Daily Sun fails to report PAC results

[Thnonne]

Pickleball players, especially those who subscribe to the Daily Sun. Let us know if you are unhappy with the fact that the Daily Sun sports dept. will not print the results of the Pickleball Advisory Committee tournaments in the paper. They will not even give the PAC rep the courtesy of an explanation why they won't print the results. Which were sent to them for the last two tournaments, which by the way were charity events. Villagers like to know what other villagers are doing. What's your opinion on this matter?

[jeffy]

Tom,

I totally agree. With Pickleball being such a popular sport here in TV it is inconceivable to me that the Sun does so little coverage. We normally have 2 full pages of softball coverage. I am sure there are many times more villagers playing pickleball each day than softball.


Come on Sun, give us some coverage.

jeffy

[foxmeadow]

In so far as the PAC (Pickleball Advisory Committee) was assembled to help the Rec Dept alleviate it's workload due to the hundreds, if not thousands, of pickleball players (old & new), maybe the they could communicate directly with the sports editor. The PAC has worked extensively in developing the monthly tournaments, in cooperation with the Recreation Department. Although those of us who have participated in these venues are appreciative of the efforts of the PAC, it would seem there still is a lack of recognition for the sport of pickleball by The Daily Sun. I would say to the Sports Editor, stop by any of the courts early mornings, or the many leagues now in play after 10 am and you might recognize why the interest in receiving newspaper coverage. If all else fails, maybe we really don't need to read the Daily Sun at all.

[canuk69]

We are at war in Iraq. We are at war in Afghanistan. Our economy is in shambles. Millions are starving around the world. 150,00 died in the Haiti earthquake. etc., etc., etc.

Just where should Softball and Pickelball fit in this scenario?

[foxmeadow]

Well, I guess you are right CANUK69, we might be better off sitting on our couch and worrying more about world affairs (for which we have no control over) than getting out and playing such a "foolish" game as softball or pickleball. On second thought, I would rather leave that to you and continue getting my excercise. By the way, the sports section of the Daily Sun is usually inside, away from all the bad news around the world; just to let us know that everything isn't ALL gloom and doom, but thanks for the reminder about all that's not good in the world.

[Bosoxfan]

We are at war in Iraq. We are at war in Afghanistan. Our economy is in shambles. Millions are starving around the world. 150,00 died in the Haiti earthquake. etc., etc., etc.

Just where should Softball and Pickelball fit in this scenario?

Wow canuck!! Hope you're taking your blood pressure meds!!

[Thnonne]

The Pickleball Advisory Committee is having another one of our monthly tournaments Feb 22nd, 25th and 26th. Let's hope the Daily Sun will see fit to print the results of this villager activity in our local paper. Let them know if you want to read about the results in "your" Daily Sun.

[bkcunningham1]

Does someone submit the results to the newspaper's sports department? Just curious. I know nothing about pickleball but I did work for newspapers for more than 25 years.

[Russ_Boston]

We are at war in Iraq. We are at war in Afghanistan. Our economy is in shambles. Millions are starving around the world. 150,00 died in the Haiti earthquake. etc., etc., etc.

Just where should Softball and Pickelball fit in this scenario?

You could interchange Irag and Afganistan with Germany and Japan and described 1941.

The point is that sports has and always will fill a role in the lives of Americans. To not report on a sport as popular in TV as pickleball is just odd.

[bkcunningham1]

Not including the editorial page, each day there is a limited amount of space a newspaper reserves for content like news, sports, press releases, human interest stories etc. This "news hole" changes daily based on the amount of advertising the advertising staff has sold for that edition. The sports editor doesn't know how much space he has until the day he is putting out the edition. (Newspaper staff works on Tuesday's edition on Monday, for example) With the number of clubs and organizations in The Villages; I can't imagine how the Daily Sun could possibly put in all of the scores, club news, happenings...

You are going to have to really lobby your cause with the sports editor, the executive editor and/or the publisher to have scores put in when they have space. Ask how you can present the information to make it the easiest for the sports department to get into the paper. Hope this helps. I have other suggestions if you are interested.

[tony]

Why not submit the results for publication here on Talk of The Villages?

That could be a good start.

[Thnonne]

To answer bkcunningham, the info was emailed to the sports editor as requested and the results of the Nov tourney was printed, but when sent the results of both the Dec and Jan tourneys nothing was printed. A reason was requested and the sports editor chose not to explain why those results were not printed. Softball, golf, bowling, and shuffleboard results, which require much more space than the pickleball results, are printed on a regular basis (daily, weekly), the pickleball tournaments are monthly. Seems to me a once a month "news hole" is not too much to ask for, nor is the common courtesy of an explanation not too much to ask for?

[zcaveman]

Maybe some should go down to the Daily Sun and talk to the Sports editor to see what can be done.

I have sent several inquiries to the Daily Sun and some of the editors do not answer emails. Others do.

