Lobbying for front-page coverage

We have what's called an "Up Front" feature which runs on Page 1 daily. Every so often, they'll try to steal a strong sports item and treat it like they're doing us a favour. They aren't. They feel when they take it to One that it must need work, since it came from sports. Invariably, they ruin one of the best written pieces in the paper. Not to mention, the art and the story don't get the display they deserve, since the photo is smaller and the turn longer than it would be on our sportsfront.
I'd sooner keep the story and give it the play it deserves rather than get it "promoted" to Page 1.

 

That was always a fight I had....When a centerpiece sports front story ends up in a corner of 1A...sometimes they bought the argument and let us keep it and display it correctly; but sometimes not....

 

I have to write for the news section maybe three or four times a year, and it's always a pain in the ass. If it's some big game, it's another story we have to write on deadline. If it's not a deadline story, our news editor tends to skewer it. I remember writing one story for her, and every third paragraph of a 12-inch story was one I actually wrote. Not saying I'm perfect, but good God that felt like a waste of time.
In either case, you usually have to dumb down the story a bit for the morons who want the score but are too lazy to pull out the next section of the paper.