Pastner Staff Thread

Supersizethatorder-mutt

Supersizethatorder-mutt

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Buzz776g said:
I thought that's what the SID is for. We can resrrict media access only to them, I guess, if we want. It'd be a two-edged sword.

I feel very badly for Ken S. I think he's a good, ethical, hardworking beat reporter who wants to be fair, do a quality job, and stay on good terms with his sources. His employer doesn't have the patience or ethics to allow him to do a good job or to walk the fine line of balance a good beat reporter needs to maintain with everyone.

I'm sure GT is not alone in facing this problem; we are, though, a bit more traditional in our approaches to a lot of things. I just wish Ken could get a good-paying gig working for someone less desperate to retain its two paying subscribers than the AJC. CPJ has already pretty much had it with him, and CJP may not be far behind. I just don't think that's Ken's fault and I hate to see him suffer for it, whether it be us being contemptuous of him or him being locked out of any meaningful information from GT sports.
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Any idea why CPJ has had it with Ken? I personally think Ken does a fantastic job, and when you consider that he's not, by nature, a Tech fan, what he does impresses me even more. He has really done a lot of research for some of his articles. I would venture to say he knows more about Tech football and its history and traditions than many actual Tech fans do.
 
Buzz776g

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Supersizethatorder-mutt said:
Any idea why CPJ has had it with Ken? I personally think Ken does a fantastic job, and when you consider that he's not, by nature, a Tech fan, what he does impresses me even more. He has really done a lot of research for some of his articles. I would venture to say he knows more about Tech football and its history and traditions than many actual Tech fans do.
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My memory is very hazy, but last year Ken published something (Jabari's return to the team, maybe? It was something noteworthy) that Ken had been told unofficially, and had been asked to wait until the official announcement (?? iirc ??), and I think that was scheduled for not even 24 hours later. Ken went ahead and broke it, and even though it was a short time frame CPJ was still not best pleased. CPJ said stte of 'do that again and you'll get nothing from anyone outside the SID'.

Ken has to walk a very fine line between publishing newsworthy items timely, and working with and respecting his sources. I strongly suspect his employer makes that none too easy for him. All the AJC cares about is pretty much unverified clickbait. That's got to be a very tough environment for an ambitious yet ethical reporter to work in.
 
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Supersizethatorder-mutt

Supersizethatorder-mutt

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Buzz776g said:
My memory is very hazy, but last year Ken published something (Jabari's return to the team, maybe? It was something noteworthy) that Ken had been told unofficially, and had been asked to wait until the official announcement (?? iirc ??), and I think that was scheduled for not even 24 hours later. Ken went ahead and broke it, and even though it was a short time frame CPJ was still not best pleased. CPJ said stte of 'do that again and you'll get nothing from anyone outside the SID'.

Ken has to walk a very fine line between publishing newsworthy items timely, and working with and respecting his sources. I strongly suspect his employer makes that none too easy for him. All the AJC cares about is pretty much unverified clickbait. That's got to be a very tough environment for an ambitious yet ethical reporter to work in.
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Surprised that Ken would break confidentiality; that doesn't seem to be his style, regardless of the way the AJC might treat him. I wish CPJ were aware of just how good he really has it in Ken, certainly compared to the one Ken replaced.
 
Techster

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forensicbuzz said:
Right, he's a beat writer, not a columnist. It's not his job to create stories, but to report on what's going on with Tech sports. This is the kind of opinion piece is expect from Schultz or one of the other columnists.
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I guess if you're the editor of the AJC you'd have problems with what KS is writing. Since none of us are, he'll be allowed to write whatever his bosses think is appropriate for his coverage.

