September 19, 2010 at 11:18 am
Pronounce it “Glou-ces-ter” or “Pea-BODY” and the phone will ring!…If you’re lucky it won’t be your News Director (if he/she knows the difference)….Confuse Doug with Darren or Billy or Billy Jr. and your editor will stare at you with daggers!..The point being, you’re not supposed to know everything about your new hometown but as a newcomer it sure helps…
Moving to a new market is daunting at any stage…Coming out of college and landing in Panama City or Idaho Falls isn’t what you hoped for but it’s part of the process and as skeptical as you are about them, make no mistake, you’re the “new kid on the block” and have to prove yourself…In smaller markets you can start slower but make a big leap and you’re in the thick of it…
At the Boston University Sports Journalism Seminar Series recently Jackie Pepper of Comcastsportsnet New England tried to make the jump from market number 162 to Boston, currently number seven according to AC Nielsen…Said Pepper, “One of the reasons Comcast turned me down three times was because i had no ties to the area. And that was very important to them. It’s been a sizable disadvantage and it’s really tough”…A new town, new faces, new teams and no personal background, a tough act to pull off…
A relatively fresh face to the dot.com platform, Jeff Howe was no stranger to the area, however…A graduate of UMass, Howe worked at dailies in Worcester and Boston as well as the MetroWest before joining the stable at NESN,com…While new to the video world his background and familiarity with the workings of the local scene were invaluable and he made the transition seamlessly, “If you know the area, you automatically know the history of all the teams you grew up watching”…No small difference…
But the point is, every place you go, you’ll be the one who just moved to town and it’s your job to figure out what it takes to do the job there…In the smaller markets it’s introducing yourself around, the high school coaches and athletes and if you’re lucky, the same people on a small college level…Remember, you are both newcomers…you’re gonna have a full plate, first job and all, making relationships, learning your craft (including making your mistakes) and positioning yourself for the next move…Pepper was in Idaho Falls, Idaho for fourteen months and says she just felt like she was getting comfortable when the call came to Boston…Time to start the process all over again…
Find someone you can trust…Ask questions…And if you’re luck enough to get back to Boston, there’s an Eastie, and a Southie, but no Northie or Westie!..Wareham and Dedham are pronounced differently…There’s “Z” in Quincy and Swampscott has a “U”…more to come…
By fshorr
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September 10, 2010 at 12:38 pm
Here’s a novel idea dot.com journalists, “let’s get it right!”...we’ve already established that the internet is a faster way to disseminate information but how about making sure it’s accurate as well?…
The job of a sports journalist is infinitely harder now, the days (and nights) are longer, “feeding the beast” is all consuming and then there’s creativity…But somewhere along the line we forgot that above all what we post, blog, tweet, write, air has to be correct!
Boston radio and television stations boasted their Tom Brady “exclusives” early Thursday morning…but upon further inspection, there were almost as many mistakes …the wrong occupant was identified as needing the jaws of life, for example…speculation ran rampant…the new technology is unquestionably faster but maybe we need to dial it down a notch and get the facts right…
In their defense, the media outlets were undoubtedly trying to be accurate…more than can be said for Washington Post columnist Mike Wise…Wise purposely tweeted false information to see if anyone would pick up the story and cite his “sources”…well they did and when Wise let it be known this was all an experiment, sparks flew…”you’re not going to create a Twitter social experiment to see something like that happen and see how far it can go and see what’s going to happen and not tell your editor about it and warn them ahead of time, says Joe Haggerty of CSSNE.com and Hackswithhaggs. You’re immediately going to not be taken seriously”…Kirk Minihane of WEEI.com agrees; “your name is all you have. Why would you monkey around with that. It’s just bizarre behavior, I think”
Bizarre indeed…the pitcher who throws the hardest, the golfer who hits the ball the furthest, they’re fun to watch but don’t very often get credit for being the best and certainly not the most accurate…we can do better…
By fshorr
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April 14, 2010 at 9:25 am
It's one of the least favorite calls you can get...The News Director says, "Can I talk to you, we want you to do a story"...rut roh! - red lights flash, you kick into defense mode...you know this can't be good...who got arrested?...who's getting divorced?...it's never good, it just isn't...But, if you want to last more than a week and a half, you at least listen before saying no...In some cases, saying no too many times, leads to the label "not a team player" and eventually no contract extension, but i digress...
