AJC and Hartford Courant not covering Super Bowl

Ask your non-newspaper friends the last time they read a Super Bowl gamer, or the last time they did so with any interest.

 

When

When the coffin is nailed shut.

 

I don't know if the thread began but I'd say the Masters is one of the few national events I think that can be done better by your local guys than relying on stringers and AP wire.

Ditto the Final Four.

I don't think the BCS game is a "we must be at it" kind of event and I am starting to think that the Super Bowl is an overrated and not necessary expense........

 

Those national events are covered adequately by the wires. It's a different story if you have a team there but if not, the wires will give you what you need to make people happy.

 

True, which is why if you're going to send one person, you send a columnist. And like others have said, for the larger cities, there are local stories that the wires aren't going to cover. And it's good to be where all the heavy hitters are for a week (or less).
Man, it's depressing that this many journalists actually think that we can just fill the section with generic wire stuff and local and the readers won't give a shit. Maybe the real problem is we're convinced that the readers already don't give a shit.
I understand that we're all viewing this from different perspectives/different-sized markets, and local is important, but the bigger papers should be at the Super Bowl. My shop won't be going to the Masters, and that is embarassing as well.

 

friend of mine who isn't in the business said to me once, "why should I read your paper? it's all just AP wire and stories from the (metro two hours from here). there's nothing to read."

just sayin'

 

The time when you would send a columnist to get his take on a game on the premise that people want to read what he/she is thinking is done. People may act like sheep but they don't need anyone to tell them what they've seen for themselves.

 

See, now that's the kind of comment editors and publishers need to hear. If they did, maybe they'd have second thoughts about how to run the papers.

 

I will selfishly admit that if the AJC not sending anyone to cover the Super Bowl helps me keep my job just a little bit longer, I'm fine with it.

 

friend of mine who isn't in the business said to me once, "why should I read your paper? it's all just AP wire and stories from the (metro two hours from here). there's nothing to read."

No offense, but that reads like a quote a newspaper person would attribute to a non-newspaper person in a novel or a short story. To me it sounds like the person has a level of sophistication about newspapers greater than that of the average reader I've encountered. Maybe I live around dumb asses, but I don't know anyone who would use that kind of language unless they understood the business. Maybe your friend does, though. If he sees stories in the big metro two hours away and sees them in your paper, he's at least seen two papers. I know a lot of people who usually only read one.

I've had people ask how we write all those MLB game stories. Do we watch them all on TV? I've had people call wanting to talk to (insert syndicated columnist's name here) as if he were in the building. I don't think most readers could comfortably use the term "AP wire" in describing stories in the paper. Call me crazy, but I just don't think your friend represents the majority of newspaper readers, especially those who aren't already getting most of their news on the Internet for free anyway.

 

I wonder if the AJC will have someone at Daytona. I wonder if they will have someone at The Final Four. I wonder why anyone would continue to read the AJC.

 

Like I said. I know I'm being selfish, but I'd like to keep my job long enough to find another one. I've got enough crap going on as it is.