Bruce Miles grounded?
by Not Bruce Froemming on Apr 4, 2009 5:26 PM CDT
Email
PrintA little birdie told me the Daily Herald is not sending its Cubs and White Sox beat writers to road games this season.
Bruce, if you're out there, can you confirm or deny?
If true, this would be truly awful news. Not just for Bruce, but for anybody who relies on the Daily Herald for coverage of either pro team. Although I'd imagine there are a lot more Cubs fans than White Sox fans in Herald City.
This is a FanPost and does not necessarily reflect the views of SB Nation or Al Yellon, managing editor (unless it's a FanPost posted by Al). FanPost opinions are valued expressions of opinion by passionate and knowledgeable baseball fans.
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I am afraid this is true
Here is link to story in Crain’s ( posted on The Cub Reporter)
I hope they will pay the gas for Bruce to cover games in Milwaukee.
"I daydream just like everybody else, I just do it with my body facing the field, so everybody thinks I'm paying attention."- Greg Maddux
As Ed Sherman's column said...
… how much longer till the Sun-Times and Tribune do this?
"That's my opinion and if you don't like it, well, I have others." ~ Groucho Marx
For the S-T.........
i would say soon
If you had to choose just one characteristic that would get you through life, choose a sense of humor.
didn't I say the bankruptcy would begin effecting coverage
this is the start, expenses. What will happen is newspapers will begin making mutual home agreements with other papers. Then they will begin cutting staff, in Chicago no need for beat writers for both clubs….
soon papers will rely on wire service reports and have by lines for commentators
Piniella: "This is a tougher job than I thought it would be, I'm going to be honest with you."
Well, one way to try to stay in business in the print world
is to cut expenses.
Sweet Lou for Mayor in '11.
the news from the print side of the business becomes more dire by the day
this particular piece of news strikes too close to home. It’s a loss for us all.
Steal a little and they throw you in jail, Steal a lot and they make you king -- Bob Dylan
are you a journalist?
If you had to choose just one characteristic that would get you through life, choose a sense of humor.
although I majored in it
no, I’m not. I say “strikes too close to home” because it affects coverage of the Cubs and deprives us of Bruce’s insights on the road. sigh.
Steal a little and they throw you in jail, Steal a lot and they make you king -- Bob Dylan
I see.............
well it’s fortunate that you took another path
If you had to choose just one characteristic that would get you through life, choose a sense of humor.
(Sad) Greetings from Mexico City
This is truly awful news. I wish the papers understood that cutting their coverage only drives their brand down, thusly driving readers away. They ought to cut other things, not first-hand reporting (see Tribune Co.’s closing and consolidating of their foreign bureaus).
I once hoped for a job in the industry. That’s all but totally gone.
It’s sweltering here. Close to 90 degrees, when it was a delish 36 this morning when I left Chicago.
One day I hope to come up with something worthy of this space.
by chilango2 on Apr 4, 2009 6:46 PM CDT reply actions 1 recs
Absolutely right.
Yes, newspapers are hemorraghing money. But cutting coverage in this way is only going to drive readers away, losing them MORE money.
"That's my opinion and if you don't like it, well, I have others." ~ Groucho Marx
It's a vicious cycle
They lose money, so they cut back, which makes more readers wonder why they are bothering so they quit reading, which causes them to lose more money, leading to more cutbacks, and on and on.
It’s terrible.
AP will suffice.......
for road games
If you had to choose just one characteristic that would get you through life, choose a sense of humor.
The problem isn't the recaps...
… because we already know what happened during the game. The problem is all the access to the players, manager, etc. to find out information, the stuff that’s in the notes columns, which generally is more useful than the recaps.
We’re going to wind up dependent on cubs.com for this stuff, which isn’t necessarily a good thing.
"That's my opinion and if you don't like it, well, I have others." ~ Groucho Marx
Maybe they can find road...........
bloggers………like your recaps from Mesa
If you had to choose just one characteristic that would get you through life, choose a sense of humor.
Maybe.
Or maybe we can do it better than cubs.com here. We have people going to a lot of different road games, myself included.
