PORTSMOUTH DAILY TIMES coverage

[WitnessProtection]

Ohio Valley Publishing (Gallipolis, Point Pleasant, Pomeroy) is also owned by Heartland, which owns the PDT.
Having worked for OVP in Gallipolis for many years, I understand some of the obstacles facing papers in small towns. When I was sports editor in Gallipolis, I had two reporters who covered Mason County, WV, and Meigs County sports. Both of those guys were hourly and overtime was not allowed by management. So when they each reached their 40 hours, the rest fell to me. I'm betting it's the same thing in Portsmouth.
Mind you that's no excuse for poor coverage or shoddy journalism, but it could be a reason for the perceived lack of fair and equal coverage.
In fact, I don't believe the PDT has a sports editor at this time. As of today, the position is still being advertised on several journalism employment boards. (I even checked into it myself)
Just some thoughts from a neutral party.

[madpolecat]

Isn't it interesting how there happens to be more than one person on this forum who worked in a small-town newspaper and got the Hell out of the sportswriting business?

I discovered that most of the people who read the local paper for HS sports info didn't want to have anything special -- or even particularly good -- as far as the reporting goes.

They were just as happy with play-by-play stories written from scorebooks as with feature-type stories written by a reporter who went to the game and tried to find something interesting to write about. They want to see names in the paper so they can put the clippings in their scrapbooks...

Unfortunately, if you have a degree in English or PR or journalism, you kind of expect more of yourself than to just write dull play-by-play stories about high school sports.

[yabbadabbadoo]

I guess the Times has gotten so bad here lately that they have quit delivering it.

Last Monday and now yesterday and today, we haven't received a paper. Maybe they have ESP, because I told my wife to go ahead and cancel, so maybe they got the vibe off of that. She said she hasn't talked to anyone at the Times yet to cancel, so for some reason, they just aren't bringing us our paper.

Oh, by the way, it hasn't gotten any better on Saturday's. The coverage is still the worst in the state.

[Keyser_sozeThrice]

yabbadabbadoo....Here is something to be concerned about involving the PDT as well.

In the past, former sports editors of the PDT Jason Crisler, Jeff Taepke and Josh Hickle have all represented the PDT at the Associated Press all-district football meeting after the season. I know this because I have gone to the meetings and they were there.

Now, all three are gone from there, which begs the question of who on the current staff will represent the PDT at this year's meeting? Will they even be there to represent themselves and push for the kids in their coverage area to make all-district?

An e-mail was sent out a couple of weeks back that most of the newspapers in SE received, saying when this year's was. I know the PDT got it because they were on the list of names like myself and everyone else.

If I was associated with the likes of Portsmouth West, Wheelersburg, Minford, Sciotoville East, Notre Dame, Valley, Portsmouth High, etc......I would be very concerned about whether the PDT will even be there to make sure those schools/players are represented on the all-district team.

Perhaps it wouldn't hurt to put pressure on the PDT to make sure they are going to be there.

It would really look bad if those schools I mentioned above are not properly represented on the all-district team all because of the PDT.

Not trying to be an alarmist, just trying to get the word out there about the situation.

[Burg_Grad_77]

I thought this thread had died, but since it's back I guess I'll rant some more about the PDT. They were slowly getting a little better each Saturday with their coverage and then last Saturday was right back to the same old crap. The stories were horrible and the no box scores on any of the games excpet Valleys. The you go to the little section on page three and it is a jumbled mess that would take a genuis to decipher to get anything out of it.

The worst though was Fridays preview. On the back page in bold headlines it read, "Whos On Top Of The SOC II At The Halfway Point" and then the story by Mike Craft is about Portsmouths chances in the SEOL. Does anyone down there know the meaning of the word "proofread"?????

[yabbadabbadoo]

yabbadabbadoo....Here is something to be concerned about involving the PDT as well.

In the past, former sports editors of the PDT Jason Crisler, Jeff Taepke and Josh Hickle have all represented the PDT at the Associated Press all-district football meeting after the season. I know this because I have gone to the meetings and they were there.

Now, all three are gone from there, which begs the question of who on the current staff will represent the PDT at this year's meeting? Will they even be there to represent themselves and push for the kids in their coverage area to make all-district?

An e-mail was sent out a couple of weeks back that most of the newspapers in SE received, saying when this year's was. I know the PDT got it because they were on the list of names like myself and everyone else.

If I was associated with the likes of Portsmouth West, Wheelersburg, Minford, Sciotoville East, Notre Dame, Valley, Portsmouth High, etc......I would be very concerned about whether the PDT will even be there to make sure those schools/players are represented on the all-district team.

Perhaps it wouldn't hurt to put pressure on the PDT to make sure they are going to be there.

It would really look bad if those schools I mentioned above are not properly represented on the all-district team all because of the PDT.

Not trying to be an alarmist, just trying to get the word out there about the situation.

I believe that would be the straw that breaks the camels back if that happens. If no area player in any of the fall sports doesn't make an all-district team because of the PDT, then you can almost bet good money that people will be cancelling left and right. That is uncalled for. Like BG77 said, they were doing a decent job and then it went to hell again.

