[NEohioPAL]B-J Cuts

[Pantsios, Anastasia]

I know I'll be in a minority here but I think high school sports should =
abolsutely NOT be covered by big city dailies. It adds to the mystique =
that sports are the single most important thing for a kid to focus on =
and the sure path to riches, acclaim, popularity and success. The kid =
who aces the SATs, is a National Merit scholar and gets into Harvard =
gets their little paragraph in the special education issue or a mention =
buried in the metro section but the kid who excels at sports is on the =
front page of the sports section every week and it gives totally the =
wrong message. When columnists wring their hands about how many more =
inner city kids want to be basketball players than accountants or =
doctors, I always think "Go look at your own paper's coverage and you'll =
see one of the big reasons why." Community and high school papers are =
the proper place for this ongoing coverage.

> ----------
> From: 	neohiopal-admin at lists.fredsternfeld.com on behalf of =
Christopher Fortunato
> Sent: 	Tuesday, August 29, 2006 5:23 PM
> To: 	Tom Burnett; neohiopal at list.fredsternfeld.com; =
neohiopal at lists.fredsternfeld.com
> Subject: 	Re: [NEohioPAL]B-J Cuts
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> Dear Tom, Effie and others,
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> You are right there.  When I empanel a jury one of the questions I =
almost always ask is what section of the newspaper they turn to first.  =
I have never heard Arts and Life as an answer.
> =20
> With six people to cover sports, Terry Pluto is going to be =
overworked.  There's no way to cover local high school sports which is a =
big thing papers should cover.
> =20
> By the same token, the local professional theatres should also be =
covered.
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> Tom Burnett <tburnett at neo.rr.com> wrote:
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> 	When all this shakes out, the BJ's sports department, I'm told, will=20
> 	be 6 people. No department is being spared. Having spent 25 years in=20
> 	that business, my gut tells me your letters will accomplish little.=20
> 	Despite the paper's history of excellence (if we could attach an=20
> 	electricity generator to the grave of John S. Knight, he's spinning=20
> 	enough to solve the energy shortage), it's been on a downward spiral=20
> 	for a decade, coinciding with the reign of Tony Ridder over Knight=20
> 	Ridder.
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> 	Ridder was strictly bottom line and he started cutting costs (staff)=20
> 	at all the KR papers, even the ones that were making a decent profit. =

> 	So you have fewer people trying to cover the same sized community,=20
> 	and circulation suffers. Circulation goes down, ad sales go down and=20
> 	all of a sudden you have to cut more costs. Many of the Beacon's best =

> 	people found other jobs, so the coverage dropped in quality as well=20
> 	as quantity. I'd say the decline goes back even 15 years, about the=20
> 	time it stopped being able to compete with the PD on salaries.
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> 	Letters and public protests can save things like comic strips or=20
> 	features that cost little to keep, but decisions on things like=20
> 	theater coverage are based on focus groups and polling and surveys.=20
> 	The sad truth is, far more people read the sports pages than read=20
> 	theater and movie reviews, so if even the sports staff is getting=20
> 	nuked, there's little hope for the arts staff.
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> 	Even the PD, for those who haven't heard, is cutting staff. The=20
> 	management has asked for voluntary buyouts on the editorial staff,=20
> 	offering 2 1/2 years pay and 2 1/2 years health insurance for those=20
> 	with at least 20 years at the paper. Left unsaid is what will happen=20
> 	if the paper does not get enough volunteers, but I think layoffs are=20
> 	not out of the question.
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> 	Tom
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