MLB Journalism

[wildcat83]

I feel like MLB takes a back seat to other major sports in journalism coverage. It seems it’s more important to post hot takes on Twitter than truly cover the games. Even the recaps online are about half the length they used to be.

 

Today’s Green Bay Press Gazette sports front page headline: “Zach Davies goes the distance at right time for Brewers.”

 

Picture of Davies with the caption: Brewers starter Zach Davies pitched a complete game on Sunday.”

 

Really Haudricourt????

 

Are there any good baseball writers left? If so, guessing they are older. Seems like that’s society today though I guess.

[wildcat83]

Picture

[PeaveyFury]

How does that mistake get made??

[wildcat83]

How does that mistake get made??

 

He either wrote a story about a game he didn’t watch, or they posted a random AP story that was written by someone who didn’t watch the game. Even looking at the box score would give them the correct info.

[brooks_quichenick]

Haudricourt has got to be one of the worst beat writers in baseball even without looking at that front page mistake.

[sveumrules]

It appears as though the photo caption may have been provided by the Associated Press.

 

Also, from what I understand of whats left of the newspaper industry, writers don't typically write their own headlines.

 

Does the text of the avtual article also state Davies threw a complete game?

[homer]

Haudricourt doesn't write headlines.

[jerichoholicninja]

There is no such thing as journalism for any subject. It's just about Tweets to generate buzz.

[Ron Robinsons Beard]

The headline writer read Tom's lead, then no further. Not on Tom at all. The whole beginning of the story was about how complete games are rare, and Davies had a chance for one, but it wasn't meant to be. Lazy copy editor. Those blasting Tom here are dead wrong.

[Ron Robinsons Beard]

It appears as though the photo caption may have been provided by the Associated Press.

 

Also, from what I understand of whats left of the newspaper industry, writers don't typically write their own headlines.

 

Does the text of the avtual article also state Davies threw a complete game?

 

No it most definitely points out that he did not.

[owbc]

MLB journalism is better than ever. So many places out there to get quality content. The AP is not one of them.

[nate82]

Compared to other sports and other topics MLB journalism is actually rather good. I don't like Haudricourt but the title is from the AP not from him. I generally stay away from the AP for just about anything as it is normally just lazy journalism or click bait articles.

[rickh150]

Tom gets a lot of quality Brewers info out too.... still a mistake by someone at the MJS, though.

[Ron Robinsons Beard]

Tom gets a lot of quality Brewers info out too.... still a mistake by someone at the MJS, though.

 

Likely a mistake from a copy editor at the Press Gazette. They are owned by the same company, but have different layout and production staffs. The same story appeared in the MJS under a different headline.

 

Sorry ... past life as a beat writer, so it irks me when people rip on journalists unfairly. Plenty of them make mistakes and deserve the criticism that comes with that, but not this time.

[wildcat83]

Tom gets a lot of quality Brewers info out too.... still a mistake by someone at the MJS, though.

 

Likely a mistake from a copy editor at the Press Gazette. They are owned by the same company, but have different layout and production staffs. The same story appeared in the MJS under a different headline.

 

Sorry ... past life as a beat writer, so it irks me when people rip on journalists unfairly. Plenty of make mistakes and deserve it, but not this time.

 

Since this company bought out the Press Gazette it’s been straight down hill. They barely cover any high school sports at all.

 

The article talks about the other pitchers, just the headline that’s wrong. If it’s not his mistake it sucks that his name is the one plastered right next to it.

[Ron Robinsons Beard]

Tom gets a lot of quality Brewers info out too.... still a mistake by someone at the MJS, though.

 

Likely a mistake from a copy editor at the Press Gazette. They are owned by the same company, but have different layout and production staffs. The same story appeared in the MJS under a different headline.

 

Sorry ... past life as a beat writer, so it irks me when people rip on journalists unfairly. Plenty of make mistakes and deserve it, but not this time.

