[Updated at 9:33 p.m. ET.] I found this video on USA Today's sports page. Was it produced by Denver's KUSA? Shouldn't there be an on-screen credit to advance the Gannett tie-in?
Earlier: The Denver NBC affiliate, one of Gannett's most highly-rated stations, is now carrying a story on its website that says:
"9NEWS has learned Peyton Manning is negotiating with the Denver Broncos. Citing anonymous sources, ESPN said that the four-time MVP has instructed agent Tom Condon to negotiate the details of a deal with Denver. Manning became a free agent when the Indianapolis Colts released him March 7 after the quarterback missed all of last season because of multiple neck surgeries."
Unless I'm missing something, wouldn't this be like USA Today telling readers that it had learned something by reading The New York Times?
Meanwhile, ESPN is already reporting that "Manning will become the next quarterback of the Denver Broncos, barring a snag during intensified contract negotiations."
Earlier: The Denver NBC affiliate, one of Gannett's most highly-rated stations, is now carrying a story on its website that says:
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| Manning |
Unless I'm missing something, wouldn't this be like USA Today telling readers that it had learned something by reading The New York Times?
Meanwhile, ESPN is already reporting that "Manning will become the next quarterback of the Denver Broncos, barring a snag during intensified contract negotiations."
It's modern, online journalism - something everyone needs to get used to.
ReplyDeleteIn the world of immediacy, it's more important to have the news than it is to sit on your hands and try to recreate the confirmation another reputable source has already found. Sure, it would be preferable to get the confirmation yourself (and you should be working to do so) ... but we need to get past the idea that readers care where the news came from.
They want to hear about Manning, no matter what reputable source is offering the news. There's no pride in having a report 5 hours later saying "KUSA has confirmed ..." while the rest of the world is talking about it.
Everyone knows local tv rarely breaks any news any more. In the past this might be believable, but from a broadcast group that insists on using MMJs the reality is when you have to shoot, write and edit your own work it leaves little time for digging and researching a story. This is laughable really. News directors know it, but they have to protect their own hide, so they try and bamboozle the public and their general managers into thinking they were first with the story. If anything tvs are only first when it comes to being wrong these days.
ReplyDeleteThis is also a case of KUSA News Director Patti Dennis being too conservative. She is notorious for waiting on big stories. They did give the story the first 10 minutes of their noon newscast today.
ReplyDeleteShouldn't all sports fall under Beusse with the reorg?
ReplyDeleteWaiting on big stories is classic Gannett mantra.
ReplyDelete5:07 You are correct, which is why Beusse should be watching this story closely. It's an early test of his Sports Media Group's abilities to own a big national-Gannett local story
ReplyDeleteKUSA is changing their call letters to:
ReplyDeleteKDOA
Modern, online journalism 2:30 PM?
ReplyDeleteIn all seriousness, exactly how many times do you think Gannett can get away with directing its readers to a direct competitor before they begin heading there on their own first? Not many, yet you appear ready to bet the franchise on it.
Sorry, but using direct competitors should be the last choice and certainly with this story as others out of the area could have been sourced.
Sorry, 2:30 is right on. This is the world of online journalism -- like it or not. And, by the way, ESPN has done the same thing. This is not like KUSA quoted a competing Denver news outlet, they quoted ESPN, an organization that has followed the Manning story from the start. Did KUSA? Were they all over it from before he left the Colts? No, it wasn't a Denver story.
ReplyDeleteI would say readers would be much more likely to question KUSA if they had nothing vs. quoting ESPN. I don't think people are thinking..."Gee, KUSA got scooped so I guess I shouldn't watch them anymore." But they are more likely to think "Hello, KUSA, Peyton Manning is coming to town, are you guys even paying attention out there?"
Agree with 2:30. KUSA is reporting an unfolding story and is saying "we know this is out there, we're trying to nail it down." And let's remember that the World Wide Leader has been wrong in the past. If I were the KUSA sports director, I wouldn't say it unequivocally either until I had it from an one-the-record source. In the long run, this is what will earn the viewers' respect.
ReplyDeleteHere's how you handle something like this, without the huffy-puffiness of KUSA has "learned":
ReplyDeletePeyton Manning, the four-time MVP plagued by injuries, is negotiating with the Denver Broncos, according to ESPN, which cited sources it did not identify.
ESPN said Manning instructed agent Tom Condon to negotiate the details.
Manning became a free agent when the Indianapolis Colts released him March 7 after the quarterback missed all of last season because of multiple neck surgeries.
That doesn't sound as dramatic at the top of the broadcast.
ReplyDeleteHere is a dirty little secret. We readers don't care who gets it first. We don't. Only you "fall on our sword" folks do. You're not curing cancer here. You take yourselves waaaaaay to seriously.
ReplyDeleteAs journalists, we have long used "learned" to indicate that we did the work and didn't just pick up the information from another media outlet. However, I don't know that readers and viewers ever understood that. 9News may well have decided that it learns from other media as well as from its own sources. If it's consistent about that, then who cares?
ReplyDelete