[Enlund's Blog] McKay commits to MU

[nyg]

Tom Enlund, you post here.  You have any input or want to back other's concerns? 

[cheebs09]

A poster on the Scout board used an example that shows the difference and why MU fans are displeased. On August 16th, the MJS ran a feature on Zac Schowalter (I believe of Germantown) when he accepted a walk-on spot at UW. Two weeks later Burton gets a 6 sentence article on page 7 for his commitment. This is especially disappointing since Burton seems like a very well-spoken kid who has stated he wants to be an example for young men in Milwaukee.

I feel that could have been a great opportunity to showcase one of the top basketball players in the nation that lives in our own city, who also seems like an impressive person.

[SoCalwarrior]

Tom Enlund, you post here.  You have any input or want to back other's concerns? 

I don't think he posts here. We automatically receive his blog feed. And considering the responses those posts generate, it may be time to discontinue the feed.

[nyg]

I don't think he posts here. We automatically receive his blog feed. And considering the responses those posts generate, it may be time to discontinue the feed.

Makes sense now.  The guy is getting totally bashed and can't believe he has not come forward in a defensive mode.  Would have liked to hear what his response was, whether resource, manpower, budget, or whatever issue. 

If an automatic feed, then maybe it took time to reach for an automatic Scoop posting or it is just not a timely issue for the paper. 

[The Process]

And by "Endless stream" you mean three blog posts (which, by the way, came about the same time as a post about MU merchandise sales on the rise ... another negative story)?
http://www.jsonline.com/blogs/archive/?startDate=03-01-2012&blogID=28007179&endDate=03-31-2012&archive=y
And if it's a non-story, why were there literally hundreds of posts about it here? And why was it picked up by national sites like ESPN? Seems like a story to me.

I was hoping we were past this conspiracy business.

3 stories on that topic - in a timely fashion from when things came out - is more than what we see for 99% of all other MU coverage.  Negative news, admittedly, does sell.  And a paper that is seeing its revenue drop like a brick is invariably going to try and focus on things that sells.

And how is this at all a "conspiracy?"  We're pointing out a lack of timely coverage from a paper that is almost literally in MU's back yard.  We're not saying that "Enlund and Walker are out to do a hatchet job on Marquette because Potrykus is bitter that Marquette stole Vander Blue from Madison."  That would be a conspiracy.

I don't think he posts here. We automatically receive his blog feed. And considering the responses those posts generate, it may be time to discontinue the feed.

Or make the threads locked when they automatically come out.  Just my $0.02 as a relative newcomer to Scoop posting.

[Gato78]

Potrykus covers both Badger football and basketball and often has two articles in the JS on the same day (while also posting at Badgermaniac). Enlund isn't killing himself--though perhaps the editors are the ones who don't give a crap.

[Dr. Blackheart]

The JS is part of an integrated media company.  They have never managed their assets to reach full and modern day potential.  Hell, people were ripping them on coverage for the nightclub incident, but they were two months late on that story.  Two days late on MU makes Enlund look like a Pulitzer winner.  Pay Mark Miller to post on prep and college news and be done with it.

[The Process]

The JS is part of an integrated media company.  They have never managed their assets to reach full and modern day potential.  Hell, people were ripping them on coverage for the nightclub incident, but they were two months late on that story.  Two days late on MU makes Enlund look like a Pulitzer winner.  Pay Mark Miller to post on prep and college news and be done with it.

Or heck, just have an unpaid internship every semester with MU's journalism program to publish the blog/write articles in case Enlund is too "busy."  Have one for Madison (they can work from Madison to publish their content so they can still attend classes) and one for Marquette... and I guess one for UWM (a program that people care even less about still).  Free (minus the supervisory portion) work that gives students valuable real-world experience and the paper additional means to provide coverage?  Sounds like a win-win for all.

One more thing:  Just because Enlund manages to cover things 2 days late instead of 2 months doesn't mean he should get a cookie.

[Canned Goods n Ammo]

Enlund isn't killing himself--though perhaps the editors are the ones who don't give a crap.

This.

Pay Mark Miller to post on prep and college news and be done with it.

Pay him with what? The JS is a shrinking company, and more and more assets will be used to cover items that sell papers. It's not about "fair", or "news" or even "truth". It's about covering the items that people read.

This is the same reason why ESPN spends 10,000 hours discussing Red Sox vs Yankees and not Brewers vs Cardinals.

