How does the relationship between an athlete and a journalist affect coverage?

I'm as ornery as they come, but you definitely nailed the "grumpy old man" part. Another skill is not saying anything at all. Try it.

 

Hey, if I can pass along some useful knowledge to the up-and-coming generation, I will. Sorry you disagree, but I wasn't addressing you.

You might wish to consider following your own advice, my friend.

 

I'm sure he's feeling much better now that you've taught him the life lessons of "please" and "thank you."

In the last few years, I've seen too many newbies come to this board looking for sound advice, and all anyone gives them in a boatload of shit. Some deserve that shit, others do not. And in this case, here's a kid looking for some real help from "professionals" and all he gets is, "Well, if you had said please ... "

 

I didn't teach him ... that was his parents' job. I simply reminded him. And, frankly, there's no better advice a professional can share with a newbie than how to get something from someone else. He'll be doing that as a journalist, you know.

Besides, I filled out the survey, so consider the etiquette reminder a bonus. Besides, the kid acknowledged he should have said please.

This isn't your fight, Gator.


Mentioned in the other topic we're feuding over, we'll just part as friends on this one, too.

 

One thing I'd add to the actual topic of the thread. I know there are people out there who may not overtly let a negative opinion of an athlete affect their coverage. You ask if reporters have written facts or things about athletes they have a negative opinion of that they wouldn't have written about another athlete. Sometimes a simple lack of coverage can be the result of a negative bias against a player.

Player X is a mean old son of a bitch to Reporter Y in an interview. Reporter Y doesn't necessarily dig up negative stuff on him, but he decides not to write about Player X as often as he might otherwise (whether consciously or subconsciously).

I don't think I've done this, but I've seen other people do it, sometimes intentionally.

 

To be honest, since I work in preps 95% of the time I have a better working relationship with coaches than athletes. Every once in a while it's easier to be a little less critical to keep the lines of communication open. It's not like we're dealing with national security here. I'm not talking about omitting things, just not ripping a team apart after a loss or close win.

Recently, I've had a problem with athletes. My primary gig has put me in a position where I'm not only working with area athletes but hearing some nasty gossip about them. I had to stop covering a team this year when it turns out some of the stuff wasn't exactly true, but the player turned out to be really dirty. I decided it was clouding my judgement and didn't cover the team for the rest of season.

Ultimately my regular gig (fulltime with benefits) is more important. If there is a conflict, I have to police myself.

 

Nothing wrong at all with being reminded to say Please and Thank you.

Too many people today don't, or think people shouldn't remind others. Those people often are the ones who need reminding.

Good luck with the project, NipNap.

 

Foolproof approach: Never let put yourself in that position. You should have plenty of other friends.

 

This is not always true. When I came to this shop, I was alone. I didn't know a soul. I covered prep sports, literally, every day they played locally. I only have four schools, so getting to know the players, coaches and admins, I became friends with them easily. I have had a much more difficult time making friends outside of the job. It's not an easy thing these days with so many people and their trust issues.