Newspaper Coverage Request

Discussion in 'New England Revolution' started by patfan1, Jan 31, 2008.

  1. patfan1

    patfan1 Moderator
    Staff Member

    Aug 19, 1999
    Nashua, NH
    Club:
    New England Revolution
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Over the past couple of days, I've noticed the complaints coming from people about the lack of coverage, especially with camp now going.

    So let's do something about it. The Magpie has started a couple of threads like this in the past, and they've worked wonderfully... so let's get it going again.

    Send the Globe or the Herald an email or give 'em a call. Let them know you're interested in more news about the Revs. Let them know you'd love to see a Revs blog by FDA in the Globe (and let them know that Goff's blog is the #2 blog on the whole Post site).

    Please be polite, but tell them that you'd like to see more coverage of the Revs.

    One other thing I found out talking to a couple of friends in the business. When you find an article in the Globe or Herald, and they've got a little "comment" link. Post something in there. It's not like the discussion boards here, but apparently the editors do keep track of the amount of comments posted.

    So here's the info for the Globe and Herald.

    Again, please be polite. Post here once you've done the work. Let's see if we can get a couple of hundred emails sent in today. Pass the word folks!
     
  2. edlova

    edlova Member

    Nov 22, 2004
    Somerville, MA
    Wrote an email to the sports editor of the globe...writing one to the herald in a few. By the end of the day, every guy on that list will have an email from me.
     
  3. patfan1

    patfan1 Moderator
    Staff Member

    Aug 19, 1999
    Nashua, NH
    Club:
    New England Revolution
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    I have sent one to each. Of course, I started doing it before I posted here. :eek:
     
  4. bwidell

    bwidell Member+

    Apr 19, 2005
    Manchester, NH
    Club:
    New England Revolution
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    I'll write up some emails in a couple minutes.
     
  5. JMMUSA8

    JMMUSA8 New Member

    Nov 3, 2001
    Webster
    Club:
    New England Revolution
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    I think I may write some letters. No one does that now a days so it must mean more then shooting off a quick email. Don't get me wrong, I'm writing emails as well.
     
  6. patfan1

    patfan1 Moderator
    Staff Member

    Aug 19, 1999
    Nashua, NH
    Club:
    New England Revolution
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    In all honesty, that's not a bad idea. I forget who told me, but basically, they think of one email as 10 phone calls. One letter is equivalent to 100 phone calls.
     
  7. bwidell

    bwidell Member+

    Apr 19, 2005
    Manchester, NH
    Club:
    New England Revolution
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Got a response from Joe Thomas, of the Herald:
     
  8. bwidell

    bwidell Member+

    Apr 19, 2005
    Manchester, NH
    Club:
    New England Revolution
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Wow, Reid Laymance immediatley went on the defensive:
    :rolleyes:

    I don't know how to respond, because I was polite in my email I sent him and I don't want to be rude in a response.
     
  9. JMMUSA8

    JMMUSA8 New Member

    Nov 3, 2001
    Webster
    Club:
    New England Revolution
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    It's not Goff's job to report on the Revs.
     
  10. beryl420

    beryl420 Member

    Apr 25, 2002
    Hartford
    Reply politely, thanking him for responding so quickly, indicating that you agree the Globe does a reaonable job of covering the Revs...........but
    The issue, I think, is that the Globe's print coverage of the Revs is fairly regular and probably far more frequent than other Teams get, but we don't exactly get hard hitting reporting and the Blog. I am happy to see the replies though.
     
  11. ngower

    ngower foolish grin

    May 24, 2006
    Nashua, NH
    I'd have replied with a smart-ass response like "Did the Globe cover Juan Toja to Dallas? What about when Ngwenya and Jaqua went overseas? How about Eddie Johnson to Fulham?"