 

Since this company bought out the Press Gazette it’s been straight down hill. They barely cover any high school sports at all.

 

The article talks about the other pitchers, just the headline that’s wrong. If it’s not his mistake it sucks that his name is the one plastered right next to it.

 

100% not his mistake. This happens to beat writers all the time. Lazy copy editing.

[OldSchoolSnapper]

Reporters don't write headlines or captions. It happens a variety of ways:

 

1) Image is placed/captioned by someone who doesn't watch baseball

 

2) Image is placed by someone building layout who jumps the gun trying to fill the white space, moves on to something else, forgets to go back and change it.

 

3) Old photo is loaded with a caption from another time the thing in the caption happened, and they forget to change it

[KeithStone53151]

I completely disagree on Tom. I think he does a great job personally. He's very interactive with fans, surprisingly so on twitter considering what he's dealing with on that platform. You can tell he puts in the time, probably more than he needs to. I wish he would ask CC tougher questions in post game, but my understanding is CC and others won't call on guys for questions unless they play nice in postgame interviews. Under those BS circumstances, can't blame him for not always asking the tough questions. But he does have good relationships with CC and Stearns and is able to get some really good info from both guys because of them. I'm not really sure what you are expecting/hoping for that Tom isn't providing, unless you are simply pointing out that glaring error in the headline. Stuff like that should get caught by any number of editors before it ever gets printed.

[Ron Robinsons Beard]

There are some aspects where I think the coverage of the team could improve, including injury updates/injury timelines and coverage of the minor leagues, including injuries there. But for the most part, I think Haudricourt does a nice job. The people that don't like him are likely people he's been short with in the past. Tom is a little crochety, like a lot of veteran baseball scribes. He's blocked quite a few people on Twitter, 99.9% of the time for very good reason, but that doesn't stop them from getting huffy whenever his name is brought up.

[OldSchoolSnapper]

Fans have ~ diddly understanding of the grind of that job. It's amazing sometimes to read comments and see how little they grasp about it. It's a constant balance of asking difficult but fair questions of people with mostly very delicate egos. You can't simply grill them all the time if you want any kind of access. They're under no obligation at all to speak with you and most of them find you annoying right out of the starting block.

 

If they stop talking to you, you will be the one blamed by editors. It's a relationship that most working people don't have to deal with because co-workers are usually forced to interact with each other whether or not they get along. Most people seem to think that reporters should be "tough" at all times and the players/coaches just have to "suck it up!"

[JimH5]

My only complaint about Haudricourt is that his writing is too friendly to the Brewers team and ownership. He's always quick to explain things from the team's perspective and he'll give them a pass even when they have erred.

 

Otherwise, he's a quality writer with a good understanding of the game and he seems like a fine man. He has been on the beat for many years, and is good at connecting today's game to earlier eras.

[OldSchoolSnapper]

My only complaint about Haudricourt is that his writing is too friendly to the Brewers team and ownership. He's always quick to explain things from the team's perspective and he'll give them a pass even when they have erred.

 

Likely because 80% of his emails and mentions on Twitter are from people demanding explanations for things the team does. For most of his writing to be presented this way makes sense to me.

[Ron Robinsons Beard]

Tom is also a beat reporter, and not really a columnist, other than his Sunday column. Columnists are typically paid to give their opinion, while beat reporters are paid to provide the facts. It is often very difficult to surmise that a team has erred with 100% certainty without inserting opinion into that determination.

[MrTPlush]

Milwaukee is too small to allow our beat writers to get testy in m opinion. I don't think they can afford to tick of the Brewers management.

[jerichoholicninja]

Milwaukee is too small to allow our beat writers to get testy in m opinion. I don't think they can afford to tick of the Brewers management.

 

What do these guys do that people can't already find out through other sources anyway? Are you really being any kind of a journalist if your post game questions are "Tough game, looks like you struggled to score runs" or "Good win, seemed like the pitcher threw a good game today."