into something that's meant only for good. But then, some people just like to tear down where others like to build.

 

[Central-KY-Kid]

The lesson of this thread is that if you're a writer, you should strive to never have anyone see your work.

If someone wants to post a link to a story, interview, etc., more power to 'em. If you don't like it, don't read it. A thread like this makes sj sound likes it's full of bitter assholes who want as many people as possible to go down with the S.S. Journalism.

Disagree.

FWIW, I think Brandon's site has promise. Clean design. A focus on the positive. And an effort to talk to the author about the behind-the-scenes workings on a story (the Toomer trees, for example). He'll get a following.

If his blog succeeds, good for him. Maybe it will prove useful on a resume or help him land at a bigger paper.

I never tore down his work or his site.

But:
- Do we really want "teasing" posts that tell you one thing and then send you to something else?
- Blind bit.ly links that you can't check to see where you're being sent to?
- Do we want more biofiles(es) and Matt Stephens(es) around with more "me me me" journalism?

Sorry if that makes me a "bitter asshole" -- I understand you didn't call me that directly -- but just one opinion. And I am fairly confident other non-bitter posters and non-assholes on here would agree with "no" answers on the previous questions.

And even after he edited it, he still linked his site first over the KC Star .. you know, the guy and the site in the post topic. Or linked to any other McClatchy paper that ran it in print or online.

There's a fundamental difference in offering up work on the writer's workshop portion of this site for critique/help/insight and then doing for hits (Hi! Matt Stephens and BioFile) to help a new blog get off the ground. If it was about letting us see an insightful interview, why not post part -- like Mellinger saying it took less than two hours -- of his Q-and-A with Mellinger here and then link to the full one?

 

[Ben_Hecht]

I get tired of his "Dookie V" schtick. That said, I've heard nothing but positive things about him away from the broadcast table.

Yes, yes, yes . . . my sole other problem with him is that each and every college basketball coach in the history of the world is a wonderful, wonderful, wonderful, wonderful, wonderful guy.

And we all know that's bull****, cubed.