Naperville Sun sports clerk

I'd agree that "growing" is not accurate - circulation is down over last several years since paper went daily in 2003 (rate of decline has improved dramatically, however) - it's been difficult to convince people to subscribe to a second paper as many Naperville residents subscribe to the Chicago Tribune (Chicago is only 30 miles away and many residents work in the city).

But the overall quality of the paper (especially in news; sports was in many ways already ahead of the curve) - presentation, attention to hard news, better beat reporting and diversity of subject matter - is much improved since current editor/publisher took over couple years ago and current ME was promoted to his post early in '07.

The paper now has a more modern, easy to navigate style than before. And the stories are (rarely) no longer feel-good, wimpy soft news.

Of course, nothing is perfect - but having been w/ The Sun for more than 7 years, I strongly believe the paper is way better than before.

 

i should have clarified about "growing". I know no papers outside of Florida are growing in circulation size. I meant growing overall since the early 2000s and when the paper became a daily, combined with how quickly the area has expanded.

 

That was the same publisher that thought he was being clever and funny when he decided to run a front page story about an immigration rally in Chicago, with a picture of some hispanics and a giant headline that said "The day no lawns were mowed" ... you know, because since hispanics were at the rally, then they couldn't have been working, and well, we all know all they know how to do is cut lawns and plant bushes.

Oh, and we can't forget about the time Tammy Duckworth was running for office (she's an Iraq war vet who lost both her legs) and made a stop in Naperville. Michael J. Fox was helping her at the rally. Front page had a giant picture of Duckworth, in a skirt ... her two prosthetic legs were in clear view. Headline on that one? "Fox stumps for Duckworth" ... sure nobody found that tasteless and offensive either.

Both of those caused quite a stir in the newsroom, other sun-times papers and in the community.

From the numbers I've seen, the circulation has been in a steep decline since that guy took over.

 

thegoat is obviously somebody on the inside who accurately recounts the reaction inside the newsroom and in Naperville when those stories/covers ran.

Never said the editor/publisher didn't make mistakes - and some big ones. But those were couple years ago - track record has been pretty good since.

I stand by my assesment that the paper is way better than before - even if it's not perfect - and a lot of that is because the editor/publisher and ME have taught the newsroom to act like a real newsroom.

All this, of course, has little to do w/ the sports clerk job.

Just standing up for what I think is a pretty good product from day-to-day - despite some limitations.

 

I'll disagree.

It has a lot to do with it when you're out covering events/talking to sources (especially when you're dealing with a controversial topic) and have to listen to those in the community criticize and sometimes even refuse to talk to you because they're afraid something they say may be exploited or sensationalized just so there can be a "good headline" on the front page.

Since the clerks do cover events and write stories, something worth pointing out.

 

Oh, I didn't realize agate clerks discuss controversial topics with sources. My mistake. :

 

A front page insulting an entire minority group + you're the writer at an event where a player on the team is named Jesus or Juan and his parents recognize you = you're going to catch some shit for somebody else's irresponsible "mistake" ...and it's not like you even have any point you can argue, you just have to try to do your best damage control.

 

These are all fair points but these mistakes by the editor/publisher were made over a year ago - and he caught a lot of grief about them from the company brass and the community.

His track record is pretty clean since - and in my dealings w/ the community (and trust me like any other section editor I get plenty of calls), it seems like they've moved past the mistakes.

Personally, I'm always leery of those unwilling to forgive people and give them another chance after a mistake or two.

As to how it pertains to the sports clerk job: our sports reporters haven't heard anything on this since shortly after the stories ran - again over a year ago.

And for the circulation numbers, most recent tally was around 16,000 not 14,000 as previously stated by thegoat.

 

16,357, to be exact.

 

If you have anything to do with the Naperville Sun, I would strongly suggest you tread carefully. We've seen people lose their jobs in situations such as this.