Competition for eyes has created a vacuum where "news" organizations aren't really providing news, but rather what they think people want to read/hear. The more readers/viewers = more ad sales.

In Milwaukee, and the state of Wisco, people don't care about MU enough to warrant a real beat writer. Why pay a guy when hardly anybody cares about MU stories?

[77ncaachamps]

The way this guy is covering Marquette, I'll be surprised if the JS even staffs a blogger to cover MU.

Sad to fathom the possibility of it happening.

[Blackhat]

JS seems to think high school track will garner big numbers.

[The Process]

JS seems to think high school track will garner big numbers.

Well, parents have kids that attend high school. Many of those high schools have participants in the meet. Parents like to buy keepsakes of their kids athletics.  Maybe they're thinking that, maybe I'm over thinking the urinal yet again.

[Dr. Blackheart]

One more thing:  Just because Enlund manages to cover things 2 days late instead of 2 months doesn't mean he should get a cookie.

You should try non-teal some time

[Dr. Blackheart]

This.

Pay him with what? The JS is a shrinking company, and more and more assets will be used to cover items that sell papers. It's not about "fair", or "news" or even "truth". It's about covering the items that people read.

This is the same reason why ESPN spends 10,000 hours discussing Red Sox vs Yankees and not Brewers vs Cardinals.

Competition for eyes has created a vacuum where "news" organizations aren't really providing news, but rather what they think people want to read/hear. The more readers/viewers = more ad sales.

In Milwaukee, and the state of Wisco, people don't care about MU enough to warrant a real beat writer. Why pay a guy when hardly anybody cares about MU stories?

Ever hear of social media?  Shared content?  Mark Miller has a pay site that he appears to make a living off of (and he reports on all prep sports).  Pretty sure he would be glad to take 5 minutes to post his news to JS Online in exchange for broader exposure.  Since the JS would have no cost, it is something that other major media players call a win~in.  Heck, maybe they could even have Mark on their radio or TV assets too?  Welcome to the 21st century where speed is key.

[Texas Warrior]

It's the sign of the times for US newspapers, especially those not in major markets.  The paper in New Orleans just mentioned that they were planning on reducing to 3 print days per week.  Nobody is reading newspapers for their info like they used to.  

I am sure if the J/S had a choice between a story on a new MU recruit who only verballed and a story about anything UW-Madison, UW-Madison wins out due to sheer numbers of interested subscribers.

It's all about editorial space v. ad space.  $$

[Silkk the Shaka]

Which out-of-market papers had stories about McKay and Chew?
Note: Chicago/Illinois papers don't count on the latter, given that was as much a U of Illinois story as a Marquette story.

Sorry to burst some bubbles, but outside the hardcore fanbase (i.e. the people who inhabit sites like this), the casual fan doesn't care all that much about the verbal commitment of some JUCO kid he or she has never heard of. We may think it's significant, but it's unlikely that the average person picking up the sports page would agree. Newspapers - and all media outlets - know very well which stories drive traffic and which stories don't, and use those figures to guide coverage. If the JS editors believe Enlund's time is better spent covering the state track meet than chasing down a verbal commitment at MU, it's probably because readership numbers tell them that's so.

What's interesting is all the anger directed at Enlund. For a bunch of people who don't like his coverage, the MJS, etc., you sure seem to crave their validation that this is important news. You all found out about McKay's commitment two days ago. Why does it matter to you when the MJS gets around to covering it?

http://www.commercialappeal.com/news/2012/jun/03/marquette-holds-serve-on-local-prospect/

This is a very comprehensive post from a MEMPHIS news outlet, whose hometown team LOST the recruiting battle.  Provides a lot of nice color about past recruiting battles between Buzz and Pastner.  Compare that to Enlund's lazy article about the HOMETOWN team nabbing a HOMETOWN prize. 

I'm not saying there's a conspiracy.  I'm saying Enlund is bad at his job.

[Dr. Blackheart]

It's the sign of the times for US newspapers, especially those not in major markets.  The paper in New Orleans just mentioned that they were planning on reducing to 3 print days per week.  Nobody is reading newspapers for their info like they used to.  

I am sure if the J/S had a choice between a story on a new MU recruit who only verballed and a story about anything UW-Madison, UW-Madison wins out due to sheer numbers of interested subscribers.

