Opinions on Ken Sugiura

[Wrecker]

As the AJC correspondent on Tech athletics, my opinion is that he does a marginal job and doesn't show much enthusiasm for our programs. I think we deserve better.

 

[Stonewall]

in comparison to the kinda coverage the mutts get, well, yeah you're not going to see a helluva lot of extras on tech coverage as the AJC is a mutt rag. always has been. i always wished they had someone like coley harvey who covered the jackets outta the macon paper a few years ago. that guy was great! but, ain't gonna happen. as for ken, i don't mind him. he's a helluva a lot better than doug who's now on the GA state beat. he was awful!

 

[Sebastian GT]

Compared to some of the ugag *** clowns the AUC has assigned to cover Tech in the past the guy should be given a Pulitzer.

 

[ATL1]

Ken is cool but Eric & Kelly do almost a better job.

 

[QuickKick]

I've always appreciated the effort Ken makes and think he does a fine job.

 

[TheSilasSonRising]

Competent, but still follows the AUC corporate line.

We have had better / worse.

Seems like an OK guy, but refuses to ask / answer the tough questions if it would conflict with the AUC paradigm.

 

[jzgt22]

I feel he does a nice job, but many times in press conferences he will ask CPJ questions that make it seem as though he has very little football knowledge. Generally CPJ just grunts and moves on to the next question. He however is an upgrade over previous GT coverage in the AJC.

 

[daBuzz]

I've always appreciated the effort Ken makes and think he does a fine job.

I think he does a pretty good job.

 

[jayparr]

Ken does a very good job!

 

[forensicbuzz]

Winklejohn was the best, Doug just wasn't very good and Ken is between them (closer to Matt than Doug). Ken tries to stay objective, but I'm not sure that should be his role as the Beat Reporter.

 

[kg01]

Winklejohn was the best, Doug just wasn't very good and Ken is between them (closer to Matt than Doug). Ken tries to stay objective, but I'm not sure that should be his role as the Beat Reporter.

My opinion almost exactly. Doug was so uninterested (uninteresting). Wish they'd just hire back Winklejohn. Ken is adequate but sebastianGT is right, compared to others he's Pulitzer-quality.

 

[Nook Su Kow]

Ken is awesome, but he does ask some stupid questions in the press conferences.

 

[swampsting]

I think Ken's been an upgrade over the previous Tech beat writers. Does a great job in season with updates, news, blogs and actually can write. Didn't always think that way of some of his predecessors.
Keep in mind too he and his wife have a 2-month-old, so he could be a little busier than usual away from his paying job.
It's hard to compare what he does with Tech with what Chip Towers (who is a good dude, by the way) does for Georgia. Chip covered the Dogs for the Athens Banner-Herald for years before the AJC brought him over to run their Gwinnett edition when they were doing that, something 4 or 5 days a week. So Chip went into the Dogs beat for the AJC already knowing everything and everybody.
And since Ken doesn't touch much recruiting news - they leave that to Carvell and start your own jokes/barbs here at that - that could skew perception of what he does.
I think he gets along fine with PJ and PJ doesn't treat him like a burning bag of poop on the doorstep, like he does Chernoff and others. PJ's relationship with print guys previously, in Annapolis and Statesboro, was actually pretty good. They got his sense of humor and I think he felt a little more at ease with those guys.

 

[Rodney Kent]

I expect the editors also have a say in his articles. If we have something negative or marginal to happen, the AJC places it in headlines, but the AJC does not promote Tech athletics.

 

[Kmag]

I think he does great and really enjoy his work.

 

[jwsavhGT]

At least AJC has someone to cover GT. Savannah Morning News pulls AP articles & prints those when it finally does post GT news.

 

[ramblinvak]

I like ken a lot. He does a good job reading between the lines in cpjs comments and he's notes and observations are usually spot on. I also like his dry sense of humor he's a pretty good follow on twitter.

 

[swampsting]

I expect the editors also have a say in his articles. If we have something negative or marginal to happen, the AJC places it in headlines, but the AJC does not promote Tech athletics.

Editors have little to do with what a reporter writes, other than telling this is his coverage area and perhaps going over story ideas. A guy like Ken isn't told to write a story a certain way. If he is, then either the guy telling him isn't acting a professionally and needs to be dismissed or the writer being told to do so and following through isn't professional needs to be dismissed. There is no guy saying, "you need to write this story this way so it reflects negatively." That doesn't happen, especially at a place like the AJC. Now, Bradley and Schultz are allowed and even encouraged to write their opinion, so if it comes across negatively, then that's what they meant to say. There are few parameters placed on them, other than "don't get us sued," and an editor may ask "who wants to write the Grantham post mortem tonight?" and be done with it.
Some guy on the desk, who couldn't care less what is written or who writes it as long as it's in before deadline, writes the headline and right now, the AJC's desk is in West Palm Beach, Fla., as far as I know. The editors usually determine what a sports front will look like hours before it goes to press, based on what they believe or project the big stories or stories of most interest are and will be. If something breaks late, they adjust accordingly.

 

[swampsting]

At least AJC has someone to cover GT. Savannah Morning News pulls AP articles & prints those when it finally does post GT news.

Four guys in their sports department, and they've never really staffed Georgia Tech for anything. They rely on their Athens sister paper for Dogs coverage. They used to have seven people in sports. Now they have four. And I think Morris News Service (Savannah, Augusta, Athens, Jacksonville) shuttered its Atlanta office, which did cover the Braves, Falcons, Tech, et al, except for their state political writer. Budgetary reasons.

 

[swampsting]

Winklejohn was the best, Doug just wasn't very good and Ken is between them (closer to Matt than Doug). Ken tries to stay objective, but I'm not sure that should be his role as the Beat Reporter.

As a beat reporter, that is exactly his role - to stay objective. He can provide analysis but the opinion stuff is left to, for better or worse, Bradley and Schultz. They're columnists. It's their job to provide perspective, rightly or wrongly. Ken, as a beat guy, is supposed to be neutral, even though I get the suspicion he does get along with PJ pretty well.