Greenville paper gets it wrong

[Puppet Master]

On the whole the article didn't spell out what the object of the game is, or
distinguish the difference between the weapons besides cutting and thrusting.
At first glance the story looks good, its front and center in the sports section with nice graphic
of two fencers and a picture diagram of a strip. However much of the information is
wrong, like: lines from the fencers tell the item's function, the function of the
lame aka "padded vest" is to "absorb blade impacts". On the diagram of the
strip there are two (or four) warning lines, one for foil, the other for epee and saber.
The worst is for the scoring lights: "green idicates a valid hit; red is a non-valid hit"
It mentions only pool bout format. The article mentions nothing of how the sport is
played, and is otherwise short. If anything the article only confuses potential spectators
who might show up. I can only say the reporter does a poor job, her boredom
with the story shows. The LOC after being interviewed by the reporter can only wince.

[Inquartata]

What a huge surprise.

Modern journalism at its mediocre best again.

[sc_highlander]

The worst was that one of our local TV stations reported that we hosted the 'Southern Nationals', where the top finishers would qualify for the National Championships. Ugh. Of course I called to correct them, but they didn't seem interested. The reporter seemed annoyed that I called. A parent from our club also called and got the same treatment. Oh, and the reporter asked her "how much of that space do you actually use anyway?", referring to the 50 strips setup at the expo center. That particular station came out once during the competition -- late in the evening when things were winding down. For the most part, though, I think our media did a good job (and when they didn't, I let them know!).

Bryan

[D'Artagnan1673]

Perhpaps I fill give you all a copy of what our local newspaper's idea of a story was for my club.

I agree with everyone else, media is very mediocre

[MikeHarm]

We should be writing our own press releases instead of relying on reporters to get media attention. My parents do that for their horse business, and they receive tons more publicity than I've ever seen for fencing.

<small>[ 07-09-2002, 04:40 PM: Message edited by: MikeHarm ]</small>

[Peach]

I do that--we have a public relations person at my work, and every time I come back from a tournament I send her a press release (they've asked me to do it because it's free publicity for the school), which she sends to the local papers, and you'd be surprised what they can STILL get wrong.