duncan228
05-16-2008, 11:45 PM
http://blogs.mysanantonio.com/weblogs/richter/archives/2008/05/readers_take_is_1.html
Readers take issue with E-N Spurs coverage
Bob Richter
The Express-News published a photo on Page 6E Wednesday of a wild-eyed Tim Duncan, his fist raised, his derriere on the hardwood floor, that was taken in New Orleans on Tuesday night by E-N photojournalist Bahram Mark Sobhani.
The photo wasn't missed by reader and Spurs fan Margie Cooke, who said in an e-mail:
"Shame on the Express-News and whoever chose to display such an unflattering photo of Tim Duncan ... He's a dignified young man and our Star. He didn't deserve this from his hometown newspaper. It was an unfortunate photo you needed to skip."
Another reader, whose name I failed to seek, called Friday to complain about sports columnist Buck Harvey's piece on Spur Robert Horry, "Return to cheap-shot Rob: He's left with one response."
"I'm sick and tired of reading his stuff," she said of Harvey's work. "If he can't say something good about the Spurs, he should go back to where he came from."
Finally, I received this telephone message from a reader who is NOT a Spurs fan:
"You guys are a bunch of crybabies," said the gruff-talking guy. "You always write when the Spurs are screwed
by the officials, but you never write it when the other team gets screwed. You're pathetic."
Holy moly! some of you are getting as testy as Greg Popovich when Tony Parker gets decked on a drive into the paint, and Joey Crawford calls him for charging.
The point I would make to each of the callers, and all rabid Spurs fans, is that Express-News journalists are supposed to be objective. That's something in which they take pride. Their job is to write -- objectively -- about the games and the players on both sides. Sometimes fans are critical of the paper when Coach Pop or one of his players is quoted whining about the officials. It's the old "kill-the-messenger" syndrome.
There is no question that our newsroom is packed with diehard Spurs fans. There are signs up all over, including one larger-than-life photo of Duncan that dominates one corner of the newsroom.
A few years ago one journalistic purist here suggested that all the "Go Spurs Go" stuff shouldn't be in a newsroom where journalists are supposed to be nonpartisan and principled. He was nearly run off; in fact, he may have been run off.
But the point is, the Express-News and its sports staff must be objective and should write and photograph dispassionately about the Spurs.
When they lose and Manu Ginobili or Duncan trudge off the floor with their heads down, and we publish the photo of that real-life scene, my phone will be ringing off the hook with complainants. But if the Silver and Black march to a fifth NBA title, and we run the smiling pose of the whole gang on Page 1, some of them clutching the NBA trophy, I'll get nary a call.
That's just the way it is.
Readers take issue with E-N Spurs coverage
Bob Richter
The Express-News published a photo on Page 6E Wednesday of a wild-eyed Tim Duncan, his fist raised, his derriere on the hardwood floor, that was taken in New Orleans on Tuesday night by E-N photojournalist Bahram Mark Sobhani.
The photo wasn't missed by reader and Spurs fan Margie Cooke, who said in an e-mail:
"Shame on the Express-News and whoever chose to display such an unflattering photo of Tim Duncan ... He's a dignified young man and our Star. He didn't deserve this from his hometown newspaper. It was an unfortunate photo you needed to skip."
Another reader, whose name I failed to seek, called Friday to complain about sports columnist Buck Harvey's piece on Spur Robert Horry, "Return to cheap-shot Rob: He's left with one response."
"I'm sick and tired of reading his stuff," she said of Harvey's work. "If he can't say something good about the Spurs, he should go back to where he came from."
Finally, I received this telephone message from a reader who is NOT a Spurs fan:
"You guys are a bunch of crybabies," said the gruff-talking guy. "You always write when the Spurs are screwed
by the officials, but you never write it when the other team gets screwed. You're pathetic."
Holy moly! some of you are getting as testy as Greg Popovich when Tony Parker gets decked on a drive into the paint, and Joey Crawford calls him for charging.
The point I would make to each of the callers, and all rabid Spurs fans, is that Express-News journalists are supposed to be objective. That's something in which they take pride. Their job is to write -- objectively -- about the games and the players on both sides. Sometimes fans are critical of the paper when Coach Pop or one of his players is quoted whining about the officials. It's the old "kill-the-messenger" syndrome.
There is no question that our newsroom is packed with diehard Spurs fans. There are signs up all over, including one larger-than-life photo of Duncan that dominates one corner of the newsroom.
A few years ago one journalistic purist here suggested that all the "Go Spurs Go" stuff shouldn't be in a newsroom where journalists are supposed to be nonpartisan and principled. He was nearly run off; in fact, he may have been run off.
But the point is, the Express-News and its sports staff must be objective and should write and photograph dispassionately about the Spurs.
When they lose and Manu Ginobili or Duncan trudge off the floor with their heads down, and we publish the photo of that real-life scene, my phone will be ringing off the hook with complainants. But if the Silver and Black march to a fifth NBA title, and we run the smiling pose of the whole gang on Page 1, some of them clutching the NBA trophy, I'll get nary a call.
That's just the way it is.