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Re: App State Beat Writer

Posted: Wed Jul 27, 2022 7:45 am
by NewApp
McLeansvilleAppFan wrote:
Tue Jul 26, 2022 6:39 pm
Stonewall wrote:
Tue Jul 26, 2022 1:15 pm
Government newspapers? No .
Who was suggesting that?

That's was what I was wondering. Just figured I missed something in the thread.

Re: App State Beat Writer

Posted: Wed Jul 27, 2022 9:02 am
by beav910
Wild that a program of our size doesn't have anyone on the beat. Is ECU in a similar boat?

Re: App State Beat Writer

Posted: Wed Jul 27, 2022 10:54 am
by AppGrad78
It’s not so much the size of the program, but rather the proximity to a quality media outlet. Unfortunately, the Watauga Democrat and Winston-Salem Journal are no longer serious about covering their back yards. The Asheville Citizen and Charlotte Observer, for whatever reasons, have elected not to fill that role either.

Re: App State Beat Writer

Posted: Wed Jul 27, 2022 3:28 pm
by AppStFan1
AppGrad78 wrote:
Wed Jul 27, 2022 10:54 am
It’s not so much the size of the program, but rather the proximity to a quality media outlet. Unfortunately, the Watauga Democrat and Winston-Salem Journal are no longer serious about covering their back yards. The Asheville Citizen and Charlotte Observer, for whatever reasons, have elected not to fill that role either.
I'm wondering if online news and less people subscribing have caused so many budget cuts that they are having to make choices like this.

Re: App State Beat Writer

Posted: Wed Jul 27, 2022 3:39 pm
by NewApp
AppStFan1 wrote:
Wed Jul 27, 2022 3:28 pm
AppGrad78 wrote:
Wed Jul 27, 2022 10:54 am
It’s not so much the size of the program, but rather the proximity to a quality media outlet. Unfortunately, the Watauga Democrat and Winston-Salem Journal are no longer serious about covering their back yards. The Asheville Citizen and Charlotte Observer, for whatever reasons, have elected not to fill that role either.
I'm wondering if online news and less people subscribing have caused so many budget cuts that they are having to make choices like this.
Not to mention advertising revenues going down Gone to internet.

Re: App State Beat Writer

Posted: Wed Jul 27, 2022 4:03 pm
by mikeyosef
AppStFan1 wrote:
Wed Jul 27, 2022 3:28 pm
AppGrad78 wrote:
Wed Jul 27, 2022 10:54 am
It’s not so much the size of the program, but rather the proximity to a quality media outlet. Unfortunately, the Watauga Democrat and Winston-Salem Journal are no longer serious about covering their back yards. The Asheville Citizen and Charlotte Observer, for whatever reasons, have elected not to fill that role either.
I'm wondering if online news and less people subscribing have caused so many budget cuts that they are having to make choices like this.
Newspaper circulation has been steadily declining for decades. People just don't like the feel of an actual newspaper in their hands anymore. I'm 59 and used to have the Atlanta Constitution's parent company as a client; my contact there said I was about the last of those who like the feel of a newspaper left. He was wrong; while I still like the feel of a newspaper, we dropped our subscription to the Greensboro News and Record several years ago. I did recently place an ad in the paper for a pickup truck I was selling...received 3-4 calls in total from the $84 ad. Posted on Craigslist for $5 and received 20-30 calls and sold the truck in one day. It's just sad.

I agree, we should all be concerned about the lack of local news coverage. Nobody's watching or local politicians or local business actions. I love the internet but it has killed professional local journalism. As for those saying company's that bought up these papers cut them to the bone to make more money don't understand business. If no one buys your product you cut costs where you can or go out of business. It sucks but like I said, free, immediate info on the internet is tough to compete against.

