Mark Whicker, what were you thinking?

[Drip]

Well, you want that policy, fine. But you take your damn chances.

My crew had about 1,000 numbers for me: included were wife's cell, wife's dad, wife's work (where the heck is your husband?), wife's boyfriend, my favorite bar, my masseuse, you name it.
An SE who is unreachable to his staff is asking for trouble.

I trusted my desk chiefs to make most of the calls but let them know: ANY questions, find me.

wife's boyfriend?

 

[floridanewbie31]

at one of my stops, a copy editor I knew, who was hands down one of the biggest dicks to me that I've ever come across in this business, is writing a cutline for a girls soccer photo, and writes that the two girls hugging after scoring a goal are happy to be coming out as lesbians.

Dummy cutline runs in the paper. The school community, a catholic school community by the way, is outraged. Lawsuits are filed. Copy editor gets canned the next day.

 

[Mizzougrad96]

Big-time columnists make copy editors paranoid.

I worked at a place where the only people allowed to edit the lead columnist were one specific copy editor and the copy chiefs. If someone did first read on his columns they had to write down corrections and hand them to one of the people who was allowed to edit him. I think even then, if anything other than a very minor cut had to be made they had to go through the cut with him over the phone.

To be fair, the columnist in question was so good that this was an issue about once a year.

 

[Moderator1]

I also told my reporters they need to be reachable, too. They don't want to provide some numbers? Fine. But if there are questions and they can't be reached, their shirt ain't getting in.

We had one guy, the sadly now-deceased Vic Fulp, who liked to hang out at the local Applebee's. When he retired, we gave him an Applebee's meal and a $500 Applebee's gift card.
One night I'm desk chief and an editor has questions. Can't find Vic. I go to the numbers file. Applebee's is on there. Editor says, "I'm sorry, I'm just not going to call an Applebee's and ask for Vic." They're used to it, I told him, and Vic will probably shut the place down.
While we're talking, Vic calls in. "Hey man," I said, "where are you?" Applebee's. Of course.
I passed him on to the editor. Question answered.

MAKE YOURSELF AVAILABLE TO YOUR DESK.

 

[Moderator1]

Big-time columnists make copy editors paranoid.

I worked at a place where the only people allowed to edit the lead columnist were one specific copy editor and the copy chiefs. If someone did first read on his columns they had to write down corrections and hand them to one of the people who was allowed to edit him. I think even then, if anything other than a very minor cut had to be made they had to go through the cut with him over the phone.

To be fair, the columnist in question was so good that this was an issue about once a year.

No SE should allow that to happen. Anything that goes in his/her section should be edited with the same rules. A columnist with an ego that big isn't worth the hassle.

Well, you want that policy, fine. But you take your damn chances.

My crew had about 1,000 numbers for me: included were wife's cell, wife's dad, wife's work (where the heck is your husband?), wife's boyfriend, my favorite bar, my masseuse, you name it.
An SE who is unreachable to his staff is asking for trouble.

I trusted my desk chiefs to make most of the calls but let them know: ANY questions, find me.

wife's boyfriend?

Yeah, he knows my whereabouts better than I do - he tries to stay a step ahead of me so they don't get caught.

 

[Drip]

I also told my reporters they need to be reachable, too. They don't want to provide some numbers? Fine. But if there are questions and they can't be reached, their shirt ain't getting in.

We had one guy, the sadly now-deceased Vic Fulp, who liked to hang out at the local Applebee's. When he retired, we gave him an Applebee's meal and a $500 Applebee's gift card.
One night I'm desk chief and an editor has questions. Can't find Vic. I go to the numbers file. Applebee's is on there. Editor says, "I'm sorry, I'm just not going to call an Applebee's and ask for Vic." They're used to it, I told him, and Vic will probably shut the place down.
While we're talking, Vic calls in. "Hey man," I said, "where are you?" Applebee's. Of course.
I passed him on to the editor. Question answered.

MAKE YOURSELF AVAILABLE TO YOUR DESK.

Didn't know about Victor C. Fulp. RIP to a good man and one of the funniest people that I've had the pleasure of knowing.
Back to your comment, you're right. Making yourself available to the desk, especially in this day with almost everyone having a cell phone, shouldn't be a problem.

 

[Small Town Guy]

Time for the "some forker" cutline to be brought out.

 

[clintrichardson]

i enjoy hearing people use the phrase "the world of sports" as it implies that sports followers have their own narrow perspectives, customs, views, not shared by the population at large.

this column felt like it was written by someone living entirely in the world of sports

 

[broadway joe]

I can certainly see how the Register could justify firing Whicker over this. He has, in the short term at least, compromised his position as a columnist. His readers couldn't possibly have the same respect for his opinion on anything as they did before this column. Every time he attempts to assess someone else's judgment -- a manager's decision to bunt, an owner's decision whether to fire a coach -- his own error in judgment will come up. How could he weigh in on the Oregon-Boise St. punch, for instance, without readers thinking "Who is this guy to criticize anybody else's mistake?" Every time they see his mugshot they'll be reminded of that horrible, tasteless piece. It's up to the Register to figure out whether the damage he's done in readers' eyes is temporary or permanent, or in other words, whether he gets suspended or fired.

 

[hacksaw2828]

I also told my reporters they need to be reachable, too. They don't want to provide some numbers? Fine. But if there are questions and they can't be reached, their shirt ain't getting in.

We had one guy, the sadly now-deceased Vic Fulp, who liked to hang out at the local Applebee's. When he retired, we gave him an Applebee's meal and a $500 Applebee's gift card.
One night I'm desk chief and an editor has questions. Can't find Vic. I go to the numbers file. Applebee's is on there. Editor says, "I'm sorry, I'm just not going to call an Applebee's and ask for Vic." They're used to it, I told him, and Vic will probably shut the place down.
While we're talking, Vic calls in. "Hey man," I said, "where are you?" Applebee's. Of course.
I passed him on to the editor. Question answered.

MAKE YOURSELF AVAILABLE TO YOUR DESK.

heck Moddy, some of those nights I was sitting at Applebees with Vic in Colonial Heights downing some brew. I know for a fact that the profits have dwindled significantly there since Vic passed. Actually, I don't know that but I'm sure it was true. Did you ever hear the story he told when all the local writers used to take a train from the area to Darlington for the Southern 500 every year. Anyway, he said there wasn't a person on that train who wasn't drowning in alcohol by the time the train got back from Darlington. God bless, Vic. Enjoyed working the desk with him.

 

[Drip]

Not to get off the topic but when did Vic pass?

 

[Moderator1]

Vic's been gone a while. I was still at the paper when he died. He was one of a kind. We had a thread on it here somewhere.