Unplug the phones

[ColbertNation]

I've been hesitent to post this, but I'd really like some feedback here. The bosses instituted a no-call-in policy for the spring sports. We now only accept game results by e-mail. No fax, no phone. We have 35 high schools in our coverage area, and many of the coaches are upset (understandably so, from my point of view). A lot of them have called and said they aren't going to give us game results anymore. The bosses -- convinced that the coaches will "eventually come around" -- are determined to stick to this policy. I asked my SE tonight and he said they would rather get most of the results by e-mail than all of the results by phone and fax.
I've thought about various ways to handle this, but I think the safest rout for me (call me selfish, but I need this job) is to let this whole thing play out and implode on itself.
I have made several points on this matter, including:

• So, now we're asking the coaches to do our work for us
• Aren't we providing the service here? The coaches are doing us the favor by reporting the score in the first place.
• The above-mentioned: Do you want to get some of the scores by e-mail or most/all of them by phone and fax?
• To not talk to the coaches disconnects them from our reporters.

To this point, it has all fallen on deaf ears. Almost every other paper in our circulation range (and some higher) still take scores by phone. It seems arrogant to me that they think they've figured out a way to get around that.
Anyone have any thoughts on this? If nothing else, it felt good to vent a bit.

 

[RedHotChiliPrepper]

Unfortunately, I probably don't have any good advice for you. I'm just kind of curious if this is being implemented as a cost-cutting measure, or a time-saving measure? What is the rationale behind it — not that there is any rationalizing something as stupid as this.

I think you just kind of have to ride the wave and it'll either end up failing miserably or making your job just a little easier, I guess.

 

[redsox99]

Are they just going to take the info from the e-mail, copy and paste into a news file and not make any changes? Otherwise, what's the difference in taking it over the phone or by fax, you still gotta take what they give you and work it into a roundup, agate, or whatever your style is, right? Of all the idiotic things I've seen in my time (and continue to see), this one ranks right up there (or down there).

 

[write then drink]

I don't think it's the worst policy, actually.

Our place probably gets 75-80 percent of HS results emailed in as it is.

The way prep departments have been sliced, it just seems like a more efficient use of time to cut and paste or do a quick rewrite then try to answer phones that always seem to all be ringing at the same time.

Frees people up to make calls they have to make without worrying about constantly answering phones and trying to pry info from clueless teenage girls.

With the proliferation of treos and blackberries, I would think many coaches could even text stuff in pretty painlessly.

If there's a coach who really has a hardship with this, whose manager doesn't have email access, yeah, you make an exception. But I do think it's the way to go.

 

[HejiraHenry]

CN, how big of a paper are we talking about here?

 

[TheSportsPredictor]

Your managers are morons.

 

[pressboxramblings07]

I think it's pretty bogus, regardless of how big of a newspaper.

What happens to the team that travels outside of the coverage area and won't be back in time to get it in the next day's paper? Two days later, it's old news.

 

[TheSportsPredictor]

Can't wait til some coach sends in incomplete results. Then you email him back, but he's not online so you can't get the correct info. Then you call him to confirm.

 

[rtse11]

We emphasize to our coaches in the preseason mailing we'd prefer email or fax - helps with spelling of names, for instance - but we'll still take calls. Most of the younger coaches are happy to go electronic.

 

[Lollygaggers]

I would love it if we got all our submissions by e-mail, but to mandate it just won't work. Not only will the coaches complain, but the parents will be even more vocal and then you're stuck blaming the coach saying that the results would be in if they would just e-mail them. I'm sure eventually that's how it will be anyway, but this could be handled better. And what happens when you miss an e-mail (which you will)? Then you'll never hear the end of it from that coach.

 

[RickStain]

Your manager has chosen your department's convenience over the goodwill of the community. Beware these sorts of decisions.

 

[pseudo]

Can't wait til some coach sends in incomplete results. Then you email him back, but he's not online so you can't get the correct info. Then you call him to confirm.

Yup. Softball coach sent me one last week. Nice selection of stats for his team ... but forgot to include the final score, or the name of the team they played against.

 

[zebracoy]

It's technology that's been around since Al Gore invented the Internet, but I'm surprised nobody does this:

Why is there not, in 2009, a simple form on the Web site to submit scores?

Sport: (Drop-down Menu)

Visiting Team: [___________] Score: [_____]
Home Team: [___________] Score: [_____]

Then, depending on the sport, a variety of choices come up - boxes for quarters/periods/innings, space for goal scorers, etc.

 

[podunk press]

I think this would be especially problematic during football season. With late games, coaches might not send in results until right up against deadline.

As always, you will have the coaches who care about their jobs and getting their kids recognition. They'll find a way to e-mail results and stats.

And you'll have the coaches who don't care, who won't bother to do it.

Out here in Podunk, nobody owns Blackberries, so the previous poster who proposed that clearly isn't living in the country.

I just don't see where this would save much time.

 

[Batman]

Others have mentioned this, but a big problem here is the coaches can be way too selective and "forgetful" with the information. Coach calls, you can ask questions to get the info or even a quote or two if you're trying to make it a longer story.
For example, you see that a team scored six runs in the seventh inning to win a game. With a phone call, you can ask the coach to take you through it and flesh out your story. Coach tells you in an e-mail they scored six runs to win it (or the other team did) -- and believe me, there's coaches who would just give you that -- and that's all you've got. Unless you make a follow up phone call anyway.
So, yeah, I'll side with the folks who think the policy is asinine.

 

[ColbertNation]

All right. Let me try to answer everyone in order here.
ChiliPeppers: This was implemented to save us time. When we told them it wouldn't save us time, they said "yes it will."

Red Sox: We don't take the e-mails as they come. We have to clean them up and format them to our style and all that good stuff. So, yeah, the time-saving argument makes less and less sense.

Write...Drink: Um, no. There are no exceptions. If the coach doesn't have e-mail access (which is quite common, I've found), we are supposed to tell them to e-mail it from school the next day. The only exception we have right now is if the team is out of state.

Henry: 40k weekday; 50k Sunday.

TSP: A. Yes, yes they are. B. The coaches are supposed to include their phone number in the e-mail in case we have to call them (yeah, I know, you don't have to tell me).

rtse: I agree, but the coaches should be given the option. In some cases (track, especially), e-mail is easier for us, but I have a real problem telling a coach who wants to give me information that I won't take it. I had a fax yesterday (results in my hand) and I was told not to put the score in the paper.

Lolly: Already happened Sunday when there were only two of us working. Coach isn't sending in results any more.

Rick: He's chosen his convenience, because now he doesn't have to do any work. He can sit there and forward e-mails to us all night and not do any of them himself.

Zebra: In theory and in a perfect world, you're right. But: 1. We all know that most coaches are stupid, and couldn't fill out a simple form if their lives depended on it; and 2. Because of the way our tabs and spacing work, a simple e-mail form isn't feasible for sports with scores by inning/quarter/period/etc...

 

[hwkcrz1]

The bottom line is, because of this policy, you are going to have less local results in the paper, and that will hurt your readership in the long run.

 

[Starman]

And, by never talking to the coaches, you will get zero (0) leads for feature stories and columns.

Just wrapping another layer of rope around the newspaper's neck.

 

[Clerk Typist]

So if the phone rings in the sports department, nobody's supposed to answer it. Or it's answered, but if it's a coach, you're supposed to hang up?
Proof once again that those who don't do the work have no clue how the work should be done.

 

[pressboxer]

As a reporter, it is my job to gather information for publication. I should be allowed to use any (legal) method necessary to do so.

The thinking behind this policy is tragically flawed.