New sports section debuts in April
One of my favorite journalism anecdotes is taken from a speech delivered at a professional conference. The speaker talked about how much she loved reading newspapers and how she couldn't wait to get her paper every morning. "When it arrives, the first thing I do is look for the sports section . . . and I throw that away."
That's not to suggest, at all, that Beaumont Enterprise readers toss their sports sections aside. We recognize the importance of sports to those in Southeast Texas and do our best to offer broad coverage, from leagues to high school sports to colleges and professional sports.
Throw in some fishing, hunting, hiking and camping, and we hope we have a varied package that appeals to a wide cross-section of readers.
What we won't have, starting Thursday, April 30, is a section called "Sports." Those pages, with both traditional and non-traditional sports coverage, will carry a new heading: @PLAY.
We're hoping even die-hard traditionalists will appreciate the new presentation and content and that we might even attract a few new readers who previously might have had the same opinion as that conference speaker years ago.
So, why, traditionalists might ask, can't we just keep calling it "Sports?" Why do we have to throw an @ in there and confuse people? Certainly, that's not our purpose. But, please, just think before you (over)react.
To quote our sports editor, Christopher Dabe: "Whether done through watching or participating, the central concept of sports is to play. Games are played. People play games. Sports are fun to watch . . . Sports are fun to play. That's why we'll call the sports section @PLAY."
The new section continues the trends of intensified local focus and increased awareness of our Web-influenced world begun with earlier changes to The Enterprise. We will provide a forum for readers to share their sports passions and put those debates out there front and center.
We'll even give some local experts a chance to share their predictions for upcoming events. A weekly Web chat will let on-line readers share in conversations with our sports writers.
Other features will give readers the small pieces of the sports puzzle that help form the complete sports picture, from local coverage to Houston, statewide and national coverage.
The new section's strength will be offering readers a variety of sports coverage with an emphasis on local athletes -- either those from Southeast Texas or those still making their mark here.
The front page scoreboard will tell readers who won the Astros' games, but ask them to look inside for details and box scores. Statistics, schedules, agate reports, breaking news, briefs reporting the previous night's games and information on upcoming action will also be included in the package.
Sports fans and non-fans alike get ready for a whole new approach to reading about the people who play and the games they are playing.
*
One of the standard features that previously made regular appearances on the printed pages of your newspaper has appeared less frequently because it just makes more sense on-line. That is a list of phone numbers and addresses to be used to contact your state and national political representatives.
For those who are stirred up, positively or negatively, about any of the activities in Washington these days, here is a toll-free phone number for contacting various representatives: (866) 220-0044.
The catch, because in Washington, D. C., there always seems to be one, is that this is a temporary number. I actually found seven "temporary" numbers but called and spoke to an operator about this one. If the toll-free number doesn't work, and you don't own a computer to look up a current number, this non-toll-free one is permanent: (202) 224-3121.
We previously had other toll-free numbers that we gave readers. As one reader and I recently discovered, those two numbers weren't permanent either. They now belong to "dating" services.
That's not to suggest, at all, that Beaumont Enterprise readers toss their sports sections aside. We recognize the importance of sports to those in Southeast Texas and do our best to offer broad coverage, from leagues to high school sports to colleges and professional sports.
Throw in some fishing, hunting, hiking and camping, and we hope we have a varied package that appeals to a wide cross-section of readers.
What we won't have, starting Thursday, April 30, is a section called "Sports." Those pages, with both traditional and non-traditional sports coverage, will carry a new heading: @PLAY.
We're hoping even die-hard traditionalists will appreciate the new presentation and content and that we might even attract a few new readers who previously might have had the same opinion as that conference speaker years ago.
So, why, traditionalists might ask, can't we just keep calling it "Sports?" Why do we have to throw an @ in there and confuse people? Certainly, that's not our purpose. But, please, just think before you (over)react.
To quote our sports editor, Christopher Dabe: "Whether done through watching or participating, the central concept of sports is to play. Games are played. People play games. Sports are fun to watch . . . Sports are fun to play. That's why we'll call the sports section @PLAY."
The new section continues the trends of intensified local focus and increased awareness of our Web-influenced world begun with earlier changes to The Enterprise. We will provide a forum for readers to share their sports passions and put those debates out there front and center.
We'll even give some local experts a chance to share their predictions for upcoming events. A weekly Web chat will let on-line readers share in conversations with our sports writers.
Other features will give readers the small pieces of the sports puzzle that help form the complete sports picture, from local coverage to Houston, statewide and national coverage.
The new section's strength will be offering readers a variety of sports coverage with an emphasis on local athletes -- either those from Southeast Texas or those still making their mark here.
The front page scoreboard will tell readers who won the Astros' games, but ask them to look inside for details and box scores. Statistics, schedules, agate reports, breaking news, briefs reporting the previous night's games and information on upcoming action will also be included in the package.
Sports fans and non-fans alike get ready for a whole new approach to reading about the people who play and the games they are playing.
*
One of the standard features that previously made regular appearances on the printed pages of your newspaper has appeared less frequently because it just makes more sense on-line. That is a list of phone numbers and addresses to be used to contact your state and national political representatives.
For those who are stirred up, positively or negatively, about any of the activities in Washington these days, here is a toll-free phone number for contacting various representatives: (866) 220-0044.
The catch, because in Washington, D. C., there always seems to be one, is that this is a temporary number. I actually found seven "temporary" numbers but called and spoke to an operator about this one. If the toll-free number doesn't work, and you don't own a computer to look up a current number, this non-toll-free one is permanent: (202) 224-3121.
We previously had other toll-free numbers that we gave readers. As one reader and I recently discovered, those two numbers weren't permanent either. They now belong to "dating" services.
posted by Sheila Friedeck at 3:51 PM
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