Dear dimwit on the phone

Dear Private-School AD,

Thanks for your e-mail telling me my request for information has been forwarded to the new volleyball coach. Everything she needs should be there, including how to report results to our paper.

Since you've been dealing with me for years, I'm a little curious why you're asking for contact information for the person who covers high school sports. I'd rather you sent me contact information for the new coach, rather than just telling me she exists.

I hope she really did get the paperwork, since I can't send it again without her e-mail address... and you didn't ask me to forward it to you instead.

But thanks for reading the Daily Podunk!

PaperDoll :-\

 

Caller: I didn't get my paper today. Can you tell me who won .....

Me: Sure. I can look that up. First, can you give me your address so I can send it to circulation?

Caller: Yeah. I didn't get my paper, so if you can look up who won.

Me: I'd be happy to. I want to make sure that you get your paper in the future so if you'd give me your address, I will forward it to circulation.

Caller: Yeah. I didn't get my paper so I can't look up who won.

Me: I'd be happy to look it up for you. I just want to get your address first so that we can straighten out circulation.

Caller: Well, what it is was I usually get it from the grocery store and I didn't get it today. ....

 

Well played.

 

yes indeed...perfect.
I guess that guy needs to head out to the grocery store instead of bugging you

 

I wonder how often circulation gets calls that are editorial related. I know it happens sometimes.

Always dreaded the colleague saying "Mark, there's a lady on the phone who wants to tell you....."

 

Today's e-mail, in ALL CAPS, of course — why aren't you out covering the women's junior-college volleyball jamboree? There are three area players on the one of the visiting teams, including, of course, the daughter of the e-mailer.

 

Did she say they all try hard?

 

No, but they played the "you should do more stories on local kids" card.

 

Like clockwork, had our first football-related subscription cancellation the day after the first game. Game in question had an A1 photo and was the centerpiece on sports. Guy demanded another story on Saturday. Yep, his grandson is a player. I'm waiting for the call to renew when grandma discovers she's not getting her weekend coupons. Also like clockwork.

 

Doing stories on local kids is fine. Done a million of them.

That IS NOT the same thing as doing game stories on some no-nothing volleyball (or any sport) match. A true story on a local kid is where you sit down, talk with them and so others and report about what's going on in their lives, athletically and otherwise. I could care less how many spikes or kills Little Miss Hottie has in a beatdown of Podunk Tech unless you've written another story and given me a reason to care.

The whole industry has been far too heavy on game stories for too long of a time.

 

He probably stopped reading the paper because he was afraid the manager would beat the shit out of him in the parking lot.

 

This. I tend to check back on those cancellations I hear about where some bias in coverage is cited. Usually, they're back within six weeks.