Sports Coverage Is The Role Of The Newspaper
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
There appears to be a misunderstanding among some readers as to the role of a newspaper.
Specifically, as that role relates to coverage of local sports.
We get these nasty letters from fans. And they say some really dumb things.
Now, I will give the fans the benefit of the doubt. I am fairly confident that they aren't dumb people.
The only other explanation for some of the comments these fans make must be that they simply don't understand how this stuff works.
Allow me an attempt to enlighten them.
There seems to be a misconception among sports fans that the role of the newspaper is to "support" the local high school team.
We have been chastised several times for not "supporting" this team or that team. Recently a reader wrote a letter urging the sports staff to give its "full support to Warsaw football."
That is not the role of a newspaper. It is the job of our sportswriters and photographers to chronicle the events, to cover the games, not to support the teams.
In fact, I admonish them not to be subjective. Not to show a bias for one team or another. Not to be supportive.
So when they are criticized for not supporting a team, they are criticized for doing precisely what I tell them to do.
It's a little different on the news side. It is rare that we are criticized for not supporting the mayor or the county commissioners.
Generally, the opposite is true. We are criticized for not bashing them enough.
But on the sports side, the perception is that the newspaper should support the local team.
That simply is not true.
We cover them, not support them.
And what exactly is a local team?
Our sports staff covers seven schools: Manchester, NorthWood, Tippecanoe Valley, Triton, Warsaw, Wawasee and Whitko.
(I listed those alphabetically so I can't be accused of having a favorite. It would only be fair, however, to note at this point that my kids go to Wawasee.)
That level of coverage makes for all kinds of wacky comments from readers.
On the one hand, Warsaw fans are always complaining because we run stories about outlying teams.
On the other hand, outlying teams are always complaining because we run too much Warsaw stuff.
For the record: We are not the Warsaw Times-Union. Our newspaper name is the Times-Union.
Then there are the people who complain - and I am dead serious - that we only put their team on the front of the section when they lose. Or that we only send a photographer when they lose.
That is just ludicrous, but it's what some fans think.
For the record, here's some insight into how it really works.
At the beginning of the sports season (spring or fall) the sports editor sits down and looks at all the schedules for all the sports teams we cover.
Then he makes assignments for photographers and writers. We try to spread the coverage around, while leaning a little bit toward Warsaw because that's where most of our circulation is.
For example, we staff every Warsaw football and boys basketball game with a writer.
That's the only school we do that for. The other schools get staffed with a writer less frequently. When we don't staff a game, we rely on the coaches to fax us the results.
We have one full-time photographer and one part-timer.
So on any given night we can only be in two places at once. So we spread it around. We try to give each school a fair amount of photo coverage.
We always try to give preference to games where two teams we cover are playing. So when Warsaw plays Valley or Wawasee plays Whitko, we are likely to be there.
One fan wrote in to criticize us because we ran a NorthWood story across the top of the page and a Warsaw story below it.
The NorthWood story was about 4 inches deep across five columns. It took up about 20 column inches. It had no photos. They came back to beat Bremen in overtime.
The Warsaw story included two photos. It was 10 inches deep across four columns. A total of 40 column inches. Warsaw scored 15 seconds into the first quarter and beat Valley easily.
The fan ripped us because he thought Warsaw should have been at the top of the page. (I'm not kidding.) Warsaw got twice the amount of space on the front of the sports section with two photos and this fan still wasn't happy.
Hey, I guess that's life in the thrill-a-minute world of big-time professional journalism.
But the thing that really prompted me to write this column was a letter to the editor we got last week.
In it, a mother of a Tippecanoe Valley player vented her frustration over our photo coverage because we "must enjoy seeing these players in embarrassing moments."
She was referring to a photo of a player who was called for pass interference.
"Is there a good reason to embarrass these kids in the paper?" she asked.
Well, I have a question.
What photo could we possibly take in a sporting event that wouldn't be embarrassing to someone?
If we take a picture of a kid intercepting a pass, isn't that embarrassing to the opposing quarterback?
If we take a picture of a kid crossing the goal line on a dive play, isn't that embarrassing to the defensive lineman who failed to plug that hole?
If we take a picture of a kid jumping for joy in the end zone after scoring a touchdown, generally, nearby there is another kid with his hands on his hips staring at the ground. Is that embarrassing to him? Should we not run that photo?
At the end of the letter, the writer advised us "to be more positive in ... photo coverage of our area high school athletes."
My response to that is simple.
It's all positive.
It's all about good kids working hard at a sport and doing their best in competition. It's not about who gets the most coverage or who gets placed at the top of the page. It's not about which photo was taken or not taken.
It's about high school athletics and that legendary thrill of victory and agony of defeat.
It's kids learning about ups and downs, teamwork and leadership.
Sometimes I think the fans could learn from student athletes. Know what? I have never received a complaint from a student athlete.
I have been in this business a long time. I have worked in four different markets. This one is unique when it comes to sports coverage. Warsaw fans are like no others.
I know what I have written here likely will fall on deaf ears. If you think the newspaper should support your team, I'm not gonna change your mind.
Surely there is room for improvement in our sports coverage. But I hope fans understand that we certainly never try to embarrass student athletes or make them look bad.
