AJC and Hartford Courant not covering Super Bowl

Sam,

That's why I said it was a pointless argument. MG is making serious cuts, but not people as much. They've stopped matching 401Ks, the morale is dropping steadily, and I think cuts will come. So it's not a fight worth waging...it was more of a "this isn't the only cut being made in coverage" in a way to kind of quell the kvetching, I guess.

 

Care about what, Sam? That they're not covering it, or WHY they're not covering it? I took you to mean the latter.

 

That's what I'm guessing. We know that a couple of people might keep their jobs a little while longer if travel gets whacked instead of payroll, but all the readers see is the thinner coverage ... and I doubt they'd be impressed by an Editor's Note explaining the reason for same.

 

If the Atlanta Journal-Constitution isn't covering the National Football League championship game, does management follow through and also fail to cover The Masters? After all, hotels are crazy expensive in Augusta that week, and it's a whole 150 miles to drive from Atlanta. That mileage isn't cheap, you know.
Richmond not at Daytona makes no sense either.

 

Oh, I'd rather drive than fly to most assignments, especially if I'm going to be there for a week. But there's no way I'm taking a Greyhound to ever cover anything. No way. No how. I'll get a job serving decaf at Starbucks before I'll do that.

Oh, wait ...

 

Hammer meets nail here.

It helps some people keep their jobs a bit longer. But no Editor's Note will placate a reader after he/she notices their publication didn't cover something that had been automatic for years, perhaps generations in some cases.

IJAG, we're in agreement. I hear you - completely.

 

Maybe they should see if there is room on the team bus. Oh, wait, I guess there won't be a team bus.

They could always put an ad on craigslist and have their writer hitch a ride with a Pittsburgh fan who is driving.

 

And then go to couchsurfing.com to find a place to crash!

 

Why the hell not? No way on God's green earth am I getting on a bleeping airplane, with all the extra stress that airports cause, not to mention the horrors of the flight itself. If John Madden can survive without airlines, so can I.

Although, granted, I prefer Amtrak if the schedules work out.

 

Had a buddy who covered the Super Bowl years ago. Watched the game from press tent outside Sun Devil Stadium and got a one-on-one interview with the third-string quarterback afterward.

 

Hell, the paper I freelance for has at times six to seven there. Of course, we're about 40 miles from Tampa, but still.

 

The AJC just has to have someone at The Super Bowl.

Atlanta-to-Tampa? Shit. That's an easy Delta flight.

Good God, that paper has fallen off a fucking cliff. It really used to be one of the country's best sports sections.

Find a way to make it work. Readers notice this. Why pay the same price (or more) and expect worse stuff. What fucking business model operates like this? Oh, yeah ... one going in the shitter.