When people say GT should cut off a certain writer, especially the main GT writer at the largest news source in GA, it's not hurting the writer...it's hurting GT. The media can either be your friend, or your enemy. If KS did something he shouldn't have done, it's better to pull him aside and tell him "Hey, in the future, can you clear it with us before you run with it." That's how you cultivate good will as opposed to treating someone like they're a third class citizen. If he persistently crosses the line, that's another story. If people think GT can stop a writer from writing stories, or file reports with GT, they don't understand journalism. There's a saying "the pen is mightier than the sword", and it's been true since the news has been reported. CPJ, MBob, Pastner, Braine, Gailey, Ross, Hewitt...all have passed through GT and yet the AJC is still around, and will continue to be around after the current coaches and AD. GT should never cowtow to the press for favorable treatment, but at the same time we need to learn how to work with the media instead of against it. GT can be its own worst enemy sometimes. I remember when Twitter and social media first became mainstream and all the other coaches and colleges were making their presence online known. GT was slow to adapt and control the narrative being said online, and losing ground on what others were saying about our program. CPJ even said it was silly...but you know what, there he is on twitter now. GT failed to understand social media had pretty much replaced standard media, and news was quickly changing. We're probably one of the least media savvy schools in the P5,

The irony of the whole KS thing is how much good press he gives GT on Twitter and his pieces that are behind paywalls on MyAJC...yet a good portion of our fans continue to bash him, and our staff seems unwilling to help him out. Another irony of the AJC and our view that they favor UGA is that a majority of UGA fans think the AJC is against them. Goes to show, fans see what they want to see.
 
CuseJacket

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This should test the context of the policy being reported. From Sept 2015:

The Coach Sharman White Blog: Starting the 'now' season, USA Basketball and more
I am excited to be back for my third year of writing blogs for USA Today High School Sports that chronicle our program from my point view. After an eventful summer that included winning a gold medal representing USA Basketball in Argentina to working with our team/players to spending quality family time with my loved ones (including my golf clubs..;), I can truly say it was time well spent.
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slugboy

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D-man44 said:
If we do not hire him cause he likes golf :banghead:
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paranoidparrot_105440_1325138405.jpg

(I'd be stunned if the "golf policy" has any effect on hires)
 
forensicbuzz

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Techster said:
I guess if you're the editor of the AJC you'd have problems with what KS is writing. Since none of us are, he'll be allowed to write whatever his bosses think is appropriate for his coverage.

When people say GT should cut off a certain writer, especially the main GT writer at the largest news source in GA, it's not hurting the writer...it's hurting GT. The media can either be your friend, or your enemy. If KS did something he shouldn't have done, it's better to pull him aside and tell him "Hey, in the future, can you clear it with us before you run with it." That's how you cultivate good will as opposed to treating someone like they're a third class citizen. If he persistently crosses the line, that's another story. If people think GT can stop a writer from writing stories, or file reports with GT, they don't understand journalism. There's a saying "the pen is mightier than the sword", and it's been true since the news has been reported. CPJ, MBob, Pastner, Braine, Gailey, Ross, Hewitt...all have passed through GT and yet the AJC is still around, and will continue to be around after the current coaches and AD. GT should never cowtow to the press for favorable treatment, but at the same time we need to learn how to work with the media instead of against it. GT can be its own worst enemy sometimes. I remember when Twitter and social media first became mainstream and all the other coaches and colleges were making their presence online known. GT was slow to adapt and control the narrative being said online, and losing ground on what others were saying about our program. CPJ even said it was silly...but you know what, there he is on twitter now. GT failed to understand social media had pretty much replaced standard media, and news was quickly changing. We're probably one of the least media savvy schools in the P5,

The irony of the whole KS thing is how much good press he gives GT on Twitter and his pieces that are behind paywalls on MyAJC...yet a good portion of our fans continue to bash him, and our staff seems unwilling to help him out. Another irony of the AJC and our view that they favor UGA is that a majority of UGA fans think the AJC is against them. Goes to show, fans see what they want to see.
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Thanks for your input.

Please don't lump me in with people talking about cutting Ken S. off. I'm not one of them. Ken actually tracked me and my boys down last fall after one of the open scrimmages. We were down from Chicago visiting. Turns out my boys (in my avatar) go to the same high school Ken went to (oldest son was wearing a New Trier High School t-shirt). We spoke for about 45 minutes in front of Peters about many things, including how he's allowed to cover Tech sports. It was an interesting conversation, some of which was not terribly complementary to the AJC.
 
