Why Do They Even Bother

[RJG]

Headline from MSNBC: "Landis loses yellow jersey on disastrous day."

 

[trg]

"RJG" <[email protected]> a écrit dans le message de news:
[email protected]...
| Headline from MSNBC: "Landis loses yellow jersey on disastrous day."
|

Makes a better story than

"Nothing really interesting happened today at the Tour"

Plus later they can play up the come-from-behind, pick-yourself-up,
dust-yourself-off, and kick-ass story when he gets it back.

Or it could be that they're completely incompetant.

 

[Bill C]

trg wrote:
> "RJG" <[email protected]> a écrit dans le message de news:
> [email protected]...
> | Headline from MSNBC: "Landis loses yellow jersey on disastrous day."
> |
>
> Makes a better story than
>
> "Nothing really interesting happened today at the Tour"
>
> Plus later they can play up the come-from-behind, pick-yourself-up,
> dust-yourself-off, and kick-ass story when he gets it back.
>
> Or it could be that they're completely incompetant.
or both!
Bill C

 

[RJG]

"Bill C" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...

trg wrote:
> "RJG" <[email protected]> a écrit dans le message de news:
> [email protected]...
> | Headline from MSNBC: "Landis loses yellow jersey on disastrous day."
> |
>
> Makes a better story than
>
> "Nothing really interesting happened today at the Tour"
>
> Plus later they can play up the come-from-behind, pick-yourself-up,
> dust-yourself-off, and kick-ass story when he gets it back.
>
> Or it could be that they're completely incompetant.
or both!
Bill C

Someone must have gotten the word out. As of 3:00pm CDT, the headline on
msnbc.com now reads:

"Landis loses yellow jersey after tactical choice".

It must be hard for them to try and make sense of it all.

 

[Ernst Noch]

RJG wrote:
> "Bill C" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> news:[email protected]...
>
> trg wrote:
>> "RJG" <[email protected]> a écrit dans le message de news:
>> [email protected]...
>> | Headline from MSNBC: "Landis loses yellow jersey on disastrous day."
>> |
>>
>> Makes a better story than
>>
>> "Nothing really interesting happened today at the Tour"
>>
>> Plus later they can play up the come-from-behind, pick-yourself-up,
>> dust-yourself-off, and kick-ass story when he gets it back.
>>
>> Or it could be that they're completely incompetant.
> or both!
> Bill C
>
> Someone must have gotten the word out. As of 3:00pm CDT, the headline on
> msnbc.com now reads:
>
> "Landis loses yellow jersey after tactical choice".
>
> It must be hard for them to try and make sense of it all.


Would it be so hard to get someone who has at least a tiny little bit of
knowledge in cycling to write these articles for a handful of $$?
Hell, I bet they'd find some student with cycling as a hobby and the
goal of getting into sport journalism for free.

 

[Michael Press]

In article
<[email protected]>,
"RJG" <[email protected]> wrote:

> Headline from MSNBC: "Landis loses yellow jersey on disastrous day."

Reading is not a required skill for news outlets. Its a
write-only medium.

--
Michael Press

 

[RJG]

"Ernst Noch" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> RJG wrote:
>> "Bill C" <[email protected]> wrote in message
>> news:[email protected]...
>>
>> trg wrote:
>>> "RJG" <[email protected]> a écrit dans le message de news:
>>> [email protected]...
>>> | Headline from MSNBC: "Landis loses yellow jersey on disastrous day."
>>> |
>>>
>>> Makes a better story than
>>>
>>> "Nothing really interesting happened today at the Tour"
>>>
>>> Plus later they can play up the come-from-behind, pick-yourself-up,
>>> dust-yourself-off, and kick-ass story when he gets it back.
>>>
>>> Or it could be that they're completely incompetant.
>> or both!
>> Bill C
>>
>> Someone must have gotten the word out. As of 3:00pm CDT, the headline on
>> msnbc.com now reads:
>>
>> "Landis loses yellow jersey after tactical choice".
>>
>> It must be hard for them to try and make sense of it all.
>
>
> Would it be so hard to get someone who has at least a tiny little bit of
> knowledge in cycling to write these articles for a handful of $$?
> Hell, I bet they'd find some student with cycling as a hobby and the goal
> of getting into sport journalism for free.
>
They do have a guy with some cycling background--his name is Garrett Lai,
who was an editor of Bicycle Guide Magazine. This headline, and the daily
stage reports are written by various wire servces, or MSNBC staffers.

 

[Bucky]

trg wrote:
> Or it could be that they're completely incompetant.

It's usually not the article author's fault. It's usually the headline
writer. I've noticed this very frequently with all the major wires
where a headline is sensationalized, then when you read the article, it
doesn't even support the headline!

 

[Donald Munro]

trg wrote:
>> Or it could be that they're completely incompetant.

Bucky wrote:
> It's usually not the article author's fault. It's usually the headline
> writer. I've noticed this very frequently with all the major wires
> where a headline is sensationalized, then when you read the article, it
> doesn't even support the headline!

These headline writers also need to expand their vocabulary. Judging by
headlines you'd think headline subjects spent most of their lives 'vowing'
or 'lashing out'.

 

[Ewoud Dronkert]

Ernst Noch schreef:
> Hell, I bet they'd find some student with cycling as a hobby and the
> goal of getting into sport journalism for free.

Calling Cosmo, why haven't you offered your services yet?


--
E. Dronkert

 

[Michael Press]

In article
<[email protected]>,
"Bucky" <[email protected]> wrote:

> trg wrote:
> > Or it could be that they're completely incompetant.
>
> It's usually not the article author's fault. It's usually the headline
> writer. I've noticed this very frequently with all the major wires
> where a headline is sensationalized, then when you read the article, it
> doesn't even support the headline!

It's a write-only medium.

--
Michael Press