It's all about editorial space v. ad space.  $$

Print media is not dead, the printed form is dead.  Ebay, Autotrader, Linked In, Facebook, Google, Trip Advisor, Quicken, Real Estate online, Job Noggin killed the printed form.  Google/Comcast, iPad, Nook, You Tube took the production costs out.  Who survives?  ESPN digital, integrated media (live viewers/reality TV), fashion boutique, travel (Conde Naste), porn.  

[LA]

The conspiracy thing is a bag of horse dung. I simply want the same coverage that we were getting from this exact paper less than a year ago.

Rosiak was so close to the program that he he would often break stories like this. There was a time when people on this site wouldn't believe news until he backed it up (which was typically within just hours of it breaking elsewhere...not days). There were times he couldn't put out a full article, but he would give us a blurb (I like to call them an Enlund) and in that post let us know that a more in depth piece would come soon. There were check ins on how are commits are doing, open gym and individual workout reports, his weekly Q&A, complete coverage of the program.

Enlund could at least put in some effort. The quotes he has on McKay from his Juco coach were probably in the press release. TR would have had quotes from McKay and most likely his high school coach or some other local bball figure.

I am not asking for much, just at least pretend he cares about the program.

[The Process]

You should try non-teal some time

Explain. I'm not the sharpest tool in the shed.

[Lennys Tap]

http://www.commercialappeal.com/news/2012/jun/03/marquette-holds-serve-on-local-prospect/

This is a very comprehensive post from a MEMPHIS news outlet, whose hometown team LOST the recruiting battle.  Provides a lot of nice color about past recruiting battles between Buzz and Pastner.  Compare that to Enlund's lazy article about the HOMETOWN team nabbing a HOMETOWN prize. 

I'm not saying there's a conspiracy.  I'm saying Enlund is bad at his job.

Game, set, match to Jamailman. Or maybe there weren't any high school track meets in Tennessee last week

[Dr. Blackheart]

Explain. I'm not the sharpest tool in the shed.

Sorry Captain.  For some of us, the lost art of sarcasm is a sacred thing.  For others, it needs to be explained using teal.  Here is a hint:  I actually agree with your point.

That said, I am a comedic legend .

[The Process]

 

Sorry Captain.  For some of us, the lost art of sarcasm is a sacred thing.  For others, it needs to be explained using teal.  Here is a hint:  I actually agree with your point.

That said, I am a comedic legend .

Oh, I'm well aware of the teal as sarcasm thing.  I used to use it on Brewerfan.net all the time.  Wasn't sure if you meant something else.  As I said... I'm a little slow

But - thanks for the explanation for those who don't get the teal thing!

EDIT:  What threw me was the fact that your comment wasn't in teal lol...

[Pakuni]

JS seems to think high school track will garner big numbers.

And they're very likely correct.

[Dawson Rental]

I don't think he posts here. We automatically receive his blog feed. And considering the responses those posts generate, it may be time to discontinue the feed.

Hey, its off season, everyone needs something to get their panties into a bunch about.

[dgies9156]

With all due respect to Tom Enlund, it's not about him. It's about story selection, editorial focus and maximizing J-S readership.

I'm as big a Warrior diehard as anyone. But I don't think the masses care about a Marquette recruiting coup in June. Same for the retention of an assistant coach. Now if this happened before or at Midnight Madness, then that's another story. For all newspapers, revenue and resources aren't there anymore. How many out-of-season Green Bay Packers stories do you see? Honestly, not a whole lot more than you do Marquette basketball stories.

The J-S is shrinking because the advertising revenue isn't there anymore. The vast majority of a profitable newspaper's revenues used to come from classified advertising -- those ads for used cars, used homes and used whatever. But when cars and homes went to the internet, so too did the extra pages in the newspaper and so too did stories in June about Marquette basketball.

The sad thing is that by themselves, neither the assistant coach, McKay's commitment or even Buzz's contract matters all that much. Taken as a whole, the story is huge.  The story is what's happening at 12th and Wisconsin. That the program as a whole is in better shape now than it has been since Al departed in 1977. In effect, Enlund is so busy counting trees he doesn't realize that he's got a sequoia forest at his nose.

Ever since Al left, I've longed to say something I can proudly say today, with confidence. Despite the Hiroshima fans on this blog, I can only say......

WE"RE BACCCCCKKKKKKK!

(P.S. -- And we soon may be better than ever!!!!!)