Dear dimwit on the phone

And that's fine but if she played sports and the roster doesn't say T.A. Anderson (or whatever her last name was), then she's going in the paper by her first name.

 

Ugh! When I'm on the desk, I have to keep editing one reporter's copy on this stuff. Just because all of a person's friends call him such and such, does not mean it's right for a regular newspaper. This isn't the student paper or a community weekly.

 

It's what's on the roster. Whatever they list, that's what we write.

 

So that means if the person is called Mike but named Michael, you put Michael?
There's no difference between Mike or Trey or Shee-Shee and if you've established you'll put Mike, the other two are good as well.

 

Community weekly papers have standards, too. They're not lower life forms because they're not dailies. I know - I've worked at a community weekly for 22 years.

 

OK. Iron-clad rules are always a good idea.

 

Someone should teach you how to Douglas.

 

Some do, some don't. Most of the ones I've read don't.

 

So that means if the person is called Mike but named Michael, you put Michael?
There's no difference between Mike or Trey or Shee-Shee and if you've established you'll put Mike, the other two are good as well.
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The real burning question remains, what if his name is Michael, but he wants to be referred to as Shee-Shee?

 

You can keep saying this over and over, but it's not going to make it correct.

Some might say I'm narrow-minded in my thinking that it's not going in print if it's not on the roster, but arguing that because you refer to Michael as Mike it means that you also MUST put Shee-Shee in the paper is about as narrow-minded as it gets.

For those who are fine printing Shee-Shee -- where do you draw the line on nicknames? What lengths do you go to in determining how legit a nickname actually is? If a coach calls in and says a player wants to go by so-and-so nickname, that's all it takes?

 

If I know the kid and their parents, I'll ask the parents. End of discussion. I don't care what the coach says. If the parents don't want their child's nickname in the paper, it's not going to be in the paper.

 

I'm at a weekly, I go by the roster. I've never had any problems.