Category Archives: Newspapers

Sports editors to meet in Chicago; Survival will be discussed

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The Associated Press Sports Editors will hold their annual convention in Chicago, beginning tomorrow. Given the (dire?) challenges the industry faces, this should be an interesting gathering.

In a welcome to Chicago letter, APSE president Michael A. Anastasi, the managing editor of the Salt Lake Tribune, said:

Many of you have heard me say this before, but I think it’s worth repeating. With so much change, so much challenge, so much new, this is exactly the wrong time for editors to stop talking to each other.

For the first time, the convention will be held jointly with the AWSM (the Association for Women in Sports Media).

Among the panels offered to attendees:

A year of scandal in college sports: A look at how publications across platforms around the nation broke some of the biggest stories of 2011. Panelists: Emily Kulkus, Syracuse Post-Standard;Charles Robinson, Yahoo! Sports.

Social Media and Ethics in Sports Journalism: Social Media and Ethics in Sports Journalism Social media has become one of the most valuable tools in the news-breaking journalist’s toolbox. In the wake of the premature death of Joe Paterno on Twitter, we examine the responsibilities of journalists in regard to using social media as a reporting tool at a number of different levels. How similar or different are those responsibilities in comparison to the use of traditional sources, and what are the positives/negatives of Twitter, Facebook and Storify as reporting tools? Also, what is the next wave of social media tools for journalists? And what are some other problems we might encounter down the road?  Panelists: Richard Deitsch, Sports Illustrated/SI.com; Robert Gagliardi, Wyoming Tribune Eagle/WyoSports (Cheyenne); Teddy Greenstein, Chicago Tribune.
What a Woman Wants: Examining the consumption of sports content by
women and how it’s evolved over the last 40 years. We know women
don’t simply want coverage of women’s sports. It’s much more complex
and nuanced. Panelists: Mike Harris, The Washington Times; Andrei S. Markovits, University of Michigan; Amy Moritz, The Buffalo News; Shelley Smith, ESPN.
Ambitious Journalism: In an era of dwindling resources, how do editors make the tough choices and the commitment to producing thought-provoking enterprise. Panelists: Tommy Deas, Tuscaloosa News; Robert Gagliardi, Wyoming Tribune Eagle; Jason Stallman, The New York Times

Title IX: The legacy of 40 years: June 23 marks the 40th anniversary of Title IX, which says simply: "No person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any education program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance." We look back at where we've been, where we are, and where we're going from here. Panelists: Lauren Gustus, Reno Gazette-Journal;Marcia Keegan, ESPN; Joe Sullivan, Boston Globe

 

 

Louisville columnist explains why he walked away from dream job

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It’s just a crazy time to be in the newspaper business these days. And it got too crazy for Eric Crawford.

Crawford made his exit last week, jumping from his “dream job” as columnist at the Louisville Courier-Journal to join WDRB, where he will write on that TV station’s site. Long-time C-J columnist Rich Bozich also did the same thing.

In a post with the headline, “Why I walked away from the only job I ever wanted growing up,” Crawford writes:

I loved being in the newspaper. I did not love the newspaper business. Sportswriters get front-row seats. But the shrinking of a newspaper I grew up with and loved was not something I cared to watch from the inside any longer.

There were too many meetings run by executives in McLean, Va., too many “news” initiatives dictated from afar that detracted from news needs on the ground here. And in the end, there were too few of my colleagues left in the building, too many gifted people with productive years left being spun back into the community instead of staying where they belonged, inside that building to cover it.

It wasn’t the fault of local editors and publishers. They could no more stop the slide than they could stop severe storms. If left to call the shots on their own, I have no doubt that a different course would have been set for the newspaper long ago, and its status today would have been far different. But no one in Louisville, ultimately, is calling the shots for Louisville’s paper.

Later, Crawford writes:

Around the nation, especially in cities like New Orleans, Birmingham and Mobile, which soon will see their newspaper circulation cut to three days a week, people are re-examining the importance of local media to life in their cities. In New Orleans, the owner of the NFL’s Saints appealed to the out-of-town owner of The New Orleans Times-Picayune to continue daily print publication.

In more cities than this one, out-of-town corporate interests dictating major media decisions is the norm, as is the reduction of reporting staff, furloughing of employees and, soon, the sharing of news operations among competitors.

These are trends WDRB has rejected, and has had the freedom to reject because of a largely autonomous Louisville-based leadership.

Title IX impact not felt in press boxes; still few women sportswriters

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Forty years later, and still not many women in the press box.

With all the hoopla on the 40th anniversary of Title IX, Rhiannon Falzone of ChicagoSide weighs in with a timely story about women in sports media, or lack thereof.

She writes:

In Chicago, as in most big cities, men dominate the business of sports reporting. It’s been 40 years since Title IX became the law, banning sex discrimination in American education, and giving girls equal rights in classrooms and gymnasiums. But while the law changed the face of sports, it hasn’t done much to change sports media, especially in Chicago. By my count, and based on interviews with local editors and reporters, it breaks down like this:

The Chicago Tribune sports department employs 15 full-time reporters, two of them women.