Techster

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forensicbuzz said:
Thanks for your input.

Please don't lump me in with people talking about cutting Ken S. off. I'm not one of them. Ken actually tracked me and my boys down last fall after one of the open scrimmages. We were down from Chicago visiting. Turns out my boys (in my avatar) go to the same high school Ken went to (oldest son was wearing a New Trier High School t-shirt). We spoke for about 45 minutes in front of Peters about many things, including how he's allowed to cover Tech sports. It was an interesting conversation, some of which was not terribly complementary to the AJC.
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Did you not suggest KS should censure his "opinions" regarding GT? Are you implying that KS made up the "I won't hire anyone that golfs" diatribe when you said "It's not his job to create stories"? Because if not, then what did KS do wrong that he should have not written that piece in the first place. It's not KS's job to filter out what a coach says to make GT look bad...Pastner did that to himself, as others have commented.

Like I said, unless you're the editor of the AJC, Ken is allowed to write whatever the AJC allows him to write...even if it includes his opinions (none that I can remember were unfairly critical of GT).

BTW, I didn't lump you into the people that wanted to cut KS off...I just didn't want to start an entirely different post to address the silly notion that GT should cut off a writer...any writer. Whether you felt like I did, hey I can't help how you feel.
 
dtm1997

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I'm gonna stay out of the golf convo because I've missed it to date & have no interest.

If White is at USA Basketball already & is potentially one of our assistant coaches, it wouldn't surprise me if they waited deep in to the summer to name him. The downside is he wouldn't be at the live period repping GT, but the upside is that he'd be developing relationships with USA Basketball kids all summer prior to coming to GT.

No idea if we hire him or not, just throwing out a theory.
 
shakim3

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I actually like that he doesn't have assistants yet. Makes it more impactful to the recruits when the Coach of a team with no assistants has chosen to come watch YOU play, or talk to YOU, over all of the other options out there.

Plus with the real heavy period coming later, he can make some more educated decisions on these hires.
 
Techster

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Notwithstanding the whole "I won't hire assistants who play golf thing" (which I think GT fans are making a bigger deal out of than national media), I think Pastner will play to media far better than anyone we've had here since Cremins. The guy is good for quotes, and he seems extremely personable. Obviously he doesn't hold too much back, and I think the media will eat that up. All of which is nothing but good for GT.
 

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Nobody cared about how folksy Bobby Bowden was until he started winning. Same with SHW. So yea Pastner may get a bit of a honeymoon with the press for a while but he better start winning in order to have the press coming back to him for quotes. And given the cupboard he is starting with I don't see much winning anytime soon.

Until that changes I think we are back to Brother Dwayne Morrison's quotes - We are small but we are slow. Yea that is what the press wants :cool:
 
forensicbuzz

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Techster said:
Did you not suggest KS should censure his "opinions" regarding GT? Are you implying that KS made up the "I won't hire anyone that golfs" diatribe when you said "It's not his job to create stories"? Because if not, then what did KS do wrong that he should have not written that piece in the first place. It's not KS's job to filter out what a coach says to make GT look bad...Pastner did that to himself, as others have commented.

Like I said, unless you're the editor of the AJC, Ken is allowed to write whatever the AJC allows him to write...even if it includes his opinions (none that I can remember were unfairly critical of GT).

BTW, I didn't lump you into the people that wanted to cut KS off...I just didn't want to start an entirely different post to address the silly notion that GT should cut off a writer...any writer. Whether you felt like I did, hey I can't help how you feel.
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No, I actually didn't suggest KS censor his opinions, nor did I suggest that the GTAA censure KS. What I said is that KS is our beat writer not a columnist, and that a beat writer's job is not to write opinion pieces. The article in question was not something that would typically be written by a beat writer, but something more akin to what we'd expect from a columnist. Unless the beat writer is a total homer, if he/she writes opinion pieces, he/she will very quickly get sideways with the organization being covered, which makes the job that much more difficult. That's why beat writers don't write opinion pieces.
 
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