As reported in the News & Record and on the web – primarily by Ed Cone, the News & Record laid off 41 employees yesterday. So far there has been limited information on who got their papers and how the paper will fill the holes. As many readers to Greensboro Sports Dot Com have realized, the News & Record was unable to effectively cover the local sports scene as many would have preferred. It’s the primary reason this web site exists.
HOWEVER, we can’t do it alone. We are always looking for writers and photos. If you are a parent. relative or even a player or coach, we want your stories. Most coaches call their stories into the newspapers and television stations in the hope that they may get coverage – WE GUARANTEE COVERAGE! – All we ask is that it be Greensboro, High Point or Guilford County Sports. You get your exposure and we will never charge for access for older stories as some websites.
It looks like the SE Guilford boycott is working. Amazing!
From what I’ve been seeing, Greensboro Sports Dot Com has suarpassed the News and Record sports and I’m finding better local coverage at this site.
Its been a slow steady decline ever since Alan Johnson fired Wilt Browning. The News and Record has been on life support for years, this should really not surprise anyone with the online content that is now avaliable without a fee.
greensborosports.com has shown very strong signs of growth potential and we
expect many people to be knocking at our doors soon. We do require two forms
of valid ID and US citizenship.
Andy will you take a green card amigo?
My question is,”how do you get the news before the other guys do and what are you sources”?
We’ll take a Green Card only if it’s from El Gringo de Gordo and we can not reveal our sources based on anonymity. We do check out sources for verification and to certify validity and believe me it is a never-ending journey.
The people who got laid off had families and deserve better than the some of the cold comments posted here, especially the smartass stuff from the people who run this site.
Whether you like the News & Record or not, I would think that somebody who’s worked in radio and been fired or laid off more times than he can count would have a little respect for somebody else who lost their job through no fault of their own.
Oh, yeah. This is the site with the picture of the clown at the top left of the front page. I guess that says it all.
JD sorry you feel that way. FYI, comments here are TAME by comparison if you look at the other blogs that have covered this.
Both Andy and I have experienced layoffs and firings. Andy now works for himself and I on the last days of my severance package from my former employer. I feel their pain; but as one current News & Record staff member posted at Ed Cone’s site – keep your resume up-to-date, you never know when you will need it.
FYI, I am a subscriber to the News & Record and will continue until I either leave the area or can no longer read it. The CLOWN is part of the local blog advertising effort that many other blogs participate. It appears on many local blogs affiliated with Greensboro101.com
Calm down Springer! I’m sure they do deserve better than the “some” of the cold comments posted here, but this site only speaks the truth. I would expect a comment like that from you, you’re always trying to stir people up and start a fight… JERRY, JERRY, JERRY!!!
I see that Springer and the PC police have arrived. Dude, get a life and worry about something important. We ripped on the N&R before this happened and we’ll continue to rip whether you scream foul, or racism, or sexism or whatever.
Ed Cone’s blog has pretty good coverage on this whole thing and I beleive senitments expressed therein reflect the surprise, anger and frustration of a workforce that has not have to deal with these issues much in the past, other than maybe write a story or two about it. The hard working people of Greensboro however, have had to deal with this for decades and I beleive most of us can sympathize with those who lost their jobs yesterday, as well as, those who are left in the trenches at the New & Record for what will be at best, a time of uncertainty.
I was at the N&R during the layoffs in 1995 and can remember the great writers that were cast off and also remember the lackluster, poorly chosen, replacements that were rushed into the front lines. I’m afraid that this is just another step in the regression that has been occurring more than a decade now and that soon we won’t care about the N&R because it will only contiain comics, property transfers, classifieds and memos faxed in by the DNC. With that in mind, they can just paginate, sell ads and publish one version of the paper for the entire distribution area, cutting out 90% of their current staff.
ROB,
Get a life? I work at the N&R, so I’m sorry, but that IS my life.
I lost a lot of friends Thursday, and even after working in this business for more than 20 years, I would’ve traded places with a couple of them who are battling cancer if someone had let me do it, but they wouldn’t. And if I had quit in solidarity with them, it wouldn’t have saved their jobs; it would’ve only hurt my family. The company would’ve just improved its profit margin, because they were still going to get laid off and I wouldn’t have been replaced, either.
There are some on this site who seem a little bit too giddy that 41 people just lost their jobs. It appears that some of you are using this as an opportunity to further your vendettas against the Greensboro News & Record, forgetting that the 41 who lost their jobs had little to do with the decline in local sports coverage. The fault lies in the cuts from corporate, not with the reporters still employed at the paper or with those recently fired.
Once again, we ripped on the N&R before this and we’ll continue rip on them regardless of whether it is PC or not in the wake of the firings.
What does it mean when people promote the local sports coverage of a free blog/weblog over the only “major” newspaper for the area? Everybody went crazy last week when the N&R ran the story on the SE Guilford players. Why did they do it? Why did they not have the patience to wait until after the weekend? Simply because the story had already been broken on this site and the paper could ill-afford to be scooped again. When the writers and desk staff at the N&R feel as though they are competing with this site, it only solidifies our opinions of ineptitude.