"That's my opinion and if you don't like it, well, I have others." ~ Groucho Marx
As you said
it’s more about access to the players, managers and coaches. It seems we’re headed to managed news, which is the reality of cubs.com. It signals the beginning of a loss of transparency into the heart of baseball, the people within the game. It should also be noted that AP has recently cut 10% of its workforce. That in turn caused a number of newspapers to discontinue their contracts with AP
Unfortunately our newspapers cannot pass through costs the way mlb.com can afford to do. While I understand the economics of the Herald’s decision, it presages s much more managed future for sports reporting. Perhaps a new source might be developed based upon the success of Huffington Post.
If you like Selig's handling of the steroid issue, you'll love his choice for next Cub owner.
As I said...
… maybe sites like this one and other SB Nation sites can help fill the void. We don’t have the access that the traditional media does, but maybe we can do something.
"That's my opinion and if you don't like it, well, I have others." ~ Groucho Marx
Somewhere in the middle
Somewhere in the middle is a compromise.
My suggestion below is I’m sure Bruce can still get post game interviews but still he does a good job in conveying body language and such during the post game you just don’t get on the phone.
Guiding Light 1937-2009. 60 years were great. Last 12 even the actors didn't watch it. And my friend is doing well.
by puckishcubsfan on Apr 5, 2009 8:46 AM CDT up reply actions
I'm positive..............
you’ll do much better than cubs.com
If you had to choose just one characteristic that would get you through life, choose a sense of humor.
Yeah
But we’re not getting press passes into road locker rooms. At least not yet.
One day, I could see that happening.
by Josh Timmers on Apr 5, 2009 10:30 PM CDT up reply actions
Why bother reading the paper then?
If the team is on the road, will it just be AP reports on the scores? That means no tidbits. I can get that from Sportscenter. That means 81 times during the season there is no reason to buy a paper if you are looking for baseball coverage.
Really is a bummer
I love Bruce’s reports. Not looking forward to having to rely on Muskrat’s propaganda.
The shortest distance between two points is under construction.
by halfblindcubbiegirl on Apr 4, 2009 11:03 PM CDT reply actions
Time to fire up the ol' BCB Road Trip bus!!!
C’mon – somebody out there must know somebody who knows somebody who knows how to acquire an old school bus on the cheap. Slap a few coats of Cubbie Blue paint on it, get Mike to draw some player caricatures on the sides, leave a little room for a few ads from TBD sponsors and we’re all set.
Okay so we won’t be able to make the NL West series. And probably not Houston or Florida. But with off days and first games of most series being at night, all the other cities are drivable – even New York. We can all take turns driving and splitting the gas. Bruce, if you can get the Daily Herald to spring for doughnuts every now and then, you get your choice of seats.
Think Partridge Family. Yes, Al, you can be Reuben Kincaid. And I’m pretty sure Em has Shirley Jones down good. And if I remember right, Danny was always trying to exploit a financial angle on everything, so I’m confidant Ivy Walls or Blackhawk24 could handle that just fine. As for the other characters, I better stop here before I get into real trouble…
Lou Brown: "My kinda team, Charlie, my kinda team..."
ROAD TRIP!
The shortest distance between two points is under construction.
by halfblindcubbiegirl on Apr 4, 2009 11:16 PM CDT up reply actions
Too funny.
But seriously…. as I said above, many people here go to Cubs road games. Anyone who wants to file a report from there is welcome to, including the opening series @ Houston.
I’ll be at the Sunday night game in Milwaukee. Anyone else going to any of the Milwaukee games?
"That's my opinion and if you don't like it, well, I have others." ~ Groucho Marx
I will be at the
Mother’s Day game vs. the Brewers in Milwaukee. We have really good seats and I could certainly send something in if you would like that Al.
I’m also going to Busch Stadium this year as well and could do the same there.
"Why do you always point to the sky when Zambrano starts?" My girlfriend.
"You just wouldn't get it...it's a Cubs thing..." Me.
by cubs2k8isnxtyear on Apr 5, 2009 12:56 AM CDT up reply actions
I'll be at Miller Park Saturday and Sunday this weekend.