    This is why I have not, and will not, be sending any e-mails to these guys:D
     
  12. JMMUSA8

    JMMUSA8 New Member

    Nov 3, 2001
    Webster
    Club:
    New England Revolution
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Then write letters. According to Monty's post, they mean more, in fact 10 times more.
     
  13. Beez

    Beez Member

    Dec 20, 1999
    Speaking as someone who's worked on sports desks at newspapers for nearly a decade, I've never heard of these equations before. So if you're wondering whether a letter or e-mail will be more effective, I'd save a tree and just send the e-mail. :)
     
  14. Hed7181

    Hed7181 Member

    Jul 1, 2003
    VA Beach, VA
    Club:
    New England Revolution
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    I emailed Joe of the Globe and Hank of the Herald.
     
  15. RedRevs

    RedRevs Member

    Aug 24, 2005
    Cambridge
    Club:
    New England Revolution
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    What a dick!

    First of all, explain that it isn't Goff's job to cover the Revs, but he often has inside information on the Revs that we never even see in the Globe because ther isn't space for it but we'd love a place to see all that insider info on a blog.

    Then go on Ives or Goff's blog and get stories that the globe didn't cover that did involve the Revs (the Honduran trip etc.) Point out that FDA is about 3 days late on the news about another PNE bid for Twellman.

    I was an intern for Boston.com sports depart for the better part of two years and they pretty much just laughed at my interest in soccer. The reason that soccer doesn't get alot of interest on Boston.com is that the news is often hidden and the "main" Revolution page is just a bunch of strings directed to a page in a list.

    I check Goff and Ives' blogs multiple times a day and would do the same if there was a soccer outlet on Boston.com.
     
  16. ngower

    ngower foolish grin

    May 24, 2006
    Nashua, NH
    Not to mention you could point out Ives coverage of the NY camp and Goff's of DC.
     
  17. ToMhIlL

    ToMhIlL Member+

    Feb 18, 1999
    Boxborough, MA
    Club:
    New England Revolution
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Boston Herald
    Sports Editor: Hank Hryniewicz
    hankh@bostonherald.com
    (617) 619-6651

    I know Hank! I went to J-school with him at NU. Of course back then we used 'lectric typewriters in the "lab" before they had these new-fangled abacuses to calcalate numbers and stuff

    By the way, it's pronounced Hern-a-witz
     
  18. SamAdams

    SamAdams New Member

    Oct 24, 2006
    617
    This story wasn't even in the sports section, they bumped it to the back of the Business page.
     
  19. edlova

    edlova Member

    Nov 22, 2004
    Somerville, MA
    Just got this response:

     
  20. Hed7181

    Hed7181 Member

    Jul 1, 2003
    VA Beach, VA
    Club:
    New England Revolution
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    I got a similar, albeit shorter response that said,

    "Thanks for your interest. Thanks for reading the Globe. We'll consider adding a blog."

    I had to laugh. He's probably sick of responding to these emails.
     
  21. edlova

    edlova Member

    Nov 22, 2004
    Somerville, MA
    I wrote a long email...


    I hope they get sick of it and add a blog at least
     
  22. ngower

    ngower foolish grin

    May 24, 2006
    Nashua, NH
    I spoke with my Media Ethics teacher, who is also the Assistant Managing Editor for the Lowell Sun, about this issue and he told me he'd make sure it got to the sports editor's desk for the Lowell Sun and Boston Globe.

    I'll work on mine later and see if yesterday changed their attitude on the subjectn at all, but the one bit of advice he gave me was to be brash about what I want, don't hold back or they'll feed on that and reject my ideas.
     
  23. JMMUSA8

    JMMUSA8 New Member

    Nov 3, 2001
    Webster
    Club:
    New England Revolution
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    I believe many have read the articles written by Adam Smartschan from The Cape Cod Times (www.capecodonline.com). I suggest to email and thank them for having Adam cover the Revs and would like to see a blog of some sort. Here are some email addresses I found from their contact page.

