Rick V Responds to the Daily

[Cerebus]

RV responded to the Chris Simms article on the NT Daily.

First let me say that I really like the new format of the paper. I also want to thank the staff for covering athletics so thoroughly in a very diverse layout. However this story doesn't belong in this paper. Why should we be imploring Texas fans to leave Chris Sims alone? Brandon Kennedy was selected Defensive player of the Week for a great defensive effort against Mr. Sims on Saturday but we chose to highlight the QB from another team. I'll bet they're wasn't a story on Brandon in the Texas school paper. I'm not trying to dictate content, as we will take the good with the bad. I'm only suggesting that we should be covering our own successes and not tooting the horn for any other schools. That's what their newspapers are for! Just my opinion.

Rick Villarreal

RickV@unt.edu

Director of Athletics

link

We all need to make our voices heard, especially the current students who are the intended audience of the NT Daily. Here are a few people you might want to contact:

Sports Editor: sports@ntdaily.com

Chief Editor: editor@ntdaily.com

Writer: bdibley@ntdaily.com

Be civil in your responses!. These are NT students, and we just want to inform them that we want more North Texas coverage in the paper.

[Guest Chief]

It's no wonder it's difficult to generate support for the program in Denton. I simply cannot believe the North Texas Daily would publish a pro-Texas article, especially after the outstanding effort the Mean Green defense put forth against three potential Heisman candidates and a talented offensive unit. What a shame. If I ever meet any of the editors, I'll give 'em a piece of my mind, UNT student or not.

Other quality schools in this great state would not put up with something of this magnitude. There's no way a Texas newspaper would print such a one-sided article about Oklahoma's Hybel or Griffin. Trust me, heads would role.

All coverage in the NT Daily should soley be about North Texas - nothing or noone else.

Wake up, people!

Go Mean Green.

[Guest Chief]

What a poor excuse for a reporter you are. Here we are, a struggling 1-A school pulling all the strings to generate local support, and you go and write an article about Chris Sims. And you call yourself a writer?

Why don't you try writing an article about how the Mean Green defense gave up only 214 total yards to the #3 ranked offense in the nation? Or how about how North Texas held Heisman hopeful Cedric Benson to 48 yards rushing all night? What about how the entire Texas offense was, in effect, stifled by one man, Sunbelt Defensive Player of the Week Brandon Kennedy? Or how Sims was Sacked six times? Six!

No, you'd rather kiss Chris Sim's rump. What an imbecile. I hope I run into you this Saturday night...please, please wear a badge or something so I can recognize you. You should be removed from the staff immediately.

[GrayEagle]

Chief, I agree with you and RV about ignoring your own school to write about an opponent. Pregame mention of outstanding players and statistics or synopses of opponents accomplishments are fine but postgame should be about those from your own school and their efforts (or lack thereof).

I do draw the line at calling the writer or sports editor an imbecile. We have received more better-written and favorable articles this year in comparison to last. I look at this as just a case of not being aware of the protocol. I doubt that you'll find the chief editor extolling the virtues of the Daily Texan, the Lass-o, or any other student-run newspaper. Imbecile indicates a lack of intelligence and I don't think that's the case here.

Everyone's entitled to a mistake or two. We just need to point them out. Then, if they continue, get on with the harsher words.

[GreenGeek]

While an English major at North Texas, I learned what I consider the most important rule of writing (which this NT daily writer has obviously not gotton). The rule is:

Always consider your audience!

You wouldn't want to write an esoteric essay on why Barney is purple for your company newsletter. Likewise, don't write an article pumping up how great Simms is for the NT Daily!

[shaneb]

Classy responses guys. Sure to get a positive response from the author. If you any of you had half a clue about how the media works you would get much further in your efforts.

However, I am sick of trying to explain it. Think what you will and good luck getting ANY good coverage for the things that you do or support.

SeeYa,

Shane

[MGW]

Insults aside, I think Shane's point is good. ... catch more flies with honey... yada yada yada.

[UNT96]

I don't know... What is the motivating factor for the article? Why? How does it pertain to NT and the game at hand. What writer writes about the player of the opponent 4 days after the game is over unless his intentions are to subtly degrade his own school?

I love RV. There has not been an AD since Hayden that would have had the balls to call someone out on this. I applaud RV for standing up for his dept, his coach, and his team.

