CitizenSport
15th April 2010, 11:34
As Neil alluded to in another thread there are some enforced changes that will be occurring at The Citizen, and I wanted to take a chance to explain these to you.
While I realise that sometimes we may not be flavour of the month with City fans - I can assure you that the whole of The Citizen sports desk are committed to providing the best coverage we can.
The ever-decreasing number of us on the Sport Desk are all sport-mad, and believe it or not the most satisfying thing about our job is reporting on live sport and getting that into the next day's paper.
I have no power over what happened prior to this season - so am unable to comment on that... However, during this season we have, quite rightly, given Gloucester City fair coverage.
We have had previews and reports of EVERY single game in the League, FA Cup, County Cup and FA Trophy, from Truro to Blyth and every point in between, mainly thanks to the terrific efforts of Jenni.
When I took over covering the non-League football for both The Citizen and Gloucestershire Echo at the start of the season - It was felt that as Jenni was doing such a good job covering City and had developed some superb contacts both with Boris, the players and supporters - that she carry on doing this - despite working at the time as a news reporter.
When she joined Jack Harris on the injury list - We managed to source reports from every game by hook or crook, including sending a reporter to the Lowestoft cup replay, and at times utilising the skills of TigerMatty for some help.
When Jenni left the Citizen I felt strongly that, if willing, she should carry on reporting City and we came to an agreement that she carry on doing so on a freelance basis for away games - with myself covering the home games.
In recent weeks, further changes at the paper have meant that Jenni will be taking on the home games as well.
These changes come from matters beyond the control of the Sports Desk and result in a change to our production deadlines. The net result of which means that we are no longer able to hold the paper for midweek matches outside of professional football / rugby.
I appreciate that this is a deeply unsatisfactory situation, and we, on the Sport Desk, have tried to lobby to get altered but have been unsuccessful.
Reports will be put online on the night of the game, and there will be a considered report / manager or player quotes in the paper on the subsequent day, in the case of tonight's game against Harrogate - on Saturday.
I have tried to be as honest and frank as I can with you about this, believe me when I say that we are disappointed and frustrated that we won't be able to offer coverage of midweek games, but unfortunately it is genuinely beyond the control of us minions on the sport desk.
Please feel free to get in contact with me personally at james.young@glosmedia.co.uk if you need, or want to vent your spleen about this and I will forward them on… But please accept that this is not a decision that has been taken by the sport desk here or by me personally.
Thanks,
James
While I realise that sometimes we may not be flavour of the month with City fans - I can assure you that the whole of The Citizen sports desk are committed to providing the best coverage we can.
The ever-decreasing number of us on the Sport Desk are all sport-mad, and believe it or not the most satisfying thing about our job is reporting on live sport and getting that into the next day's paper.
I have no power over what happened prior to this season - so am unable to comment on that... However, during this season we have, quite rightly, given Gloucester City fair coverage.
We have had previews and reports of EVERY single game in the League, FA Cup, County Cup and FA Trophy, from Truro to Blyth and every point in between, mainly thanks to the terrific efforts of Jenni.
When I took over covering the non-League football for both The Citizen and Gloucestershire Echo at the start of the season - It was felt that as Jenni was doing such a good job covering City and had developed some superb contacts both with Boris, the players and supporters - that she carry on doing this - despite working at the time as a news reporter.
When she joined Jack Harris on the injury list - We managed to source reports from every game by hook or crook, including sending a reporter to the Lowestoft cup replay, and at times utilising the skills of TigerMatty for some help.
When Jenni left the Citizen I felt strongly that, if willing, she should carry on reporting City and we came to an agreement that she carry on doing so on a freelance basis for away games - with myself covering the home games.
In recent weeks, further changes at the paper have meant that Jenni will be taking on the home games as well.
These changes come from matters beyond the control of the Sports Desk and result in a change to our production deadlines. The net result of which means that we are no longer able to hold the paper for midweek matches outside of professional football / rugby.
I appreciate that this is a deeply unsatisfactory situation, and we, on the Sport Desk, have tried to lobby to get altered but have been unsuccessful.
Reports will be put online on the night of the game, and there will be a considered report / manager or player quotes in the paper on the subsequent day, in the case of tonight's game against Harrogate - on Saturday.
I have tried to be as honest and frank as I can with you about this, believe me when I say that we are disappointed and frustrated that we won't be able to offer coverage of midweek games, but unfortunately it is genuinely beyond the control of us minions on the sport desk.
Please feel free to get in contact with me personally at james.young@glosmedia.co.uk if you need, or want to vent your spleen about this and I will forward them on… But please accept that this is not a decision that has been taken by the sport desk here or by me personally.
Thanks,
James