NASCAR wire service debut

slappy4428 · Jun 20, 2006

DavidPoole said:

I'd heard about this thread over the weekend at Michigan and after reading it I feel like I have to chime in.
Before I say anything else, let me address this whole business about how NASCAR beat writers are supposed to be some kind of sub-species of derelicts and sycophants. It get so tired of hearing that.
Race tracks serve meals to media just like NBA teams and MLB teams and NFL teams do. The idea of paying for media meals hasn't come to NASCAR yet, but those of us who work in the sport regularly have actively suggested that because it would keep the media room from becoming a picnic area as it does at a lot of places. When they serve food at New Hampshire it looks like everybody in New England with a camera has credentials so they can eat lunch for free.
But what does any of that have to do with how beat writers covering the sport do their jobs?
Let me tell you, I work hard. And there are a bunch of people who are my colleagues who do the same thing. Just because some of you folks look down your noses at what we cover, which is your right, don't assume we don't break our butts out there. It's a tough beat, travel wise and time wise, and those of us who spend our professional lives in the garage are just as professional as anybody else.
As for this whole wire service deal, I don't know if it means NASCAR is going to start cutting back on who gets credentials or not. I do know that NASCAR is in a tough place right now. For a generation, it begged for coverage. It let people in who published a local racing newspaper that might sell 3,000 copies a month because it was starving for attention. And a lot of people like that have been coming for 25 years. Today, though, some newspapers are finally discovering that some of their readers care about the sport and the problem is how to make room for that growth and still "take care" of the people who've been there for years and were there when you, as a sport, needed them. It's also a balance because those "local" guys are the ones who come to every press conference and every small-time support race some of the tracks put on to help them make their budgets. Sports make tough choices about who to credential all of the time and NASCAR may be getting ready to get into that. It's a tough obstacle course to negotiate.
I ask stupid questions every week at a race. Every question I ask is too long. But since I've been doing this 10 years most of the drivers know what I am trying to get at and most of the time they give a much better answer than the question deserves. It's that way on any beat. If you've ever read any Dan Jenkins, I know you've all met and heard "rally killers" and "point missers" in press conferences. It happens. But that doesn't mean those guys don't have a right to be there. Tony Stewart got mad at TJ Simers in California earlier this year just like he sometimes gets mad at some small-town paper guy. How does that make him different from 75 percent of the PGA Tour players or half the players in the NFL? It's just part of the gig.
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Since this thread started getting off point on my response to a post, let me say welcome.
Let me also say my inital tirade was not directed at any one specific beat writer/radio/tv person other than one -- the person who dripped elitism by criticising the small paper writer or hangers on and how their unimportant questions werent welcome by the regulars on the beat. You and other regulars were lumped in by espnguy by saying "if you dont believe they're shit on my shoes, just ask the others whose name I know" (OK, I paraphrased a little bit, but the tone is there.)
Having spent time covering Cup (and some open wheel too) and several other sports, I know there are times a question seems stupid. But most times, its important to the person asking it.
Yes, I did make shots at the beat guy and free food. It was a direct and continuing response at the arrogant post and responses by espnguy -- not at you, Monte Dutton or anyone else in particular -- but one; the namedropping suckup who kick-started my angry defense of all reporters -- great and small.
Now, is Steve Shunck still at MIS?

DavidPoole · Jun 20, 2006

No, Schunck has moved on to something else. I should know what but I frankly don't.

Clerk Typist · Jun 20, 2006

Well posted, David, especially as compared to the yahoo who started it all.

Mira · Jun 20, 2006

Thanks, David, for your thoughtful reply. If some of you posters don't know Poole's work, he's one of the best. Check out the Charlotte Observer Web site.

While I don't work at a major metropolitan pub, I've covered a Nextel Cup race once or twice a year for a decade. All the regulars have been professional from what I've seen and heard, and I have a ton of respect for what they do. If I've ever needed help or had a question, the NASCAR beat folks are some of the most helpful.

I've asked good and not-so-good questions. Shoot, I asked a doozy in a phone interview with Ted Musgrave yesterday.

Like any other pro or college sport, there are unprofessional or unkept writers out there. NASCAR might have stereotypes because of its fans, but that's no reason to rip the writers.