I basically subscribe for 2-3 reasons. I check the obits to make sure no one I know passed away. I read the editorial page and then I read the sports. I guess I'll just have to start looking at that stuff online.

[RipOne]

The "box scores" section of the PDT has been a jumbled mess since the 08-09 school year began. It's very difficult to tell who played whom.

I recall several instances where the summary for Notre Dame's high school games didn't make it into the paper until the following Friday. That was pretty good, though, because they're usually not mentioned at all.

Many articles, not just those covering high school sports, have been terrible. I recall one where the headline read something like "Bengals getting Smith, and maybe more!" I don't actually recall the player being referred to, but the player was not going to the Bengals...it was Buffalo. The Bengals were not mentioned in the article until a one-line closing paragraph. Another instance is today's paper. There is a picture of Red Sox player Matsuzaka, and another of Carson Palmer, yet both captions are the same, about Matsuzaka...how do you miss that?

[Tartan34boy]

i agree moor stories would be nice but just listen to these people they are the sports voice of this town they no and hows about somthing bout our tartans! 6-1 2nd in the S.O.C region 24

[Keyser_sozeThrice]

Question: Did the PDT really refer to Notre Dame High School as the "Irish" instead of the "Titans" in a letter sent by Oak Hill to the PDT thanking Notre Dame for its generous monetary donation to Oak Hill in regards to Janie Hatfield's recent passing?

I realize that we all make mistakes, but a lack of attention to detail like that, there is no excuse for it.

[WitnessProtection]

Fact is, the PDT is a stepping-stone newspaper for young journalists trying to get to a bigger market. I can safely guess that the paper probably doesn't pay its writers much. You get what you pay for, and if you're paying squat ... well, you get the idea. Anyone know how many writers are on the sports staff in Portsmouth?

[Keyser_sozeThrice]

Witness Protection....I think they have three writers plus the sports editor. And what you said is true about getting what you pay for.

[WitnessProtection]

Keyser...Thanks for the info.

That's a decent number to cover Scioto County sports, if you get help from coaches for the games you don't staff.
I think there are 12 high schools in the county, nine with football teams (someone please correct me if I'm mistaken). That could make for a really long night no matter how you cut it.
Is the PDT a morning or afternoon paper?

[breeze]

What coverage

[Bobby k]

yabba,

In response to your comment about just getting your info online, don't bother looking at the PDT website for any of this. I am not a resident of Scioto County but do follow local sports very often. Everyday I check the Chillicothe Gazette website for their articles as well as the PDT.

The PDT has a very hard time of putting their articles on their website for some reason. If you look at it on any given day their sports articles are from days, even weeks ago!

So if you're looking at getting info from the internet, you'll have bettern luck on SEOP!!

[madpolecat]

So if you're looking at getting info from the internet, you'll have bettern luck on SEOP!!

Bu then the question is do you want timely or accurate?

[drrabbit]

I try to stay out of most of this but...

Well they have hit a new low in my opinion. Someone there appearently got one of those spams emails with what is essentially an urban legend and they published it on the FRONT page of the paper as FACT. It took me less than 60 seconds to look it up on the internet and debunk most of what they published.

That is just BAD journalism!

http://www.portsmouth-dailytimes.com/ar ... arning.txt

http://www.snopes.com/horrors/drugs/candymeth.asp

[thesmokinglens]

Haha... I got that e-mail last night.

[yabbadabbadoo]

Well, once again, I didn't receive a paper this morning and that makes 4 times this week and 5 over the last two weeks. I'm going to send an email and just go ahead and cancel my subscription because I'm guessing that is what they want me to do.

It is sad that the Times has going to hades in a heartbeat. What once was a pretty good paper for local sports has totally went downhill over the last year and that is unacceptable.

[Burg_Grad_77]

Well, once again, I didn't receive a paper this morning and that makes 4 times this week and 5 over the last two weeks. I'm going to send an email and just go ahead and cancel my subscription because I'm guessing that is what they want me to do.

It is sad that the Times has going to hades in a heartbeat. What once was a pretty good paper for local sports has totally went downhill over the last year and that is unacceptable.

I didn't receive mine either on Friday morning and when I called I was told that they couldn't bring it to me on Friday and I would get in Saturday morning. I told them that if they couldn't bring me one that day then I didn't want it and would be deducting $.50 off of my next bill. They said, we can get you one tomorrow morning and I told them I didn't want it on Saturday, I wanted it today. I then asked if they had anybody who worked there that lived in Wheelersburg and if they could drop a paper off to me and I was told no they couldn't do that.

I remember when a buddy of mine used to work in the circulation dept years ago if someone didn't get their paper he would have to take one to them. I guess times have changed and customer service just isn't what it was.

This paper has evolved into a useless rag. About the only it's good for anymore is lining a bird cage or to catch paint drippings.

[Burg_Grad_77]

It's good to wallpaper an outhouse with too.

I can think a better use for it in the outhouse. lol