Re: App State Beat Writer

Posted: Wed Jul 27, 2022 4:55 pm
by spacemonkey
This is a serious post...someone made fun of me for posting about stealing the Atheletic website article and posting it on here. This is a serious situation for America. If we don't start putting people in jail for stealing period (including intellectual property) our quality of life will continue to go down. The newspapers cant afford to pay someone to write a quality article because their intellectual property is not being protected by the courts/society. Call me a "Debbie downer" again if you must but that was a perfect example. Someone pays someone to put the work in to write a great well researched article and everyone on this board read it for free....this is why no one can make a living being a real reporter/writer. The writers/intellectual property creators are not being protected. Capitalism needs the reward to thrive.

Re: App State Beat Writer

Posted: Wed Jul 27, 2022 4:58 pm
by appdaze
Instead of waiting for new stories I usually just follow things on Twitter. The instant communicative abilities of social media are what is nailing the newspaper industry in the ground. It's inevitable like all industries that become out dated.

Re: App State Beat Writer

Posted: Wed Jul 27, 2022 5:00 pm
by AppStFan1
NewApp wrote:
Wed Jul 27, 2022 3:39 pm
AppStFan1 wrote:
Wed Jul 27, 2022 3:28 pm
AppGrad78 wrote:
Wed Jul 27, 2022 10:54 am
It’s not so much the size of the program, but rather the proximity to a quality media outlet. Unfortunately, the Watauga Democrat and Winston-Salem Journal are no longer serious about covering their back yards. The Asheville Citizen and Charlotte Observer, for whatever reasons, have elected not to fill that role either.
I'm wondering if online news and less people subscribing have caused so many budget cuts that they are having to make choices like this.
Not to mention advertising revenues going down Gone to internet.
I would lump that into my bringing up online. Online hurt need for copies and so that caused their budget cuts due to less being circulated that caused ad revenue to drop. It is sad but how it is.

Re: App State Beat Writer

Posted: Wed Jul 27, 2022 5:00 pm
by AppStFan1
appdaze wrote:
Wed Jul 27, 2022 4:58 pm
Instead of waiting for new stories I usually just follow things on Twitter. The instant communicative abilities of social media are what is nailing the newspaper industry in the ground. It's inevitable like all industries that become out dated.
And as much as you knew sometimes that there could be a slant with newspapers we have seen the cause of people turning to Twitter in an increase in false stories. I see so much on social media that is just wrong but people won't go research to see.

Re: App State Beat Writer

Posted: Wed Jul 27, 2022 5:34 pm
by 85gradinATL
McLeansvilleAppFan wrote:
Tue Jul 26, 2022 8:43 am
AppSt94 wrote:
Tue Jul 26, 2022 8:28 am
Ethan moved on. I believe that it was voluntarily. There is no beat writer for App sports that I know of. The only guys covering App Sports that I know of, other than the school are the guy from the Democrat and David Ware at 24/7.

Here is a story about how AP poll voters are selected. There is 1 voter for every 2 FBS teams in the state.

https://www-saturdaydownsouth-com.cdn.a ... ss-poll%2F

Is the Democrat even big enough to somehow get a vote in the AP Polls? I know they have expanded the voter rolls beyond classic newspapers to radio and TV to recently to a few internet sites, but not having an advocate, so to speak, is not good. Does the Democrat have the resources to send their writer to away games or even watch on TV?

If they do I might pick up a subscription.

Re: App State Beat Writer

Posted: Wed Jul 27, 2022 8:28 pm
by McLeansvilleAppFan
hapapp wrote:
Wed Jul 27, 2022 5:25 am
I think it puts the App program and fans at a huge disadvantage. The beat writer for JMU at the Harrisonburg paper is doing a great job providing Sun Belt coverage. I worry that we may be ignorant of much what is going within the Belt without a beat reporter. Dave at 247 does a great job but that's limited circulation compared to the broader circulation of a newspaper like the W-SJ.
Does the Charlotte Observer had a beat writer for UNCC? I assume the only beat writer for ECU is from the Greenville paper. Is the Democrat down to a weekly from a thrice a week?


I tend to agree that having a beat writer helps with getting our news out and that helps recruit fans and athletes. It certainly does not hurt, though I will also say I am not sure how many high school students are reading papers these days.