As far as the writer and the politics of articles. You are not the only one on this board that has written for a paper. The sports editor (a paid University employee) has final say on what to publish and 99% of the time points the writer towards what subject he/she wants to cover. That is just the way it works. Sometimes advertising comes in to play but in the case of the Daily they are separate (a good thing). The fact this piece made it into the paper with so much more to cover (including the upcoming game) shows the editor's disposition and attitude towards UNT Football.

I have yet to see one article in the Daily about the Kids Korner (the DRC covered it but that's it). Considering the fact that there will be 1000 kids paid for by UNT fans cheering on the game at hand, eating a free hot dog, and drinking a free coke; you would think that they could at least give it a snippet rather than talk about how great Simms was after getting sacked 6 times by a Sun Belt team (the most he has been sacked by any team in the country).

Come on Shane, you are a Daily supporter; but you should be pissed. You should be writing in as an alumnus and asking for their rational on this BS. You are right, the posters on this board do not know the politics of a paper (and they are different at every single paper) but they do know a rat when they smell (or read) one and this writer insulted our team, his own school, and our intelligence. Things like this have to be called out. You can't just let them go. If you want to become the official editor for complaint letters from here out than I am sure that there would be no complaints but I doubt you want to mess with that.

Hope to see you at the tailgate party. We all want the same thing... I just wish that the sports editor of the Daily did, too. Damn, I miss Jen Bissett. A true fan, with well researched articles, that was absolutely proud of UNT and has an untouchable devotion to promoting the positives when they are clearly in front of her.

As for RV, the Daily screwed him last year with the vote with inaccurate reporting and "timing" that could not have been planned better to shoot down the fee increase. What in the hell do they have to do to try and get a semester of support out of these guys? Beat Notre Dame? I seriously believe that for some people even that wouldn't be enough.

[GreenFlag]

May I suggest a great read? "Having Half A Clue How The Media Works You Bunch Of Dumbasses" by shaneb. It is a follow up to his hugely successful "How To Piss People Off And Alienate Them As Well."

shaneb, your posts have a remarkably similar tone to the e-mail to the writer had. Both could be more constructive and more effective as well.

How about being a leader in that arena shaneb? How about a well worded response posted here so those with "less than half a clue" can pattern their own reaction?

[SilverEagle]

Shaneb,

I agree that "imbecile" and other negative words are an inappropriate reaction to the article. I understand the frustration behind those comments however. Ever since Hayden Fry left, I have watched North Texas be ignored, misrepresented, trivialized, and just generally made the butt of the local media's jokes....... with no one holding them accountable for it.

I understand completely what this young man was doing. He was writing what he thought was a fair analytical piece that will go in his portfolio. He will show this to some editor where he is applying for a job, to demonstrate how truely "professional" and "balanced" he is.

I think that his timing was not exactly ideal, but again, I do understand his motivation.

Now. Having said all that, I will also say that there are more than enough "media" people, both paid, and on staff at the UT paper, that will fall all over themselves to "fawn" and "pander" to the mighty UT sports ego that Chris Simms represents.

I hope that the young man writing the article isn't fooling himself into thinking that all the Texas fans out there are taking his analysis to heart, or even care about his opinion for that matter.

His writing about what he considers to be an unfair reaction by the Texas fans to Chris Simm's performance, only serves to (once again) trivialize our team's efforts.

I don't think you have a clue about how frustrating that situation is to us long standing (and long suffering) North Texas fans. Schools like Texas and Oklahoma, Notre Dame etc. etc. etc. adnauseam, have media people writing an article, or putting a "note" in the sports section of every newspaper, any time some athlete on those above mentioned schools so much as gets a hangnail, or passes gas. It distresses me when our (alleged) "professionals in training" at the Daily choose to join that common herd of media people.

"However, I am sick of trying to explain it. "

Shaneb, don't give up. Just try to be less condescending in your explainations.

[MeanGreenSig]

Shane,

I don't want to alienate fellow Shreveport Alumand foward to having a brew with you, but you are a recent graduate and I like you and most, right out of college had the highest expectations, and Ideals, and that should be commended. Like most of my fellow alums who have been humpin it a while (at the risk of sounding negative and jaded) the reality is their are many in your profession and every profession that do not share your high ideals and moral ground, I can guarantee that! Please do not assume everyone in journalism (or any thing) shares your ideals, they do not. Living up to one's ideal of journalistic integrity IMHO has never been the goal of the NT Daily as long as I remember,and everyone makes mistakes (Recent article in Shreveport Times regarding downtown shooting incedent, if rumors are true). I guess the point is do not take something at face value just because it should be that way! OR just because it appeared in a newspaper does not make it accurate! for that matter what kind of regulation or peer reveiw does jounalism have? answer none ( I know you might say the editor, etc, but who is checking Him/Her?)

