Principal bans reporter from press box, apologizes

[RichJohnson]

From Winchester, Kentucky. Principal doesn't like story on the front page, so he bans the sportswriter. Our education system at work.

http://www.wtvq.com/midatlantic/tvq/news.apx.-content-articles-TVQ-2007-09-10-0007.html

 

[imjustagirl2]

That is a well-written TV report. ::)

Who the **** is Taylor? It's George ROGERS Clark, not Roger's. And what is with all the extraneous commas?

So glad I work for Media General, which owns that station. I'm proud today.

 

[Ace]

Two thoughts:

1. If I wrote a story every time I got kicked out of a high school press box (usually just because there was no room) well, I 'd have written a lot of stories. Most of them would be soggy, because that's when the press boxes really fill up.

2. Don't even smaller papers usually have sports writers just write sports? So you're writing about racism in school by day and covering football at night?

 

[imjustagirl2]

It doesn't say anywhere he wrote the story. It says the principal didn't like a story in the paper that day.

 

[farmerjerome]

If I get kicked out of a press box for something like that, I don't cover the game. Period. I call the AD and the Superintendent on Monday.

Especially if you've had advanced notice. Find something else on the sked and cover that.

 

[Bob Slydell]

No, he didn't write the story. He just had to put up with asshole principal who didn't like the story. And it's Keith Taylor.

I would have gone to my editor and publisher, talked to them and then called the principal and just told him 'okay, have fun not seeing this game in the paper the next day.' And farmer, if I were the editor, we don't cover the game at ALL, forget sending a stringer to do it.

But as it is, it's pretty stupid to ban him from the press box but not the game, what did that prove? Yet another reason public schools suck, classy administrators.

 

[Elliotte Friedman]

If the principal really said this: "I was told well the story in the paper, he didn't like it very well" -- he's got bigger problems than newspaper reporters.

 

[Ace]

It doesn't say anywhere he wrote the story. It says the principal didn't like a story in the paper that day.

Sorry. My bad.

Well, in this case, I would have covered the game and then had my editor rip the principal a new one later.

Fact of the matter is sitting in the press box is a courtesy. You can cover the game from the stands or sidelines, too.

I have had ADs/principals threaten to bar reporters from gyms (or in one case make them pay admission when the reporter didn't have cash on hand) and that's when we went to Defcon 4 live.

 

[imjustagirl2]

Aw, Keith! I didn't even think about people I knew with the last name Taylor.

And EF, that quote is from Taylor talking about what he was told by the person telling him he was not welcome. If you know Keith, you can hear it. Just a "Well, he said he didn't like that story" thing.

 

[funky_mountain]

It doesn't say anywhere he wrote the story. It says the principal didn't like a story in the paper that day.

Sorry. My bad.

Well, in this case, I would have covered the game and then had my editor rip the principal a new one later.

Fact of the matter is sitting in the press box is a courtesy. You can cover the game from the stands or sidelines, too.

I have had ADs/principals threaten to bar reporters from gyms (or in one case make them pay admission when the reporter didn't have cash on hand) and that's when we went to Defcon 4 live.

he did cover the game; wrote a gamer for saturday's paper with quotes, detail, etc.

 

[mike311gd]

I know of a writer who was asked not to cover a D-II college any longer, by the AD. She didn't like his views on Title IX and booted him off campus.

 

[bigpern23]

I know of a writer who was asked not to cover a D-II college any longer, by the AD. She didn't like his views on Title IX and booted him off campus.

Did he thank her?

 

[Guybehindtheguy]

It doesn't say anywhere he wrote the story. It says the principal didn't like a story in the paper that day.

Sorry. My bad.

Well, in this case, I would have covered the game and then had my editor rip the principal a new one later.

Fact of the matter is sitting in the press box is a courtesy. You can cover the game from the stands or sidelines, too.

I have had ADs/principals threaten to bar reporters from gyms (or in one case make them pay admission when the reporter didn't have cash on hand) and that's when we went to Defcon 4 live.

he did cover the game; wrote a gamer for saturday's paper with quotes, detail, etc.

Personally, prep writers who sit in the press box during games are lazy. It's the only level where you can get on the field during the actual game, so go stand on the sidelines, take notes, keep stats and get a feel for what's going on there.
You don't think if you had a chance to do an NFL gamer from the sidelines, walk among the players and all that, that you wouldn't? (And yes, I realize in this age of in-game blogs and all that, you can't leave your computer for a second) There's a reason why there's a mad rush to get to the field when there's 5 minutes left: who doesn't want to get on the field during a game?

That being said, typical small-town KY bull**** on the school's part. Principal is a moron.

 

[Hank_Scorpio]

Personally, prep writers who sit in the press box during games are lazy.

That's a little harsh. With some extremely tight deadlines, some reporters don't have an option, except to sit up there. Or if someone is short, it is tough to see over the mass of players when the ball is in the middle of the field.

Personally, I prefer the sidelines (except when it's raining), but I don't think it's lazy to be in the box.

 

[Ace]

You get a better angle of how the plays unfold from the press box, though.

 

[imjustagirl2]

Maybe he needed a place to set up before heading down to the field to cover the game, then come up at halftime and do stats?

People who make generalizations about others without knowing **** about the situation are stupid AND lazy.

 

[MCbamr]

If you feel comfortable saying every prep reporter who watches from the press box is lazy, then I feel comfortable saying you are an idiot. It's easier to see the whole field from the press box. Why do you think coaches sit up there with headsets? Some reporters work where they work to do a job, not because it's COOL to stand on the sidelines. It's basically required to have a place to sit to blog. Or to keep a detailed stat sheet.
Think before you go calling somebody lazy.

 

[Guybehindtheguy]

Hey man, to each their own. I spent many a Friday night on the sideline _ even with ridiculous deadlines _ and survived. Most of the guys in the competing papers did the same. I was surprised the first time I saw somebody at a HS game go to the press box.

In my experience, there's little doubt you get a better handle of the game by being on the sidelines.

And that was not a shot at Mr. Taylor, but an observation in general.

My first SE, possibly one of the greatest men who ever lived, told me to get my ass on the sidelines and avoid the press box. It would be my advice to all newbies to do the same, if you can.

 

[imjustagirl2]

And that was not a shot at Mr. Taylor, but an observation in general.

An outrageously general one. How do you know? Maybe the field has a crown, and you can't see the other side from the sideline? Maybe the press box is only 10 rows up? Point is, you said something based on YOUR EXPERIENCE, which I'm guessing is limited, and decided to apply it to everyone everywhere.

Congrats. You're a douchebox.

 

[wickedwritah]

We have this sidelines vs. press box debate annually, it seems, and while I prefer the sidelines, there are some times -- 90-degree Saturday afternoon, when I chose not to sweat five gallons -- where I'll go for the press box.

End of threadjack, and back to the main topic. I would've called my SE, told him the story, then presuming he backed my ass up, I would've headed into the office or gone to another game, with a small editor's box on Page 1 the next day saying why we didn't cover Podunk High, and the e-mail address to where complaints can be addressed.