Re: App State Beat Writer

Posted: Wed Jul 27, 2022 8:49 pm
by Rekdiver
Our AD Admin and SID need to actively “wine and dine” sports writers in the major cities maybe a round of golf at Lineville or Grandfather to get more favorable coverage OR allow the WD writer to byline stories in their papers.

Re: App State Beat Writer

Posted: Thu Jul 28, 2022 4:57 am
by BambooRdApp
I believe it may have been AppDiesel or someone else in regards to Clemson event, App needs to do that event. Relatively cheap and meets the "wine and dine" objective

Re: App State Beat Writer

Posted: Thu Jul 28, 2022 6:58 am
by AppSt94
BambooRdApp wrote:
Thu Jul 28, 2022 4:57 am
I believe it may have been AppDiesel or someone else in regards to Clemson event, App needs to do that event. Relatively cheap and meets the "wine and dine" objective
App puts on a Media Day. I have been to neither the App MD or the one at Clemson, so I can’t compare them to one another. In any case, I know that we have reached out to Clemson to bounce ideas off each other from time to time. Hell, the CEO of IPTAY, Davis Babb, is an App grad. Go figure that one out. My point is, every program does things differently. It doesn’t mean it’s better or worse. We have a bunch of smart, albeit disorganized sometimes, folks in the Ricks Center. They make decisions that are with good intentions and needs appropriate for App.

Comparison is the thief of joy.

Re: App State Beat Writer

Posted: Thu Jul 28, 2022 11:42 am
by WASU 93
AppSt94 wrote:
Thu Jul 28, 2022 6:58 am
BambooRdApp wrote:
Thu Jul 28, 2022 4:57 am
I believe it may have been AppDiesel or someone else in regards to Clemson event, App needs to do that event. Relatively cheap and meets the "wine and dine" objective
App puts on a Media Day. I have been to neither the App MD or the one at Clemson, so I can’t compare them to one another. In any case, I know that we have reached out to Clemson to bounce ideas off each other from time to time. Hell, the CEO of IPTAY, Davis Babb, is an App grad. Go figure that one out. My point is, every program does things differently. It doesn’t mean it’s better or worse. We have a bunch of smart, albeit disorganized sometimes, folks in the Ricks Center. They make decisions that are with good intentions and needs appropriate for App.

Comparison is the thief of joy.
While Ethan did a tremendous job for our program, the question going forward is "Do Beat Writers Matter?" If newspapers are reducing their numbers due to economics, they may no longer be the target. Perhaps it's sports radio (where we get good coverage), perhaps it's content producers.....

Two areas where we are doing very well is our program's partnership with Max Renfro and ranking 24th on SkullSparks Social Media interactions for College Football programs. Maybe we are putting our resources and energies in the right places.

Re: App State Beat Writer

Posted: Thu Jul 28, 2022 12:15 pm
by T-Dog
There's multiple issues here. One is that corporate newspapers are making cuts despite making profits. It's not that they're losing money, it's that sometimes their entities don't make the profits they forecasted and they cut expenses to appease their stakeholders.

For instance, when I was at the WD in late March 2020, now two weeks after the pandemic started, parent company Adams Publishing Group "temporarily" slashed almost everybody's pay by 25%. From publishers to layout to writers (I think some advertising was spared initially). Hourly employees were cut to 30 hours a week and salaried people were just slashed. This was before any hard financial data came in from the pandemic. I was transferring to another Adams paper in April, but at that point I just put in my notice rather than put myself more into debt. It took several months to reinstate people to 35 hours a week. And trust me, the WD and Mountain Times Publications did well financially compared to many other newspapers. But again, those successes couldn't be capitalized upon because of the holders of the purse strings. And like many companies across several sectors of corporate business, the upper crust didn't suffer during the pandemic and profits were still there.

Point is, the WD has dealt with a lot of challenges fostered upon them from corporate. I imagine the same is true for the W-S Journal, the Charlotte Observer and other daily newspapers. I've personally heard horror stories from the Fayetteville Observer, which is owned by Gannett, another known corporate staff-slasher

Not only will it mean a lack of sports coverage, it will hurt you in the long term with the lack of local government coverage. Lack of coverage of local government is proven to lead to an increase in corruption and misappropriation of tax dollars.