    By the way, his articles allow for comments to be posted so post away!

    sports@capecodonline.com - Sports
    ppronovost@capecodonline.com - Editor in Chief Paul Pronovost
    asmartschan@capecodonline.com - Adam Smartschan
     
  24. Beez

    Beez Member

    Dec 20, 1999
    Given that the Sun had to eliminate ALL of its part-time positions last summer, I'm sure that the sports editor will jump all over the opportunity to send one of his dwindling number of staffers to cover the early days of Revs preseason camp.

    Sorry to get snippy, but I don't think people understand what's going on here. Newspapers cannot afford to devote as much time and space to the Revs as they did before. (Snicker if you wish, but there were a lot more papers represented in the press box in 2000 than in 2007.) MetroWest is providing so much coverage because the sport is important to Mike Biglin, and he's running the ship. Cape Cod is providing more coverage because they have a young reporter who enjoys the sport, and I suspect they let him do extra Revs coverage as a reward for his hard work.

    After all, that's the only reason I was given as much space/time to cover the Revs for the Eagle-Tribune. It wasn't that we had great demand for the coverage (we certainly didn't); it was that I put in more than my fair share of hours during the week taking box scores, covering high school games and compiling hoop stats -- so why not let me cover the pro soccer team as a bonus?

    Now, was this the best way to serve the overall readership? Not when you figure that we had far more staff-written stories about the Revs than the BC football or basketball teams; after all, the BC teams are inarguably more popular than the Revs.

    But by the time I left the Tribune in Sept. 2006, we had markedly less space in the sports section and about half the staff we had when I started seven years earlier. Also, the management was taking a harder line on people working 40 hours and no more than that (there were some labor law issues), so it was no longer OK to finish your nightly duties at 2 a.m., then stay until 5 a.m. working on a Revs story.

    Long story short: Covering the Revs was a luxury that we could no longer afford or justify, and these issues afflict the entire industry. If times become tighter, the same fate may befall the Revs coverage at MetroWest or Cape Cod. Gatehouse (which owns MetroWest) didn't even send any of its Mass. reporters to the Super Bowl, which should tell you something about the state of the industry.

    And for those of you lamenting the over-the-top Super Bowl coverage in the Boston papers, keep in mind that the Red Sox and Patriots' success has been not only an absolute windfall for these papers in terms of both advertising and readership, but something of a lifeline, as well. Look at all the Patriots-related ads that'll appear in Monday's Herald and Globe (whether the Pats win or lose). On the day after the most recent Revs' MLS Cup loss, the Herald had one Revs-related ad ... bought by the Revs to push '08 season tickets.

    So I wouldn't hold my breath waiting for added coverage. The suburban papers can't have a guy at training two days a week and at every home game. At best, they'll do what they usually do: have a staffer write 2-3 features on the Revs over the course of a season, maybe cover a couple of high-profile matches. The Boston papers aren't going to go back to the 1996-2000 model of staffing all road games, providing virtually daily coverage from Feb. to Nov., and running a good-sized notebook with the sizable game story.

    Those things belong to a different era, back when newspapers made absurd profits and virtually none of the fat had been trimmed.

    Now, in the new era, I agree with those who think a Globe and/or Herald Revs blog would be a good idea. You could serve the small but ardent Revs fan base (which is used to getting the vast majority of its news and views about the team online) with expanded coverage while keeping the print-edition coverage at its current level. But keep in mind that for someone like Frank Dell'Apa, his bosses would make sure he knew that the print duties (whatever event he's covering, from NFC playoffs to Celtics) would always have to take precedence over the blog. The Internet doesn't pay the bills. Doesn't even come close.
     
  25. ngower

    ngower foolish grin

    May 24, 2006
    Nashua, NH
    I'm not saying they have to report on training camp, but I do expect timely responses to events such as the Twellman transfer bid that was rejected earlier this week.

    I've got my rant up on the blog (check my sig) and will be writing a more formal, more "polite" letter when I get home.
     

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