GMG!

[FirefightnRick]

Great job RV. Man you just have to love the guy. As for some of our Daily people, ex or present, I'll just once again bite the inside of my cheek and laugh at the images I have of them tucked away in my mind.

Rick

[the green rokemi]

Well the writer forgot two points about Simms in the article...1) he took the sack (seven of them) instead of throwing the ball away...2) after the game he whined about how mean our defense was....Our school is trying to convince the world that we can hang with the top dogs and not be bottom feeders, by writing this article it looks like we were so lucky to play Texas and that it was a privelage to play them and that we are just in awe that we even set foot on the same field as Simms, well excuse me, Simms was just lucky we didn't knock him out of the game...

[shaneb]

The Kids Korner is NOT a good example.

DO A SEARCH. I emplored people to call my girlfriend, who at the time was the summer managing editor and now is a working press alumna.

NOONE EVER CALLED, NOONE WROTE. I PM'd people, I begged them to write or call. I said I thought it was a great story and the Daily wanted to do an article on it. For one week, the last week of the summer paper, the Daily waited to hear something having no clue how to contact you guys. NO CALL!!!! One of you that I messaged knows her personally. So don't talk about them not covering Kid's Korner.

The paper is not owned by the university. The editors, writers etc are NOT university employees. Pay attention, do some research, learn the basics of how journalists do their job and you will get much farther in life. Even RickV states that he is not trying to control content (BECAUSE HE CAN'T) but is displeased with the choice of the article. He states his reasoning and leaves it at that. If you TRY to tell the paper what to run, or if you tell them how to do their job, your letter will end up in the trash, no matter how good the rest of your points are.

I am sorry that many of you think that the journalism world is out to get you. If this is truly the case, you have a long miserable life ahead of you. And as I have said before, if you want to live someplace where the govt controls the media, I hear Facist Italy was a nice place or maybe prewar Afganistan? Nazi Germany? South Africa? Columbia? Cuba? You get the idea?

For the last two weeks all I hear about is how good a job the staff is doing all I hear about is that they are writing articles that you enjoy reading.

Then a kid decides to write ONE article about a quarterback's perfomance against us and suddenly they are all back to moron status?

Come on guys, I agree with Rick V's comments, and I agree with fact that there are other things that the writer could have written about. I did call and leave a message about it. I do call often and speak with the photo staff about things I saw (good and bad) in the paper. And I will continue to.

Be insulted if you please, but I truly belive that 99% of you are disgruntled because you haven't a clue (I didn't call anyone clueless in life in general) about how to deal with the media. Its ok, its probably not your job. There are millons of people who do exactly that. They are called PR flaqs and many are trained by the NT journalism Dept.

But I can tell you this......... Whatever good was done from RickV's letter was undone by the letters posted on this board.

MeanGreenSig, I might be a recent graduate, but I am not young in my profession, I have more experience with papers than most any photographer who has grad'd NT in the last three years. I spent 3 years with the Dallas Morning News on the Metro and Photo desks, I interned at the Roanoke Times in Roanoke VA, I worked for a small paper in East Texas called the Marshall News Messenger as a chief photographer, and now I am on staff at The Times in Shreveport. I have won several awards and have been edited and taught by the best in the business (ie three time Pulitzer Prize winner William Snyder and builder of the DMN photo dept John Davidson) I have some clue about how the journalism world works and on top of that I personally know the kid who these people are tearing apart. He is a good kid and will make a great journalist.

SilverEagle, I see the same things. And I am sorry that we have had to deal with them. I don't think its fair, but you will find that those jokes and prods come mostly from TV and Radio, a whole different form of media all together and a bunch of bastrads to boot! They play by different rules and I do not claim them as my brethern

But the simple, hard to swallow fact of the matter is that NT (and much as I love em) has not accomplished the things that OU UT ATM ND and the other schools that are regularly on the front cover. When they do, I am sure that they will warrant that kind of coverage. They also don't have nearly the fan base.

Seeya,

Shane

[DallasGreen]

If the paper publishes good things about a program because of its accomplishments and large following, DMN has sure gotten outside the box in its coverage of SMU. A two page spread chronicling the coach's game day after losing miserably to arguably the worst team in D-1 shows that there are journalists who write about the hometown boys no matter what.