Additionally, if the only source of news about App State comes from App State, then we'll only ever see the roses. And some people like that, because they believe their team is always right. And you get people on App State payroll chiding fans for criticisms, telling them to "be positive," while the salaries of chancellors, athletic directors and football coaches, public employees are public institutions, continue to skyrocket.

Man, this makes me want to apply for a football media credential just to ask questions during Clark's press conference. They can have the pizza for the press box media and I'll sit in my paid seat during the games. I just want to ask Clark why he chose not to try to score points at the end of the first half and why Cam Peoples only gets six touches in the second half.

Re: App State Beat Writer

Posted: Thu Jul 28, 2022 12:26 pm
by AppSt94
You should definitely reach out Thomas and get credentials. Given that you can join press conferences via Zoom, it seems plausible that they would grant them. I guess my only question to granting them to you would be if they don’t feel that your audience would care.

To be honest, I’m not sure why Brett Strelow hasn’t tried, or tried and not been successful at getting someone from the Fayetteville Observer involved.

Although I don’t expect you to get an answer to your questions from Clark.

Re: App State Beat Writer

Posted: Thu Jul 28, 2022 12:55 pm
by appdaze
Do we have any twitch streamers who watch App sports content? Then post the streams on YouTube.

Re: App State Beat Writer

Posted: Thu Jul 28, 2022 2:02 pm
by McLeansvilleAppFan
T-Dog wrote:
Thu Jul 28, 2022 12:15 pm
There's multiple issues here. One is that corporate newspapers are making cuts despite making profits. It's not that they're losing money, it's that sometimes their entities don't make the profits they forecasted and they cut expenses to appease their stakeholders.

For instance, when I was at the WD in late March 2020, now two weeks after the pandemic started, parent company Adams Publishing Group "temporarily" slashed almost everybody's pay by 25%. From publishers to layout to writers (I think some advertising was spared initially). Hourly employees were cut to 30 hours a week and salaried people were just slashed. This was before any hard financial data came in from the pandemic. I was transferring to another Adams paper in April, but at that point I just put in my notice rather than put myself more into debt. It took several months to reinstate people to 35 hours a week. And trust me, the WD and Mountain Times Publications did well financially compared to many other newspapers. But again, those successes couldn't be capitalized upon because of the holders of the purse strings. And like many companies across several sectors of corporate business, the upper crust didn't suffer during the pandemic and profits were still there.

Point is, the WD has dealt with a lot of challenges fostered upon them from corporate. I imagine the same is true for the W-S Journal, the Charlotte Observer and other daily newspapers. I've personally heard horror stories from the Fayetteville Observer, which is owned by Gannett, another known corporate staff-slasher

Not only will it mean a lack of sports coverage, it will hurt you in the long term with the lack of local government coverage. Lack of coverage of local government is proven to lead to an increase in corruption and misappropriation of tax dollars.

Additionally, if the only source of news about App State comes from App State, then we'll only ever see the roses. And some people like that, because they believe their team is always right. And you get people on App State payroll chiding fans for criticisms, telling them to "be positive," while the salaries of chancellors, athletic directors and football coaches, public employees are public institutions, continue to skyrocket.

Man, this makes me want to apply for a football media credential just to ask questions during Clark's press conference. They can have the pizza for the press box media and I'll sit in my paid seat during the games. I just want to ask Clark why he chose not to try to score points at the end of the first half and why Cam Peoples only gets six touches in the second half.
It may be too little too late but even in the deep anti-union south some newspapers are going union with the writers. Columbia, SC has a contract now and Charlotte won voluntary recognition. That model may not work for a weekly like the WD, but a few other papers around the state are big enough to help move the needle. Those union employees might just save the papers from the owners in spite of the owners short-sighted action.

Your point about corruption in local governments is one reason I keep harping on this.