So excited, and really favorable pitching match ups.
Plus, I’m going with my little brother on Sunday. Last time we were at a Cubs game in Miller Park, we witnessed history.
And has anyone else noticed that ESPN attempts to project pitching match ups for the entire season? This seems a bit absurd. I have a feeling Marshall will get more than 6 starts in the first half of the season.
Ron Santo should sing TMOTTBG everyday. Period.
Funny the first bus that came to my mind was
the bus Kramer used for the Peterman Reality Tour….
by LT on Apr 5, 2009 11:31 AM CDT up reply actions
I had a different bus in mind...
Steal a little and they throw you in jail, Steal a lot and they make you king -- Bob Dylan
Shirley Jones as played by Susan Sarandon, of course ;-}
Steal a little and they throw you in jail, Steal a lot and they make you king -- Bob Dylan
Things like Bleedcubbieblue are overtaking the role of newspapers
Seriously.
Newspapers are on the verge of extinction. Al Yellon and Bruce Miles should come up with a funding strategy to hire him in as beat reporter for this blog. Maybe add a subscription based portion to BCB, either that or acquire significant advertisements in support of professional journalistic content.
I go to BCB first for Cubs news...
The internet has made charging a direct price for print media news coverage nearly obsolete or at least unprofitable to a large degree.
Free classifieds on Craigslist, “news” coverage on blogs, and Reader type news/magazines that do a good job offering local news coverage and don’t charge.
Maybe a relevant poll for BCB and this topic is something like:
“Where do you go first for Cubs News?”
I go to BCB first and maybe check the internet Trib or CST for some confirmation.
Reporting on game
Reporting on being at the game is one thing. We can all watch it on TV. Although in person accounts are better.
It’s the access to players and such.
Possibly especially if this winds up happening at the Dumb Times or the Tribune Bruce and the other beat writers can set up post game conference calls. But that doesn’t show us facial expressions and such.
Of course with the idiots covering the Cubs outside of Bruce in Chicago I wonder how many of the players would be justifiably happy with seeing no reporters in the clubhouse.
Sadly the amount of personal vendettas in the Chicago media and lack of responsible reporting outside of Bruce I don’t see any trust from the players to develop some sort of alternative communcation.
Guiding Light 1937-2009. 60 years were great. Last 12 even the actors didn't watch it. And my friend is doing well.
The players shouldn't trust most of the media and neither should we!
The declining revenues have added pressure to the papers and therefore the writers to produce articles that sell (are sensational.) The pressure and the objectivity have been inversely proportional in most cases.
Take Paul Sullivan’s comment during the 3/27 Cubs game, discuusing Milton Bradley in the booth with Brenly:
"That’s the whole thing of our jobs. We’re human and people that treat us nicer probably get better coverage. The people, you know, that are rude to us.. I don’t want to say Milton was rude but he certainly wasn’t very nice to me. You know they’re not always going to get the best coverage. So….You try and be an objective person but uh, you know, we are human, …so."
Here he is saying his coverage is biased by how a player treats him. What else colors his reporting? It may be human nature to be kinder to those who are kind to us, but journalists are supposed to hold objectivity to a higher standard than their personal feelings. When recognizing, as Sullivan admits he has, that you have a bias, a journalist concerned with accuracy, monitors his reporting. Sullivan basically said: “Hey I’m biased and I don’t care.”
Just an example and I know it’s only sports, but it galls me that this crap is pawned off on me as reporting. If I want this kind of thing- I’ll read fiction, not the newspaper. It would be different if there were a Based on a True Story disclaimer on this kind of stuff. He’s not alone- it’s rampant among journalists, especially among the soft, entertainment writers like sportswriters.
Bruce is one of the good guys and it’s a shame his influence on the Cub’s coverage may be diminished.
"Baseball is like church- many attend, few understand." ~ Leo Durocher
This is sad and disturbing news indeed.
Bruce comments, briefly, on his predicament here.
"Let it begin! Let it begin!" ~ Rhino
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