Pissing match: Post-Dispatch vs. The Athletic

I do remember Haynes covering the Blazers. But that personal connection doesn’t mean Lillard didn’t invite a reporter who was writing a story on him over to his house. He did. It’s not even uncommon for a reporter to shadow a player for a few hours, or a day, for a story.

I get your overall point, but I think you’re missing mine. The entire business of sports journalism is about relationships. A publication shouldn’t sell me on unique, unrivaled access/content if its beat reporter doesn’t have them.

That obviously doesn’t mean that every reporter should be receiving invites to a player’s home. That’s absurd. But I don’t think you can say that you’re providing premiem, insider content if you’re not showing us something beyond what happened during the 48 minutes of the game that we all watched.

 

I mean, I dunno. Too often these conversations can devolve into things they're not - which is pissing matches - vs. a conversation about philosophy.

Haynes earned his way to his job. Really. Didn't have a journalism background, worked hard, built relationships. But it's hard - very hard - to build any kind of relationship with pro superstars and not have it function as something close to hagiography, at some point. The Lillard story is great - because it foreshadowed a success. If Lillard misses that shot, and the Blazers lose the game...well, maybe Lillard is a good enough guy that the story gets told anyway. But a lot of NBA stars wouldn't be. You'd have never known he'd said because it didn't fit a winning narrative. (This is not cynicism or critique of the writer or story. It's just the kind calculation that can occur.)

"Insiderism" can take a lot of forms, and it's not gonna happen every night. Was the Bleacher Report story on Aaron Rodgers an insider look? I sure think so - a more valuable story than the "Aaron Rodgers is a enlightened sage" piece from Mina Kimes a few years back. But who's Rodgers likely to tap for a future story? The one who made him look like an enlightened sage. National writers and reporters almost always get the perk of being a subject's redeemer.

 

“Oh but the Post-Dispatch is putting out MORE CONTENT”

 

Without a desk, it will be spelled MOAR contint!!!! and nobody will notice.