Deadlines inhibit late sports scores
One of the most appealing things about a career in journalism is the opportunity to work on a wide range of projects.
In my decades in the business I’ve covered governmental meetings and murder trials; rubbed elbows with entertainers, politicians and other “celebrities”; attended social functions; and had all manner of interesting adventures.
Working for two smaller newspapers, I even took photographs of sporting events, including football.
What I have never done, however, is actually write about sports.
In a region of the country known for its love of football — particularly high school football — that’s a bit of a handicap. For that reason, readers who call with questions, comments or problems about football coverage might end up talking to our sports editor, Dave Wilson.
Though fairly new to The Enterprise, Wilson is a Texas native who spent most of his growing-up years in Kilgore — a great football town. He has substantial newspaper and sports experience, not to mention he can answer those football questions that sometimes mystify me.
A sports issue that arose recently was coverage, or lack thereof, of the Dallas Cowboys vs. Philadelphia Eagles game played on Sunday, Nov. 8. The next day’s paper contained a photograph from the game, with a caption that included the score. Inside line scores were outdated, not reflecting the Sunday game. But the greatest sin of all was that the sports section included a photograph and full-coverage story on the New Orleans Saints’ game against the Carolina Panthers.
While we certainly have some Saints fans among our readers (and fans of the Texans, whose game was on the section cover) most everybody knows that this is actually Cowboy country.
So what happened? The answer is the same problem that hounds any print media trying to compete with Web sites and electronic media. We publish one edition per day — and have tight deadlines. BeaumontEnterprise.com can have current news posted in moments and be updated many times each day. But we only print one newspaper every day.
The night of the game, the Cowboys game ran late. We weren’t sure we could get anything, but were able to hold that one page to get in the photo and caption. The Saints game, which ended substantially earlier, was over in time for an inside story. The standings page already had been completed and sent so couldn’t be updated with post-game details — so the Cowboys standings were wrong.
It’s not something that makes us happy, but it is the reality of a printed media.
A century or more ago, people might not get to read a newspaper until it was weeks old — and they were happy to get to read that “old” news. In more recent history, the daily newspaper has been current enough for most readers, but times, particularly in the news business, have changed drastically in the last few years.
Our Web site helps us keep up with those times, but the daily deadline is always going to keep the printed newspaper from being the most current news. In return, it generally gives you the most detailed news — just not in this case.
* * *
Speaking of the sports section, households in which that portion of the paper is in high demand now have an inexpensive alternative to keep two readers happy at the same time.
Our eEdition, the electronic version of our printed product, is now available to current print subscribers for only a penny per month — 12 cents a year.
So, if one person wants to hold the paper in his or her hands, while the other wants to read it on a computer, that’s possible for a very small cost. The eEdition also allows e-mailing of stories — so Grandma in Topeka can see how great Johnny did in the playoff game.
To take advantage of the bargain rate, log on to BeaumontEnterprise.com/services/subscribe/ and click on the “add an eEdition for a penny” link.
Non-print subscribers will still be charged the regular rate of $8.95 per month.
In my decades in the business I’ve covered governmental meetings and murder trials; rubbed elbows with entertainers, politicians and other “celebrities”; attended social functions; and had all manner of interesting adventures.
Working for two smaller newspapers, I even took photographs of sporting events, including football.
What I have never done, however, is actually write about sports.
In a region of the country known for its love of football — particularly high school football — that’s a bit of a handicap. For that reason, readers who call with questions, comments or problems about football coverage might end up talking to our sports editor, Dave Wilson.
Though fairly new to The Enterprise, Wilson is a Texas native who spent most of his growing-up years in Kilgore — a great football town. He has substantial newspaper and sports experience, not to mention he can answer those football questions that sometimes mystify me.
A sports issue that arose recently was coverage, or lack thereof, of the Dallas Cowboys vs. Philadelphia Eagles game played on Sunday, Nov. 8. The next day’s paper contained a photograph from the game, with a caption that included the score. Inside line scores were outdated, not reflecting the Sunday game. But the greatest sin of all was that the sports section included a photograph and full-coverage story on the New Orleans Saints’ game against the Carolina Panthers.
While we certainly have some Saints fans among our readers (and fans of the Texans, whose game was on the section cover) most everybody knows that this is actually Cowboy country.
So what happened? The answer is the same problem that hounds any print media trying to compete with Web sites and electronic media. We publish one edition per day — and have tight deadlines. BeaumontEnterprise.com can have current news posted in moments and be updated many times each day. But we only print one newspaper every day.
The night of the game, the Cowboys game ran late. We weren’t sure we could get anything, but were able to hold that one page to get in the photo and caption. The Saints game, which ended substantially earlier, was over in time for an inside story. The standings page already had been completed and sent so couldn’t be updated with post-game details — so the Cowboys standings were wrong.
It’s not something that makes us happy, but it is the reality of a printed media.
A century or more ago, people might not get to read a newspaper until it was weeks old — and they were happy to get to read that “old” news. In more recent history, the daily newspaper has been current enough for most readers, but times, particularly in the news business, have changed drastically in the last few years.
Our Web site helps us keep up with those times, but the daily deadline is always going to keep the printed newspaper from being the most current news. In return, it generally gives you the most detailed news — just not in this case.
* * *
Speaking of the sports section, households in which that portion of the paper is in high demand now have an inexpensive alternative to keep two readers happy at the same time.
Our eEdition, the electronic version of our printed product, is now available to current print subscribers for only a penny per month — 12 cents a year.
So, if one person wants to hold the paper in his or her hands, while the other wants to read it on a computer, that’s possible for a very small cost. The eEdition also allows e-mailing of stories — so Grandma in Topeka can see how great Johnny did in the playoff game.
To take advantage of the bargain rate, log on to BeaumontEnterprise.com/services/subscribe/ and click on the “add an eEdition for a penny” link.
Non-print subscribers will still be charged the regular rate of $8.95 per month.
posted by Sheila Friedeck at 4:20 PM
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