Alan Robinson

That's the beauty of having F.U. money. You can quit in huffs as often as you like.

Getting and maintaining F.U. money is the tricky part.

Knowing the temperament of so many newsies, this might be part of the reason this business pays so low. There'd be hotheads quitting in huffs all the time if they actually could afford it.

 

I'm shocked he cared that much.

When the Podunk editor comes over and asks me to change a lede he doesn't like, I ALWAYS change it.

I mean, seriously. It's just one freaking story.

 

On the other hand, it could have been the 300th-straight paper cut... one sucks, but you deal with it. Two cuts deeper, but you go on. After a while, it starts to make an impact.

 

Anybody who's ever dealt with AP new york can completely empathize.

They are ... clueless.

 

Paper cuts.

I remember when I'd hear that term and think of it only in the way slappy intended.

 

I've known Robinson for quite a few years and this didn't ring true with me so out of curiosity I did some checking and learned this wasn't the case. He filed his initial story (the one that moves within minutes upon the conclusion of the game) but instead of allowing him to continue writing the story, the AP's sports editor took over the rewriting of the story and moved a rewrite under his name. He left the press box hours after the game ended and only after being told by a supervisor (NOT the sports editor) that he was no longer involved in the writing process. I believe a similar incident occurred during the Winter Olympics (I recall there was a hockey story he apparently didn't write, but carried his name, that was much maligned on this website).

All I can say is that while all of us have our moments in this profession, I don't know of anyone in western Pennsylvania who hasn't been helped by this guy over the years. He worked tirelessly and, from what my night desk editor tells me, was the most prolific AP sports writer in the country. I know we'll miss his work.

 

I agree. Robinson was always very prolific. The re-write story seems a little odd. I've worked both sides -- as a desk supervisor in AP New York and as a line reporter/sports writer in a bureau. Typically, the lede on a gamer or deadline story would be rewritten (EDITED?) in New York and wouldn't be returned to a reporter, at least that's the way it used to work. If we didn't like a lede, we changed it -- not the reporter's call nor did would reporters consider it their call.

 

That is a shame!
Al was/is a great AP writer for Pittsburgh.
I recall the hockey story. I was one of the ones who pointed out the lede.
That's a shame, but I certainly can't blame him for leaving.
He was a multi-award winning writer and served the Pittsburgh bureau well. He's skills will certainly be missed by this long time reader of many things Pittsburgh.

 

You're kidding right?
If that's the case there is NO way I would work for the AP ... You change the lede to one of my stories you better ready for a fight (verbal) and have a good explanation.

IMO the lede to a story is the writer's signature on the piece. The body is very important, but it's the lede that catches the attention and often sticks with readers long after the story itslef has faded into stats.

With a vet like Al, I can imagine that not sitting well.

Whoever wrote Robinson's lede for the hockey story should forced to read Scoop Jackson columns while listening to Bill Simmons podcast a list of all the things Rick Reilly would tongue bath.

 

Deskers across America should be lamenting this one. As someone who's been corralling wire copy in several markets for years and years and years, I can say Alan Robinson was BY FAR the best AP sportswriter on deadline. It's no contest. When a major event was in Pittsburgh -- or Olympic hockey or the Stanley Cup -- and Robinson was writing it, you'd have a complete gamer within nanoseconds of the game ending. Didn't matter if it was overtime or breaking news (I remember he cranked out a 25-inch Scotty Bowman story seemingly within minutes of his retirement announcement after his last Cup), Robinson hit his mark, and his writing was crisp and entertaining.

Seems like the rest of the AP these days can't get you more than three paragraphs within 15 minutes of a blowout.

 

Well said..

Now send this NY so they hack it to hell, leave your byline on it and get it out over the wire.

 

Well, Max, not disputing your basic point, but that's the AP way now. Get out a few paragraphs to get the news out to the websites and broadcast, then go from there.