Problems at Patch.com

How many readers care? BTW, Barnicle wasn't fired; he quit.

 

You only get one chance to build a brand.

If stuff like this happens, and they don't take care of it right away, then the brand is tarnished.

The Globe & the Free Press were established brands that addressed their problems.

Patch isn't established and they're not addressing the problem.

 

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You wonder if Patch will come to a consensus how sports is treated. At the site we're talking about here, sports is definitely an afterthought - I've seen HS baseball and hockey stories written by players, and the editor (she is replacing a recently departed editor, though the LE position is still listed on the Patch jobs page) occasionally grabs a sports story that may interest her.

 

I just about threw up in my mouth a little when I read her story on the match. This was my favorite part, by far.

Kudos to her for admitting she's "covering" her son but how can you expect to me treated seriously as a news organization when you're handing out assignments to whomever is already going to be there?

 

That actually is a good point. "Hey, we don't care enough about it to send a real reporter out there, so don't read this."

 

Most news operations don't require you to be a resident of the town you're covering (or at worst, the town next over). Bad idea, for many reasons. While I wouldn't mind being an LE in a neighboring town, I would not want the Patch job in my hometown. If you're a homeowner in the town you cover and public officials don't like you, they can fuck you in ways they couldn't if you live elsewhere (and my town just had three councilman sent to the pokey on bribery charges, and the mayor's not exactly a savory character, either). Late tax bill? Home inspection? Problems with your kids in school? And if you're involved in town affairs in any way, the conflicts are too numerous to even think about.

 

Patch is not a serious journalistic enterprise and should not be thought of as such. They don't want whistle-blowers. They want Yes Men sucking up to town officials and promoting the site and not making waves. And if you can shoot video, even better...

 

This reporter consoled McNamara by making him his favorite dish, spaghetti with meatballs, before taking him out for Dairy Queen and telling him that he's still the most handsome boy and best tennis player in his class.

 

This message board needs a "like" option for individual posts.

 

So the reporter is a junior high teacher?

 

On the other hand, she might have a better shot at getting a good quote from him than most reporters.

YOU TELL ME WHY YOUR FIRST SERVE WAS SO AWFUL OR I WON'T LET YOU TAKE YOUR SKANK GIRLFRIEND TO THE JUNIOR PROM!

 

Wait . . . the Patch editor knew her son was a varsity player and still sent her to the game?

When I was working part-time, I never covered the school I taught at.