Special note from The Advocate

[BrianGriffin]

Actually, The Advocate needs to cover Southern because it is in the newspaper's backyard. So what Southern may make it difficult to cover but figure it out. Some high schools do the same thing. This is a training ground for some young hungry reporter. Go dig for the news and the access the school is not giving you.

Devil's in the details here. The Advocate has always covered Southern in more detail than most would say is warranted in that market.

When the Advocate says it's only going to provide minimal coverage, it might still be providing more coverage than, say, the Times-Picayune provides of the University of New Orleans.

 

[Here me roar]

The paper is right. I bet the coach relents after this weekend.

 

[boundforboston]

The Advocate is throwing a hissy fit and giving up. Lame. Sack up and do some reporting.

That's how I look at it.

Some journalists and companies need this stamped on their collective foreheads: It's not about you.

Sometimes you can lose a battle but win a war. The program apparently wants The State-like coverage. Show them that you're not going to settle for selective reporting, which doesn't serve your readers well, and that you want the same access to sources, which serves your readers better.

 

[BillyT]

In my opinion, the paper is wrong.

If a team merits coverage, you do the best you possibly cannot no matter what the school does.

 

[JayFarrar]

In my opinion, the paper is wrong.

If a team merits coverage, you do the best you possibly cannot no matter what the school does.

I used to think that but in my old age I've reversed course.

Cooperation is part of what merits coverage. Coach wants to be a deck? fork 'em.

I'm not saying drop them but provide the basics and call it a day. In that market, I'd be surprised if Southern even cracks the top 10 in terms of importance to readers.

No one is going to sad there if they get a 10 inch gamer instead of a 20 inch gamer and a notebook in the Sunday paper.

Why papers put up with the bullshirt is amazing to me, Just about everywhere has a pretty full calendar and if you're not wanted, move on to something else.

 

[BrianGriffin]

Jay, if that's the case, why would you cover them extensively at all?

If part of the Advocate's rationale is that SU does not warrant the coverage it gets, then it owed no explanation. It should have just reduced coverage and made that the policy going forward.

 

[JayFarrar]

Habit?
Sense of obligation? White guilt? Someone saying, "this is our hometown team and we need to cover them as well as we can because if we don't, no one will." And the wise old heads all nodded yes.

In the times before they expanded into New Orleans, that was fine, but now they have a larger readership and a finite amount of staff and space.

Spend your resources on where you're appreciated.

 

[BrianGriffin]

Then don't offer an explanation. Just cover it to the level you think it should be covered.

You don't put a notice to readers that you don't run bowling scores because nobody at the bowling centers email them to you in the format you want them. Because the truth is, you don't run the bowling scores because nobody reads the shirt. Doesn't help that the bowling centers fax you scores instead of emailing them in a ready-to-publish format, but that's not really the reason you don't run them. If you got 30k page views a day on your bowling scores, you'd be handing that fax over to an intern, telling him to type the crap in.

 

[BurnsWhenIPee]

Spend your resources on where you're appreciated.

Shouldn't you spend your resources on what your readers want to read and what will help drive traffic and sell papers? Readers sure as shirt don't care about if a school "appreciates" the media.

 

[SnarkShark]

In my opinion, the paper is wrong.

If a team merits coverage, you do the best you possibly cannot no matter what the school does.

I used to think that but in my old age I've reversed course.

Cooperation is part of what merits coverage. Coach wants to be a deck? fork 'em.

I'm not saying drop them but provide the basics and call it a day. In that market, I'd be surprised if Southern even cracks the top 10 in terms of importance to readers.

No one is going to sad there if they get a 10 inch gamer instead of a 20 inch gamer and a notebook in the Sunday paper.

Why papers put up with the bullshirt is amazing to me, Just about everywhere has a pretty full calendar and if you're not wanted, move on to something else.

If you don't give me what I want, I'm going to take my ball and go home!

 

[JayFarrar]

There's a big difference between what you do for your primary beats and what you do for secondary ones.

Your primary stuff is what's going to sell papers and drive web traffic

I suspect that enhanced Southern coverage does neither.

Also, play assigning editor. You got half a dozen high school games that need to be covered on a Friday and two writers. Do you send the writers to the schools that help you out or do you send them to the douchebag Sabah wannabes? You know those coaches who won't talk to your reporter after the game.

Me? The reporters I assign go to the schools who help the paper out and the others get a score and sum.

 

[BrianGriffin]

There's a big difference between what you do for your primary beats and what you do for secondary ones.

Your primary stuff is what's going to sell papers and drive web traffic

I suspect that enhanced Southern coverage does neither.

Also, play assigning editor. You got half a dozen high school games that need to be covered on a Friday and two writers. Do you send the writers to the schools that help you out or do you send them to the douchebag Sabah wannabes? You know those coaches who won't talk to your reporter after the game.

Me? The reporters I assign go to the schools who help the paper out and the others get a score and sum.

If you don't cover the game of the Saban wannabe, do you add a note explaining that you didn't cover his game because he doesn't give you adequate access?

If I'm assigning for prep games and have to pick two out of six, I'm picking the two games with most readership interest, period.