[bkcunningham1]

I would write a letter. Two hard copy letters (not an email) addressed to the publisher and copied to the executive editor. Politely explain your points and explain the nonresponsiveness from the sports editor and others in the newsroom to solve this small snafu. Unless you pay for an advertisement, a newspaper doesn't have to print anything BUT they do need customers in order to keep advertisers. I'd include in my letter the fact that you are a member of this forum and how many people view this site. I'd say in my letter that the issue is being discussed here. But first I'd explain that you buy the newspaper, as do many of the other pickleball enthusiasts, and you know the newspaper would hate to lose subscriptions or single issue sales because of something that can be worked out. Just my very humble opinion. B.K.

[jeffy]

Not including the editorial page, each day there is a limited amount of space a newspaper reserves for content like news, sports, press releases, human interest stories etc. This "news hole" changes daily based on the amount of advertising the advertising staff has sold for that edition. The sports editor doesn't know how much space he has until the day he is putting out the edition. (Newspaper staff works on Tuesday's edition on Monday, for example) With the number of clubs and organizations in The Villages; I can't imagine how the Daily Sun could possibly put in all of the scores, club news, happenings...

You are going to have to really lobby your cause with the sports editor, the executive editor and/or the publisher to have scores put in when they have space. Ask how you can present the information to make it the easiest for the sports department to get into the paper. Hope this helps. I have other suggestions if you are interested.

I think that the major point is why is there 2 full pages of softball coverage 5 days a week and Pickleball, which i can guarantee has many more participants on a daily basis, cant even get a single paragraph on the results of a monthly tournament. I believe that the powers that be at the Sun do not realize how big Pickleball is. Nothing wrong with softball but there should be some parady in how many participate or have and interest in what is going on in them.

Jeff

[Midge538]

why is there 2 full pages of softball coverage 5 days a week and Pickleball, which i can guarantee has many more participants on a daily basis, cant even get a single paragraph on the results of a monthly tournament.
And why is there soooooo much highschool sports page coverage of Wildwood and South Sumter etc. rather than our local pickleball ... "they have their reasons."

[Talk Host]

Unless you pay for an advertisement, a newspaper doesn't have to print anything

Talk of the Villages use to be a semi regular advertiser in the Villages Daily Sun. Suddenly, one day, we got a call from our sales rep saying, "we decline to accept your advertising." I called the sales manager and he said, "we decline to accept your adverting." I called the executive editor and he said, "we decline to accept your advertising. I called the publisher and didn't get a return call.

So, the newspaper doesn't have to print anything they don't want to.

BTW Talk of The Villages reserves the right to decline certain advertising as well. However, in our case, we tell the prospective customer "why" we made that decision. The newspaper doesn't do that.

It's their newspaper and they can do with it what ever they please.

[REH7380]

The developer runs the policy and practices of the newspaper. It would be
better to write to them since nothing happens on the Villages radio, Television or newspaper without the developer's authorization or approval. People tend to look at these as "independent" media but that is far from the facts. Like the VHA it is, like all other media in The Villages controlled by the Developer. An exception to this rule is the POA which is not under the developer's control. I am not putting any value on this just that it should be clarified and understood.:mornincoffee:

[Bucco]

Talk of the Villages use to be a semi regular advertiser in the Villages Daily Sun. Suddenly, one day, we got a call from our sales rep saying, "we decline to accept your advertising." I called the sales manager and he said, "we decline to accept your adverting." I called the executive editor and he said, "we decline to accept your advertising. I called the publisher and didn't get a return call.

So, the newspaper doesn't have to print anything they don't want to.

BTW Talk of The Villages reserves the right to decline certain advertising as well. However, in our case, we tell the prospective customer "why" we made that decision. The newspaper doesn't do that.

It's their newspaper and they can do with it what ever they please.

Same policy applies to the New York Times, Washington Post, Washington Times, etc !!

[Thnonne]

Today the results of the PAC Dec and Jan tournaments appeared in the sports section (2 months and 1 month later), hopefully the sports editor will print the Feb results when they are current, in Feb.

[Pturner]

Talk of the Villages use to be a semi regular advertiser in the Villages Daily Sun. Suddenly, one day, we got a call from our sales rep saying, "we decline to accept your advertising." I called the sales manager and he said, "we decline to accept your adverting." I called the executive editor and he said, "we decline to accept your advertising. I called the publisher and didn't get a return call.

So, the newspaper doesn't have to print anything they don't want to.

BTW Talk of The Villages reserves the right to decline certain advertising as well. However, in our case, we tell the prospective customer "why" we made that decision. The newspaper doesn't do that.

It's their newspaper and they can do with it what ever they please.

Wow, that's impressive. They consider you a significant enough competitor to turn away your ads! That is quite a compliment and quite an accomplishment. A part of you must have been really proud, no?
:clap2: