Greeley (Co.) Tribune lays off sports department

You trust the information given you regarding names and facts? Or do you put somebody on it to call and check and recheck names and information on a contributed item?

 

I check them out. Of course.

 

Not to disparage anyone, but I’ve heard from deep cover sources that the way the sports decision unfolded had a lot to do with the people already on staff and their lack of fitness for web/social media parts of the job. So it was easier to create a new position and hire someone more equipped for the task, a “data journalist.”

Acknowledging it could be a tough spot when you have a couple inflexible veterans , I think turning your sports focus entirely to "data journalism" with no or little effort to get out of the office and to games and actual interviews is still monumentally stupid and you’d be far better off hiring a traditional sports writer with good tech skills rather than someone whose sole focus is Twitter/MaxPreps etc.

FWIW The publisher mentioned at the start of this thread is out with this sale, though AFAIK still with the selling company overseeing the other publications based in Greeley (some magazines and whatnot.)

 

Did Anne Delaney, one of the laid-off Greeley sportswriters, get rehired by news-side?

Anne Giles Delaney (@AnneGDelaney) | Twitter

 

Otherwise Heywood Jablome would have played on 10 different teams!

 

Swift was not too ... swift. MediaNews Group will make Swift seem like salad days.

Years ago, a lot of streamlining made a mess of Loveland and Longmont, the latter trying to be so hyperlocal that nothing else mattered (IMO, a terrible move for a so-called daily publication with access to the Associated Press wire and readers who realize it's a big ol' world out there). Fort Collins was already screwed thanks to Gannett.

This move basically takes care of the Front Range, and not in a good way. Again ... while I'm still saddened that a quality guy like Randy Bangert, the longtime former editor in Greeley, is no longer with us, thank goodness he's not around to see this.

The NYT story was ... interesting. And badly underreported.

 

"Lack of fitness"? What the hell does that mean? They didn't want to tweet every little thing that happened in a game?

This smells more and more like the higher ups wanted to cut loose a bunch of veteran (and higher paid) journalists, and replace them with some kid right out of college (for much cheaper) who will do nothing more that be a "content aggragator" getting results off of MaxPreps (and hoping the coaches from all the teams actually make use of it)

 

Forgive me for poor search skills but I could not find the NYT story. Could you please link.

 

These Reporters Lost Their Jobs. Here Are the Stories They Couldn’t Tell.

 

Ho Lee Fuk as well.

 

"Lack of fitness" is a complete copout.

Also, much easier to scare the younger ones whereas more experienced journalists aren't coerced into tweeting freaking play-by-play details. After all, much more important to do a half-dozen things - and do all of them poorly - than focus on the task at hand.

And given the way things in Greeley have been addressed lately ...

 

Thanks.