Hi guys, I noticed that a couple of posts in this website show a dislike of the Express News' Spurs beat writer Jeff McDonald. I just wanted to ask why? Could a few of you explain it to me? Maybe give me a couple of examples even.
I personally like his stories. I find them entertaining. And no, I'm not Jeff McDonald. Lol. I am, however, a journalism graduate.
I don't have any problem with him except for his lack of fact checking. I don't know where the fault lies, with the E-N or him, but it's his name on the stuff. I would think he'd make sure his facts were accurate.
It's not just him, Monroe and Harvey have had problems too.
You can find plenty of examples by reading his stuff here on SpursTalk, he gets corrected when he makes mistakes.
Not only that, but far to often things are discussed on ST then 2 weeks later an article comes out that is essentially verbatim to the posts here.
It's probably the lack of original information from McDonald. Former Spurs beat writer Johnny Ludden's articles were usually chocked full of good, accurate, and timely Spurs information.
local sports writers mostly write for the masses - casual fans. The hard-core fans on boards like this are usually disappointed... since they already know the stuff... and more.
I agree with you to a certain extent, but at least the guy can do is get his facts right.=Bender;3447490]local sports writers mostly write for the masses - casual fans. The hard-core fans on boards like this are usually disappointed... since they already know the stuff... and more.
Jeff's first year and a half, he didn't present much insight for a beat writer. Part of that had to do with his lack of relationship with the Spurs management and players. What Jeff needed was to put some effort in digging for information and some "jet and bus time" with the team to build his relationships. His articles started improving after a long road trip this season. Jeff is now starting to become a true beat writer for his team. He still needs a bit more study and time understanding the intricacies of the collective bargaining agreement but he's much better than he was last season. This summer will be his next test to get him closer to his predecessor, Mr. Ludden.
He'll have to work by going to the practice facility, doing lunch, going to some of the pre-draft camps and summer league games....rather than trying to get his info on-line.
Jeff does a great job!
I agree with what has been said thus far. Some of the venom that he gets is a little harsh and gets too personal imo. He happened to replace an EXCELLENT beat writer in Johnny Ludden and that is probably Problem # 1.
I also find that he offers very little inside information. His pieces are not meant to be opinion articles (as far as I know) so that leaves him with reporting the news and digging deeper to find "closed door" information. He just doesn't have the sources and had to start from scratch.
I think he's had 2 full season at this now and he still hasn't found very many good sources.
It's just my opinion. Oh, and yeah, some of his articles seem to be old rehashed stuff from Spurstalk (without giving proper credit---not surprisingly) and others are just flat out wrong.
With so much information floating around the internet from varying resources, guys like Jeff Mac are a dying breed. I really don't have a problem with him whatsoever although most of his info is usually done after the fact.
When 80% of posters at ST have a better grasp of the subject matter, there's a problem. There are so many JMac articles with factual errors it's not even funny.
He's terrible.
Ludden had been around for HOW long?
I mean forever.
This guy just got here.
But of course people expect this guy to have inside information from day 1.
Everyone is a GD journalist and think they are wayyy smarter.
I'd say 30-40% of it is McDonald legimately sucking and the other 60-70% of it are people following timvp's lead.
Its hard to check whether or not what he writes is correct.
I am way smarter than him. He sucks.
El Chapulin Colorado
I don’t think the problem is with Mcdonald, I think it is the idiot poster who has never taken one journalism class but thinks cause his million of takes are posted on the internet that he or she is better than said journalist. I never understood the hate for some of these columnists. Harvey in particular.
Your point would have been credible if people were objecting McDonald's style and grammar, which IMO compared to others like Ludden, are plain amateurish, however, the beef is mainly with the factual mistakes he makes so often, that I, being just a programmer and not a journalist, consider at least 50 people on this board to be more credible, than a supposed beat-writer.
I sense that he doesn't have that much face time with the players and team officials.. its like he's writing from a distance and not someone who is intimately familiar with his subject.
Mc Donald after Ludden is like the taste of some diet coke after a fine Chateaux Margot....
I do think that part of the issue is that McDonald is replacing a very solid journalist in Ludden. Even so, every time I read Jeff's articles, I can't help but feel that this guy is just doing the bare minimum. His work is riddled with mistakes, offers no insight, and is often a rehash of Spurstalk discussions.
Plus, it's the internet. What else do we have to do besides overanalyze and whine?
Even for us not natives we realize he just plain sucks...
Stylistic preferences aside, there is no excuse for a reporter consistently putting out bad information. When you're a reporter providing incorrect facts, you're not doing your job right. All the SA Beats are guilty of it, but McDonald catches more flack because he's new and doesn't provide much substance outside of it.
I don't expect him to have all the inside information. I just expect him to check his work, and could really not care less about hearing about what he thinks about the hotel they stayed in, or what he had for breakfast.
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