Questions

[Liut]

Recently read a well-written piece on the struggles of a winless football team. It was good work. However, it contained a quote from a nameless fan in the stands - from a game the reporter didn't attend.

I questioned the usage. Thoughts?

Recently read a guy's pair of by-lined gamers from the same night. Games were played at the same time in cities 50-to-75 miles away. He was two places at once, apparently. I have a problem with that.
Had quotes from both games, but had phoned a coach at one. To his credit, he also shot photos at the contest he actually attended. Input?

Finally, what is proper reference? 3-pointer or three-pointer. I'm seeing a lot of both.

Thanks.

 

[Ace]

1. If you are quoting a nameless fan, I assume you are making it up. If the fan has such a great quote, take a second and ask his name.

2. I don't have a problem with a writer having a byline from two games if he wrote the story based on calls or whatever. Shouldn't have a dateline for both.

3. 3-pointer or three-pointer is totally a style issue. I prefer 3-pointer.

 

[SF_Express]

1. If you are quoting a nameless fan, I assume you are making it up. If the fan has such a great quote, take a second and ask his name.

2. I don't have a problem with a writer having a byline from two games if he wrote the story based on calls or whatever. Shouldn't have a dateline for both.

3. 3-pointer or three-pointer is totally a style issue. I prefer 3-pointer.

Basically, Ace wrote mine for me.

 

[Liut]

1. If you are quoting a nameless fan, I assume you are making it up. If the fan has such a great quote, take a second and ask his name.

2. I don't have a problem with a writer having a byline from two games if he wrote the story based on calls or whatever. Shouldn't have a dateline for both.

3. 3-pointer or three-pointer is totally a style issue. I prefer 3-pointer.

Thanks, Ace. The quote actually added to the story. The fan was sympathetic to the team's struggles. But, the reporter wasn't at the game. It was obvious most of the information was gathered at a practice session.

I neglected to mention both stories were datelined. Which bugged me the most.

 

[SixToe]

However, it contained a quote from a nameless fan in the stands

People, and almost all places, are not nameless. They have names.

"Unidentified" would be the appropriate term to use.

 

[Liut]

However, it contained a quote from a nameless fan in the stands

People, and almost all places, are not nameless. They have names.

"Unidentified" would be the appropriate term to use.

Noted.

 

[dooley_womack1]

Why do we never get an answer when we're knocking at the door?

 

[Matt1735]

The second story, if it is just a phoner, should only be credited with a "staff report" or something else. You put your name on it, and I would assume you were there and the facts are yours. There needs to be some indication that the reporter/writer was not in attendance.

 

[Dick Whitman]

No byline on a game you didn't attend.

 

[playthrough]

1. If you are quoting a nameless fan, I assume you are making it up. If the fan has such a great quote, take a second and ask his name.

2. I don't have a problem with a writer having a byline from two games if he wrote the story based on calls or whatever. Shouldn't have a dateline for both.

3. 3-pointer or three-pointer is totally a style issue. I prefer 3-pointer.

Thanks, Ace. The quote actually added to the story. The fan was sympathetic to the team's struggles. But, the reporter wasn't at the game. It was obvious most of the information was gathered at a practice session.

I neglected to mention both stories were datelined. Which bugged me the most.

False datelines drive me crazy. It's intellectual dishonesty at best and flat-out lying at worst.

 

[waterytart]

Why do we never get an answer when we're knocking at the door?

Because the truth is hard to swallow.

 

[Ace]

No byline on a game you didn't attend.

I prefer this route, too.

 

[Raiders]

However, it contained a quote from a nameless fan in the stands

People, and almost all places, are not nameless. They have names.

"Unidentified" would be the appropriate term to use.

A newsroom clerk at my paper once expressed his desire to cover a prep game. So he got a tryout. But he did not know the value of arming himself with a game program to identify the players he was writing about, so his tryout came to a crashing halt after his game story attributed a crushing tackle to "Mystery Linebacker No. 58." On the other hand, the infamous clerk's story gets told every year now during prep season.

 

[Rhody31]

No byline on a game you didn't attend.

What if you write a feature about it? We're a weekly and I've written plenty of stories talking about games I didn't go to.

 

[Mark2010]

If the story is in the context of a feature, it's a little different, IMO. While I'm not big on anynomous quotes, if the quote is a classic that sums up the mood perfectly and adds to the story, I wouldn't object.

Even at a daily paper, it is quite common for there to be more games in the area than you have the time/space/mapower to staff on a given night. So if something noteworthy happens at one of those, it's perfectly logical to do a followup shortly thereafter. If a team is winless, I suspect they are going to be lower on the pecking order among teams in the readership, so it makes perfect sense you staff a different game. But it doesn't mean they don't have a story to tell, so kudos to the writer for telling it rather than just ignoring them and saying "eh, Podunk sunks, no one cares".

As for 3-pointer or three-pointer, it's of those style things that seems to vary from one paper to another. Not sure what the official AP gospel on that is.

 

[dooley_womack1]

Why do we never get an answer when we're knocking at the door?

Because the truth is hard to swallow.

That wasn't in the song, was it?

 

[MileHigh]

1. If you are quoting a nameless fan, I assume you are making it up. If the fan has such a great quote, take a second and ask his name.

2. I don't have a problem with a writer having a byline from two games if he wrote the story based on calls or whatever. Shouldn't have a dateline for both.

3. 3-pointer or three-pointer is totally a style issue. I prefer 3-pointer.

Basically, Ace wrote mine for me.

Same, though I prefer three-pointer, but I see the other side. Just a preference, and we've had this debate many times on this board.

 

[Liut]

1. If you are quoting a nameless fan, I assume you are making it up. If the fan has such a great quote, take a second and ask his name.

2. I don't have a problem with a writer having a byline from two games if he wrote the story based on calls or whatever. Shouldn't have a dateline for both.

3. 3-pointer or three-pointer is totally a style issue. I prefer 3-pointer.

Thanks, Ace. The quote actually added to the story. The fan was sympathetic to the team's struggles. But, the reporter wasn't at the game. It was obvious most of the information was gathered at a practice session.

I neglected to mention both stories were datelined. Which bugged me the most.

False datelines drive me crazy. It's intellectual dishonesty at best and flat-out lying at worst.

Agree 100 percent. If a reporter is willing to indulge in such dishonesty, what else in the story is to be believed. Not a question, really, but thought.

A couple of papers back, we had a reporter bylined and datelined from a carrier in the Indian Ocean. While proofing the story, I glanced over and there he was, sitting at his cubicle. And, no, he hadn't been to the Indian Ocean recently, or ever for all I know.

However, we had a veteran editor that thought such a dateline served as a locator. That editor was a pro and aided me several times, but we never did come to an agreement on the issue.

Back to the quote from the unidentified fan, my guess is the reporter heard it secondhand from the winless team's coach or a player. The team's bench is in front of the the stands.

As Mark said, it was good the paper showed interest in the story. As I indicated at the top, it was a good piece from a good writer. It appeared in a paper with a very good daily section.

 

[Steak Snabler]

However, it contained a quote from a nameless fan in the stands

People, and almost all places, are not nameless. They have names.

"Unidentified" would be the appropriate term to use.

Maybe he was quoting this guy:

 

[spikechiquet]

Why do we never get an answer when we're knocking at the door?

Because the truth is hard to swallow.

Sorry, we already covered blowjobs (/crossthread)