Poor decisions by the paper, especially in the sports department, have cost the N&R dearly over the years. Firing Wilt Browning, letting John Nagy write sports articles and not getting rid of an employee who frequently plagerized “Baseball America” are prime examples of why the sports department has taken a hit over the years.
Paul,
I feel for anyone who lost their jobs at the paper last week and wish them all the best in finding employment. As I stated earlier, layoffs are a way of life in many industries and those of us who have lived and worked in such environments can sympathize with those fired and those left behind. However, we reserve the right to bash the poor management.
The N&R has self promoted itself to be the mecca of local journalism in the area. In some ways, by denouncing the same tactics that were used in the firings last week when they occurred at other newspapers. Why should I or anyone else be asked to restrain themselves from pointing out the hypocrisy of the N&R, its past opinions, and the current mindset?
Rob:
My main point was that the downfall of the News & Record isn’t going to hurt those responsible for the lapse in coverage. They’ve made their money and if the News & Record closed down today they will simple go home and swim in the cash. They are not interested in in-depth journalism and never will be, no matter how much we complain.
For instance, while I may not be a huge fan of Rupert Murdoch, I would never get excited about the misfortunes of News Corp, which employees thousands of great, hard working people who would be the ones most hurt by its demise. It won’t hurt the higher-ups at Landmark, or even the community for that matter which can get its news elsewhere, such as the Internet or Web sites like this one. These types of layoffs hurt only the lower-middle class people that get the paper out.
From what I’ve read, I just feel that some – and this isn’t necessarily targeted at you Rob – have misdirected their anger toward those who don’t deserve the blame.
In reference to the Sports department fearing that it will get scooped by this Web site, I’m not sure how much validity that holds. I worked for Sports for 4 years and the first I heard of this Web site was the day after I was fired. And in my 4 years, I never heard mention of this site from anyone in management. Again, that’s not saying they don’t know about it. The writers could very well pay attention – they usually write from home and aren’t around at night to discuss such things with the desk. When I’ve seen writers and editors rushing to complete a story, it was never out of fear someone else might have it first. It was because we were usually always rushing because we were so understaffed.
Paul, having this site scoop the News & Record is not really our goal. It’s to give exposure in a meaningful way to Greensboro Sports. The News & Record does an excellent job providing a platform for local sports groups to submit their articles; but when was the last time you read Ed Hardin covering Pee Wee Football.
We place local articles on the front page. If the News & Record placed Greensboro articles on the front of the sports section instead of articles from the wires, ESPN, USA Today, etc. this might website might not have ever got started.
If we “scoop” the News & Record, it’s because we care about the local sports scene and not Press Passes in NASCAR, NFL, NBA or NHL.
Rob, Bruce Bullington and myself have all worked for the News and Record Sports Department in the past (early to late 90s) so we are familar with the way the system works. In another article, Andy talks about the many factual errors which continue to appear in the sports section. Maybe you can blame this on the paper being short staffed or maybe it is because rather than promote local people who are familar with the area, they go to Roanoke or Norfolk can bring in folks who know nothing about the local scene. Thats where GreensboroSports.com come in. Andy, Don, Bruce, Paul and myself all have pretty long standing ties to this community. We care about Greensboro and it shows in the content here at this site. As far as the layoffs, I feel awful for the folks let go and hope they can get back on their feet really soon.
Don:
It would be a glorious day if the News & Record did get press passes for NFL, NBA or the NHL. Unfortunately, because of cuts, the News & Record can’t even afford to send anyone to cover the Bobcats, Panthers or Hurricanes. It’s forced to take wire stories – as you pointed out.
And with the existence of the Grasshoppers, Revolution, Dynamo, college sports, high school sports and the like, the paper definitely couldn’t afford to send Ed Hardin, a columnist, to cover Pee Wee Football. That would be the community reporter’s job – well, it was until she got laid off Thursday.
But, like you, I can’t say I can figure out the pig story.
And again, its not that those who work at the News & Record don’t care about local sports. The paper just in no way has the manpower to cover all of the local sports. The paper is forced to rely on the coaches and stat keepers to give it accurate stats and keep it informed – and, unfortunately, many of them aren’t always reliable. And that’s no always their fault. Asking the community to be journalists is always recipe for disaster.
Just curious: What is everyone’s opinions of the NR sports staff. Who are your favorites? Who’s the lamest? I have my opinions, but I’ll wait too hear from others.
Ed Hardin is the best, Jay Reddick would give him a run for his money though if the topic was Professional Wrestling..
Worst ever is Larry Keech followed by Jim Young’s rarely used Sports Blog.
I’ve never read anything from Jay Reddick. You sure he works there? I liked Keech, but I think he retired or maybe he quit. The best for my money is Rob Bell. Not sure what his beat is but he wrote that Page football series a few years back and does great work on golf. Maybe golf is his beat. He also did a story about a youth football team from the inner projects last year that made my wife cry. Young’s OK. His sports blog is useless. Did anyone see Hardin’s column Sunday on the mega hog? Why is he writing about that.
Jay Reddick definitely works at the N&R – heckuva good guy, too. However, he is a copy editor with the paper, not a writer. He’s written a few stories over the years and is good at it, but mostly, he works behind the scenes.