BTW, Steve Shunck is Director of Public Relations for Champ Car.

expendable · Jun 20, 2006

DavidPoole said:

Â I'd heard about this thread over the weekend at Michigan and after reading it I feel like I have to chime in.
Â Before I say anything else, let me address this whole business about how NASCAR beat writers are supposed to be some kind of sub-species of derelicts and sycophants. It get so tired of hearing that.
Â Race tracks serve meals to media just like NBA teams and MLB teams and NFL teams do. The idea of paying for media meals hasn't come to NASCAR yet, but those of us who work in the sport regularly have actively suggested that because it would keep the media room from becoming a picnic area as it does at a lot of places. When they serve food at New Hampshire it looks like everybody in New England with a camera has credentials so they can eat lunch for free.
Â But what does any of that have to do with how beat writers covering the sport do their jobs?
Â Let me tell you, I work hard. And there are a bunch of people who are my colleagues who do the same thing. Just because some of you folks look down your noses at what we cover, which is your right, don't assume we don't break our butts out there. It's a tough beat, travel wise and time wise, and those of us who spend our professional lives in the garage are just as professional as anybody else.
Â As for this whole wire service deal, I don't know if it means NASCAR is going to start cutting back on who gets credentials or not. I do know that NASCAR is in a tough place right now. For a generation, it begged for coverage. It let people in who published a local racing newspaper that might sell 3,000 copies a month because it was starving for attention. And a lot of people like that have been coming for 25 years. Today, though, some newspapers are finally discovering that some of their readers care about the sport and the problem is how to make room for that growth and still "take care" of the people who've been there for years and were there when you, as a sport, needed them. It's also a balance because those "local" guys are the ones who come to every press conference and every small-time support race some of the tracks put on to help them make their budgets. Sports make tough choices about who to credential all of the time and NASCAR may be getting ready to get into that. It's a tough obstacle course to negotiate.
Â I ask stupid questions every week at a race. Every question I ask is too long. But since I've been doing this 10 years most of the drivers know what I am trying to get at and most of the time they give a much better answer than the question deserves. It's that way on any beat. If you've ever read any Dan Jenkins, I know you've all met and heard "rally killers" and "point missers" in press conferences. It happens. But that doesn't mean those guys don't have a right to be there. Tony Stewart got mad at TJ Simers in California earlier this year just like he sometimes gets mad at some small-town paper guy. How does that make him different from 75 percent of the PGA Tour players or half the players in the NFL? It's just part of the gig.
Â
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Daivd: Great post. I wish you would've chimed in before Mr. Ego touched a nerve when he decided to dump on the little guys by lumping all of us together as lazy freeloading fanboys looking for a free meal. If I choose to make a move up in the food chain (I respect the hell out of those who have chosen the path that takes them away from their families eight months out of the year -- something I can't bring myself to do), I pray I never forget my roots. I hope the folks at NASCAR don't forget theirs either.

Moderator1 · Jun 20, 2006

David,

Thank you.

And welcome - we can say it on this thread, we don't need a whole nuther one.

Please don't be a stranger. More from you would be most welcome.

lono · Jun 20, 2006

Getting back on track ... NASCAR team owner Gene Haas was arrested today, as noted on thee all-purpose NASCAR thread: http://www.sportsjournalists.com/forum/threads/22866/

Wonder how something like this will get played on the NASCAR news wire service? :

slappy4428 · Jun 20, 2006

Accepted and forgotten, dude.. I can be heavy handed as well...

Jeff Gluck · Jun 20, 2006

Hey, our little tiff here can't be all bad...brought Poole to SportsJournalists.com! How cool is that?

Now if we can get all the other motorsports people posting under their real names here, we could have a little fun...

expendable · Jun 21, 2006

espnguy said:

While I said I wouldn't chime back in on this, I felt I probably should in light of recent posts.

First of all, I'll offer a mea culpa to those who felt I was elitist or a jerk. It was not my intention to do so at all, and I hope that those who chastized me will accept these comments here in the spirit they are meant/written. Maybe the wording I used in my posts made it appear that I was uppity -- and I can, in hindsight, see how that might have been the case to some -- and if it offended, believe me that it was the furthest from what I meant.