The Sun-Times sports desk has eight full-time reporters, two of them women. All of its columnists are men.

The Daily Herald employs one woman on a staff of twelve.

WSCR 670 The Score lists 24 reporters and hosts on its website; all of them are men.

WMVP ESPN 1000 has thirteen “personalities” listed on its website, all but one of them men.

ChicagoSide has been in business more than two months, and this is its first story written by a woman.

I may be a girl, but I know this math is wrong.

Falzone concludes:

In response, some women are creating their own opportunities. Julie DiCaro, a freelance Redeye columnist, recently started Aerys Sports, an online network of women sports bloggers.

“I decided to do my own thing and not try to break into the boys club,” said DiCaro, who grew up reading Isaacson in the Tribune. “I got tired of it. With Title IX a lot of women grew up with sports a big part of theirs,” DiCaro said. “This isn’t a group of women saying, ‘we’re girl writers.’ No, we’re sportswriters.”

 

 

 

Go Chargers! San Diego U-T CEO wants sports section to ‘support’ local teams

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I would be fairly nervous if I worked at the San Diego Union-Tribune these days. What if I write something that runs counter to the sentiments of CEO John Lynch?

Will I find myself out on the street like Tim Sullivan?

It certainly appears as if Sullivan’s distinguished 10-year run as a columnist ended because he had serious questions about building a new stadium in San Diego. Lynch, the father of former Tampa Bay and Denver star safety John Lynch, wants that stadium to keep the Chargers in town.

In a telling interview with the Voice of San Diego shortly after taking over as CEO, there’s this passage:

He wants that sports page to be an advocate for a new football stadium “and call out those who don’t as obstructionists.”

“To my way of thinking,” Lynch said, “that’s a shovel-ready job for thousands.”

Later:

And the former sports radio executive said the paper should have “an incredibly strong sports page that supports the Chargers, the Padres, USD, SDSU.”

Wow, support a new stadium and go Bolts! Is that the U-T’s new mantra?

Sullivan certainly wasn’t up for playing that game. In yesterday’s post about his dismissal, he said:

Mr. Lynch appears to be of a mind to make the stadium happen and bulldoze the opposition or even those who raise questions.

Later, Sullivan said:

I told (editor Jeff Light) then that I was not in a position to quit on principle but that I was worried that Lynch’s interview had inflicted serious damage to the paper’s credibility and that his leadership would result in compromised standards. (It has, and on several fronts.)

Interestingly, Light didn’t dispute Sullivan’s account of the story. In an email to JimRomenensko.com, he said:

Tim has a fine record as journalist, and I think his account is pretty accurate as far as it goes. Without getting into the details, I would say that if he can find the right fit, I think he would make a good columnist for someone.

There are people in San Diego questioning why Light didn’t do more to protect Sullivan’s job. Perhaps he did, but in the end, Lynch ordered him gone.

From what I hear, the U-T staffers are very nervous in the wake of what happened to Sullivan. Who’s next?

And for those who stay, do you risk being branded as a cheerleader? After all, the CEO said he wants “an incredibly strong sports page that supports the Chargers, the Padres, USD, SDSU.”

Possible lede next season:

The Chargers are off to another 1-4 start, but we know good ol’ Norv Turner can turn it around.

Now Lynch ran a sports talk radio station, and I suspect the hosts weren’t genteel in their approach to Turner. Homers don’t make for good sports talk radio.

The same holds true for newspapers. Regarding the U-T, Lynch should have said he wants a section that “aggressively covers” the local teams.

Lynch, though, said what he said. Sullivan is right. Lynch’s comments have compromised the paper’s standards. And his decision to ax Sullivan lowered them even more.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Update: Joe Cowley not returning to Twitter

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Even though Joe Cowley’s account, CST_Cowley, has reappeared on Twitter, the Sun-Times reporter won’t be tweeting.

The Sun-Times had to reactivate it to prevent other people from tweeting under that account. In an email this evening, sports editor Chris De Luca said there are no plans for Cowley to resume tweeting.

I made a bad assumption earlier today that the reappearance of the account, which was taken down quickly after Cowley made some offensive tweets about women in late April, meant he soon would be tweeting again.

My apologies to Cowley and the Sun-Times.

 

 

St. Louis Post-Dispatch applies asterisk to Santana no-hitter

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Ah, you’ve got to love a little partisan fun in the sports section.

While New York papers were giddy over Johan Santana’s no-hitter, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch took a different view. The paper went with this headline:

 No-hitter*

*Santana throws gem with help of missed call.

Ah yes, the immortal asterisk made famous by Ford Frick over Roger Maris’ 61 homers in 1961.

The P-D felt Santana’s history maker was tainted by third-base umpire Adrian Johnson’s missed call on an apparent double hit by Carlos Beltran.

The P-D then also carried the theme with this headline over the gamer:

Santana no-hits Cards — with a little help

Nice try, but sorry P-D, Santana’s no-no won’t go in the record book with an asterisk.