Take the the case of Dale Hansen, sports anchor at WFAA in Dallas...seems the News Director at WFAA wanted Hansen to do the story about Jerry Jones, owner of the Dallas Cowboys, who was surreptitiously videotaped while at a bar...Jones, obviously inebriated, railed on Bill Parcells and Tim Tebow, among other things in a videotape, seen first on Deadspin.
Hansen refused... Let the games begin...Fearing that one of their competitors would do the story, the News Director reiterated his "request"...Hansen stuck by his guns...And not only did he refuse, but Hansen commented about it during his "Unplugged" segment on the news...Here, Here!....now, maybe Hansen's 27 years with the station gives him the power to do that, but let's not lose the message here - sometimes the sports people know how to do their job(s) better than their bosses!...
By fshorr
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March 25, 2010 at 12:50 pm
So Tiger’s going to meet the media at the Masters huh?...well, just what media is that…the hand picked select few who can obtain credentials from the PGA that’s who…If you’ve ever been through that process, you know we’re not talking TMZ or the National Enquirer here…and that brings us to the central issue – access…that’s what it’s all about …whether it’s Bill Belichick, Tiger Woods or the high school quarterback, if you don’t have access, you can’t do your job…The PGA carefully screens who sits in on the post round newsers and if you’ve ever been a part of that you know you have to raise your hand to even get the opportunity to ask a question…Ask a question that might raise an eyebrow and off to the bunker you go…getting back in the good graces is no small task…That goes for the other sports as well…some years ago the Boston Herald ran an item about Belichick’s marital situation…their football beat reporters got the cold shoulder even though it wasn’t the sports section that carried the item…I think they call that guilty by association!..that’s not uncommon when you have to deal with Media relations people who own that access you need and want…
So once again we have Tiger and his handlers trying to manage his exposure here…I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again; do it for EVERYONE and get it over with…his calculations here are going to backfire as more texts emerge and information pours out…First it was a statement, then a reporter from the Golf Channel and ESPN…now the Masters media…he’s dragging this thing out unnecessarily…He wants this to go away but all he’s doing is pouring gas on the fire…Tiger may be thinking these are his friends, they wouldn’t dare ask a question like, oh say “Tiger, what did you mean when you said you love(d) Elin”, do you still?”…maybe he’s right, maybe they won’t…but somewhere, someone will and a lot more like it…It just won’t be at Augusta if Julius Mason has anything to say about it…
By fshorr
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February 8, 2010 at 12:44 pm
The reporter/producer in me still can't watch a game without taking notes...thanks Nando and Uncle Roy...so five pages later here are some random thoughts...
Mistakes are always key, buy hey, i couldn't wait to lambaste sean payton for winning the coin toss and not deferring to the second half...maybe he knew all along he was going to pull that onsides kick? Then i couldn't figure out why he didn't go for the field goal with 1:55 left in the first half - why not use your timeouts?...guess that's why i'm here and he's there...turns out the Colts made the two biggest mistakes (not recovering the kick and THE interception) and it's ballgame time!...But let's move on....c'mon folks, what was all the stink about the Tim Tebow ad?...can't we all just get along?...it was terrific, even sweet...as for the other ads, yikes!...betty white and abe vigoda stole the show...doritos was right there too and even though i have no idea what boostmobile is, i loved seeing mcmahon and compnay again...the etrades kids were predictably cute but a big thumbs down to budweiser, all those guys in underwear, dodge, motorola, intel, flotv, and a word to monster.com - lose the fiddling beaver....did troy palamalu approve that ad?....and you can never go wrong using stevie wonder in a commercial...remember, it's always about the story and after watching "The Invention of Lying" the night before, i'm convinced the Man Upstairs was wearing black and gold!
By fshorr
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