Ridiculous AP Gamer

Let's hope an in-house review is under way underway.

 

Preferably with a blue-ribbon panel.

 

God forbid someone actually try to make a story interesting for a reader....

There is no such thing as a purely “factual” story. Every story reflects the writer’s opinions about what was important and the story he wants to tell. You’re deceiving yourself and your readers if you think otherwise.

 

No argument from me. And you have every right to your opinion, to which I also completely agree. It's those two phrases that you mention that I also specifically pointed out in the initial post as having a problem with. With some editing, the lead is fine. As it is, though, it's just a pile of dog shit.

 

Make it interesting? Ok, let's make up shit and throw our opinion around to make it interesting. Fuck the truth. How's that? Is that what you want? How long you been in this business? Three, four years? You've got no clue.

 

You seem to have an aversion to the what-where-who. You're not there to write great American prose, especially if you're wire service. You're there to present facts.

 

Not a journalist. Just someone who understands that the “truth” is a much more sophisticated concept than either of you appear to grasp. The selection of the what-where-who inherently represents the writer’s opinion about those topics. And there’s nothing wrong with a journalist providing the reader with a retrospective analysis of what occurred—as a reader that’s much more likely what I want to read. You might be better served if you wrote for your audience rather than your journalism professor.

 

That's fine, but shotty's right.

Wire service copy serves a completely different purpose and is not the place for shtick.

 

This is undoubtedly on the mark. I know people who work on the sports side with the AP and they often mention how they've been ravaged by the number of layoffs on the editing side.

It also seems, in my opinion, that the conpany has done itself no favors with its "innovations" in recent years, especially with regards to NFL coverage. It has put a number of eggs in the football basket yet the stories generated are on the whole useless to subscribers. What's the one thing that was useful? Hometown leads. What's no longer done? Hometown leads. But hey, here are five things we need to know about the Bills/Jets game last week.

All in all, you've got a company that's trying to remain relevant by playing fast and loose (and often too cute) with its own standards. That's how we get where we are.

 

Southwinds is pretty much on point here. AP is pushing its writers to be more analytical, especially in the final writethru aka the talker. What AP doesn't do is give a lot of direction. Mark Long is a pro and very good at what he does. Personally, I wasn't bothered by this approach. We already know who won and the nuts and bolts. This piece attempts to offer us a glimpse of what the game looked like. If the subscriber didn't like this version you can simply use the 2nd lead writethru and be done. But let's not kill someone for taking chances.

 

Oh Lord, spare me the Holier than Thou bullshit.

 

Nailed it. +1