TJ Simers on changes in Los Angeles Times sports section going into effect Monday

[SixToe]

But Simers comes across as a guy who just wasn't looking as the world passed him by.

I don't think Simers is wrong about some of the stuff he's ranting about. He just sounds like a bitter old fork while doing it, instead of with any constructive tone.

 

[Regan MacNeil]

Yeah, I'm not sure there's going to be the outcry over no print box scores that Dwyre is anticipating. This isn't 1987.

 

[WriteThinking]

Journalist Bill weighs in.

https://tjpage2.blog/2023/07/06/journalist-bill-still-talks-hope-for-la-times/

This shows the stark differences between Dwyre and Simers, and their styles. Dwyre was so much clearer.

At least this article actually says what some of the planned changes to the LAT print editions were to be. Simers' effort just says how the paper is going to "be killed."

I wondered about that the whole time while reading Simers' thing: like, what, exactly, are the changes you're writing about?

Dwyre was more explanatory. Simers really was just ranting. I didn't usually think that about Simers' stuff, and often actually used to like it. But these latest efforts have been badly written (and edited, as someone else suggested) and were unclear -- likely to just confuse, rather than to inform or inspire anybody, or make them think, or act.

 

[MTM]

I switched my LAT subscription from print to digital a couple months ago because delivery was up to something like $70/month. I now read the paper on my tablet every morning when I eat breakfast. If they continue to do an online version of a "normal" sports section with gamers and roundups and such, I will continue, but I won't make the effort to click on a bunch of individual articles on the website.

 

[Mr. X]

I switched my LAT subscription from print to digital a couple months ago because delivery was up to something like $70/month.

How much is your digital subscription?

 

[Small Town Guy]

Patrick Reusse, my favorite columnist in the business, can absolutely rival Simers when it comes to being an elderly curmudgeon, but he remains a must-read because it's not his whole persona like it's become with T.J. and he still exudes joy in his work even while he's being a grouch. Then again he didn't have to go through a bitter court case against his employer. Simers can still entertain me with some of his lines but mostly it's just a bleak read and has been since the legal battle.

 

[MTM]

How much is your digital subscription?

I paid $234 for 52 weeks of seven days digital and home delivery on Saturday and Sunday. It works out to about $4.50/week.

My bill had risen to $134 for every 8 weeks of daily delivery to my home about 100 miles from Downtown LA.

 

[Slacker]

Simers, believing he was entitled to be paid $250,000 a year to write a column three times a week until the day that he died, sued for millions of dollars.

Now you can see why the Times was trying desperately to get other voices in the paper.

Fine by me, but then again: How much has Skip Bayless made for being TwatNozzle Skip Bayless?

 

[MileHigh]

https://tjpage2.blog/2023/07/07/new-idea-times-writers-told-to-be-interesting/

 

[Octave]

I've waited until 1 a.m. for a Rockies-Diamondbacks score. Wonder if TJ ever has.

Many of us on the other side would have liked the writers to be interesting, too.

 

[MTM]

New sports section debuted today, sort of. Cover was a photo of Ohtani teasing to an article speculating that he could sign with the Dodgers next season. Page 2 was the message from the editor and weekly reader letters.
Plasckhe column was on Page 7 (of 8) along with a Dodgers-Angels gamer.
There were no standings or box scores, but half "The Day in Sports" was a baseball roundup with the Tigers no-hitter and various baseball notes along with the usual graph or two on motor sports, Tour de France, international soccer and WNBA.
There also were AP golf roundup and Wimbledon articles.
Much of these won't meet the new early deadlines as the section moves forward.

 

[Sports Barf]

How are we in the year 2023 and takes like "Newspapers should drop print altogether" and "Newspapers should invest in paid social marketing" are controversial opinions in this industry? No wonder journalism sucks and everyone's bailing. Simers is pathetic for this.

Here's the reality. If you live in Boston, you can get last night's Celtics highlights on somebody's social media feed or YouTube channel. If you live in Boston and you cut the cord, and you're trying to figure out what that police tape two blocks away last night was about, you're probably searching on Twitter or Reddit and then maybe you are ponying up for a monthly online subscription to the Globe or Herald. Because you're probably not watching local news at all.

The world needs content more than ever. But it's on you to remove the barriers to entry for your product.