But, and I say this with total honesty and sincerity, I am just frustrated at what I see week after week -- and my posts were borne out of that frustration. I just wish some of you would have been a bit more open-minded to see what I was trying to say, rather than immediately castigate me for a perceived attitude that is, trust me, totally opposite from the real me. You may have read my words, but did you really *read* my words?

Granted, I may have used some inflamatory and belittling adjectives, but they were from that frustration -- or responding back in kind to the way others replied back -- rather than being an "elitist prick", as I was accused of.

David's post captured pretty much exactly the point(s) I was trying to make, but in a different and more eloquent fashion. He hit the nail on the head much better. Like David alluded to about the travel, hours, etc., maybe if some of those who don't do this job and its associated aspects as much as many of us do saw some of the things we see week after week, you might have a better understanding of why we feel the way we do. It has nothing to do -- at least in my case -- of the so-called "big guys" vs. the "little guys." It has everything to do with professionalism. And I'll agree there are some "regulars" who could use a few lessons on professionalism, particularly in the way they dress and act.

I have nothing but the highest regard for some of the smaller media outlets that truly do their job(s) at the track. I do not have high regard for those who come to races with press credentials and are there primarily to eat, hang out or shoot the shit, dress like they just rolled out of bed, rather than what most of us are there to do: namely, work as professionals.

Unfortunately, most of those that do those kinds of things just happen to be from smaller media outlets, namely papers or small Web sites. And in turn, it harms the small papers that are really busting their asses to do a good job, a guilt by association kind of thing. So, those who were angry at me should direct that anger at their non-working peers, because they're only making things bad for you, too -- and that's one of the key points I was trying to make. If we don't police ourselves, the bad apples are eventually going to make things bad for all of us, and it'll start with the smaller media outlets who really ARE working hard.

That's why NASCAR has been looking with greater scrutiny at all media outlets, most notably small papers/Web sites and radio/TV stations, to increase the professionalism aspect of the press room, and not just make it a free food trough or a party atmosphere. From what I understand, NASCAR has been closely monitoring clips/audio/TV reports from smaller papers, Web sites and TV/radio stations that come to races over the last year or so, to see if they're truly doing their job and being credible. Those that aren't will likely be the ones that lose their creds in the future, not the ones who are legitimate and doing legitimate, good work. And I think we can all agree that would be a good thing.

So, particularly to Slappy, I hope you accept this in the spirit it is meant. The message can oftentimes come out and be perceived/received by others in a different manner than it was written and intended. Some of us got rather heated and nasty in some of the exchanges -- and I am embarrassed to include myself in that -- because it seemed the points I was trying to make were, to me, simply going over the heads of some. It became an exchange that deteriorated more into bitching at each other rather than discussing the bigger picture, namely credentials in the future, the TSN wire service, etc.

I hope we can get back to the original intent of this post and board, rather than sniping. And thank you, David, for being the voice of reason. That's why you are respected so much.
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There are fanboy and freeloader types from the high school "operations box" (notice I didn't say press box) to the press facilities at major league events.Â I guess I get as ticked at those who take up space in a football box just to get out of the elements as you do at the media centers.Â I can see your point, I just didn't like the delivery. I ask that you not lump us all into one group, as I hope NASCAR won't either.

As to the original point. I don't think anyone will use a wire service that is a PR arm for a certain organization, be it NASCAR, The White House or the Courthouse. To me it sounds too one sided and "press releaseish".Â

BMuddMan · Jul 20, 2006

Anyone seen or heard anything on this project. Curious on type of content, how it's available, etc. Not seen or heard of any paper using this stuff and wonder if project died a slow death.

wickedwritah · Jul 21, 2006

It's still alive. Heard their reporter asking questions at the Montoya presser a couple weeks back.

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NASCAR wire service debut

slappy4428 Active Member

DavidPoole Member

Clerk Typist Guest

Mira Member

expendable Well-Known Member

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lono Active Member

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Jeff Gluck Member

expendable Well-Known Member

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NASCAR wire service debut

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Mira Member

expendable Well-Known Member

Moderator1 Moderator Staff Member

lono Active Member

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Jeff Gluck Member

expendable Well-Known Member

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