And we do our best to be fair to all the teams we cover. [[In-content Ad]]
There appears to be a misunderstanding among some readers as to the role of a newspaper.
Specifically, as that role relates to coverage of local sports.
We get these nasty letters from fans. And they say some really dumb things.
Now, I will give the fans the benefit of the doubt. I am fairly confident that they aren't dumb people.
The only other explanation for some of the comments these fans make must be that they simply don't understand how this stuff works.
Allow me an attempt to enlighten them.
There seems to be a misconception among sports fans that the role of the newspaper is to "support" the local high school team.
We have been chastised several times for not "supporting" this team or that team. Recently a reader wrote a letter urging the sports staff to give its "full support to Warsaw football."
That is not the role of a newspaper. It is the job of our sportswriters and photographers to chronicle the events, to cover the games, not to support the teams.
In fact, I admonish them not to be subjective. Not to show a bias for one team or another. Not to be supportive.
So when they are criticized for not supporting a team, they are criticized for doing precisely what I tell them to do.
It's a little different on the news side. It is rare that we are criticized for not supporting the mayor or the county commissioners.
Generally, the opposite is true. We are criticized for not bashing them enough.
But on the sports side, the perception is that the newspaper should support the local team.
That simply is not true.
We cover them, not support them.
And what exactly is a local team?
Our sports staff covers seven schools: Manchester, NorthWood, Tippecanoe Valley, Triton, Warsaw, Wawasee and Whitko.
(I listed those alphabetically so I can't be accused of having a favorite. It would only be fair, however, to note at this point that my kids go to Wawasee.)
That level of coverage makes for all kinds of wacky comments from readers.
On the one hand, Warsaw fans are always complaining because we run stories about outlying teams.
On the other hand, outlying teams are always complaining because we run too much Warsaw stuff.
For the record: We are not the Warsaw Times-Union. Our newspaper name is the Times-Union.
Then there are the people who complain - and I am dead serious - that we only put their team on the front of the section when they lose. Or that we only send a photographer when they lose.
That is just ludicrous, but it's what some fans think.
For the record, here's some insight into how it really works.
At the beginning of the sports season (spring or fall) the sports editor sits down and looks at all the schedules for all the sports teams we cover.
Then he makes assignments for photographers and writers. We try to spread the coverage around, while leaning a little bit toward Warsaw because that's where most of our circulation is.
For example, we staff every Warsaw football and boys basketball game with a writer.
That's the only school we do that for. The other schools get staffed with a writer less frequently. When we don't staff a game, we rely on the coaches to fax us the results.
We have one full-time photographer and one part-timer.
So on any given night we can only be in two places at once. So we spread it around. We try to give each school a fair amount of photo coverage.
We always try to give preference to games where two teams we cover are playing. So when Warsaw plays Valley or Wawasee plays Whitko, we are likely to be there.
One fan wrote in to criticize us because we ran a NorthWood story across the top of the page and a Warsaw story below it.
The NorthWood story was about 4 inches deep across five columns. It took up about 20 column inches. It had no photos. They came back to beat Bremen in overtime.
The Warsaw story included two photos. It was 10 inches deep across four columns. A total of 40 column inches. Warsaw scored 15 seconds into the first quarter and beat Valley easily.
The fan ripped us because he thought Warsaw should have been at the top of the page. (I'm not kidding.) Warsaw got twice the amount of space on the front of the sports section with two photos and this fan still wasn't happy.
Hey, I guess that's life in the thrill-a-minute world of big-time professional journalism.
But the thing that really prompted me to write this column was a letter to the editor we got last week.
In it, a mother of a Tippecanoe Valley player vented her frustration over our photo coverage because we "must enjoy seeing these players in embarrassing moments."
She was referring to a photo of a player who was called for pass interference.
"Is there a good reason to embarrass these kids in the paper?" she asked.
Well, I have a question.
What photo could we possibly take in a sporting event that wouldn't be embarrassing to someone?
If we take a picture of a kid intercepting a pass, isn't that embarrassing to the opposing quarterback?
If we take a picture of a kid crossing the goal line on a dive play, isn't that embarrassing to the defensive lineman who failed to plug that hole?
If we take a picture of a kid jumping for joy in the end zone after scoring a touchdown, generally, nearby there is another kid with his hands on his hips staring at the ground. Is that embarrassing to him? Should we not run that photo?
At the end of the letter, the writer advised us "to be more positive in ... photo coverage of our area high school athletes."
My response to that is simple.
It's all positive.
It's all about good kids working hard at a sport and doing their best in competition. It's not about who gets the most coverage or who gets placed at the top of the page. It's not about which photo was taken or not taken.
It's about high school athletics and that legendary thrill of victory and agony of defeat.
It's kids learning about ups and downs, teamwork and leadership.
Sometimes I think the fans could learn from student athletes. Know what? I have never received a complaint from a student athlete.
I have been in this business a long time. I have worked in four different markets. This one is unique when it comes to sports coverage. Warsaw fans are like no others.
I know what I have written here likely will fall on deaf ears. If you think the newspaper should support your team, I'm not gonna change your mind.
Surely there is room for improvement in our sports coverage. But I hope fans understand that we certainly never try to embarrass student athletes or make them look bad.
And we do our best to be fair to all the teams we cover. [[In-content Ad]]