[Eagle-96]

"Pay attention, do some research, learn the basics of how journalists do their job and you will get much farther in life. "

I don't care how the"Journalism World" works. We don't need to be journalistic experts to write a response to a paper, just as you don't have to be a football coach to comment on a game.

"And as I have said before, if you want to live someplace where the govt controls the media, I hear Facist Italy was a nice place or maybe prewar Afganistan? Nazi Germany? South Africa? Columbia? Cuba? You get the idea?"

We ARE trying to control the media. If a publication prints an article that you disagree with, you tell that publication your feelings. If enough people voice that same opinon then the publication, if it is smart, makes changes. Guess what, papers don't print articles to make themselves feel all warm and fuzzy. They print articles to gain readership to in turn gain sponsors and sell ads to generate a profit(papers in general).

"But I can tell you this......... Whatever good was done from RickV's letter was undone by the letters posted on this board"

If that is the stance that the Daily takes, then our comments about them seem pretty accurate. The Daily would be a bunch of third graders if they acted in this manner(no offense to third graders).

"Be insulted if you please, but I truly belive that 99% of you are disgruntled because you haven't a clue (I didn't call anyone clueless in life in general) about how to deal with the media. "

Once again, it aint rocket science.

"But the simple, hard to swallow fact of the matter is that NT (and much as I love em) has not accomplished the things that OU UT ATM ND and the other schools that are regularly on the front cover. When they do, I am sure that they will warrant that kind of coverage. They also don't have nearly the fan base. "

We can agree on one thing.

GMG!!!!

BEAT nicholls!!!!

[shaneb]

I didn't say that you can't try to influence the media. My comment was towards those who feel like the University (IE the govt) should control the "rougue" journalists at the Daily (IE the Media) and make them write nice things about the school (IE the govt) Got It?

The DMN does write more about SMU, just as the Daily and the DRC write more about NT. My comments were directed towards those who are angry because Dallas and FW don't write as much about NT as they do about UT/OU/ATM etc. We are not their "hometown boys" Keep that in mind.

You don't have to be journalistic experts. But realize that you also can't MAKE the paper write about anything by telling them that they should or insulting their intellegence. They will shut you down every time. INSTEAD, convice them that your story is worth writing about. Provide them with contacts and help them know something about the subject (not so nessesary with sports.)

Seeya,

Shane

[MeanGreen61]

The North Texas Daily is the newspaper of UNT and not UT. Cut it, slice it or dice it any way that you wish an article singing the praises of UT quarterback Chris Simms is STUPID JOURNALISM.

I wonder what the response would be if a lead article was published on the UT band instead of the Green Brigade following performances by both.

Two simple words that eludes many so called journalist are COMMON SENSE.

Shaneb please take your lengthy lectures somewhere else.

[shaneb]

MeanGreen61,

I will tell you the same thing I have said about the Daily. Don't like it? Don't read it.

If the article was the only article published? I would be pissed. But if a review of the UT band was published with a review of the NT band? I wouldn't have a problem with it if we had just played them. Comnon sense sounds about right to me.

Seeya,

Shane

[Reb UT '70]

When I posted my thoughts on that article on Simms I added a PS because the spell checker did not highlight UT but did UNT. To me that is symptomatic of the problem.

I agree with much of what Shane wrote, most of us don't understand the media, it is a strange mix of business and knight errant with a dash of the kid who likes to stir up an ant bed just to see what happens.

However there is a lot of room between a government controlled press and a our ?free? press that has shut its ears to criticism. Every charge or criticism is not an assault on the first amendment. There are serious problem in the media right now and they center around balance and fairness. Since the media loves to lecture everyone on how things should be fair and balanced, I find it interesting how hostile they are to a lecture from anyone else.

[shaneb]

If fair and ballanced is not publishing an article about a player that we just played, I would be hostile too.

My comments, again, were directed towards those who think that the university should step in and "control" the Daily. That would indeed be a direct relationship with Fascist Italy.

Remember to seperate the TV/Radio media from the papers. They really do play by a different set of rules. IE, it is an accepted practice to set-up and manipulate shots in TV (other than portraits) in print media, you lose your job for that. TV/Radio media mix editorial (opinions) with news much more freely than print.

Seeya,

Shane

[MGW]

Shaneb, remember what FDR said... an intelligent man is one who never uses two words when one will do.

While the excess verbage of your posts cloud your point, your insults and assumptions about the people who avidly follow this program are quite off base. I try not to post anything that I would not say to someone's face. All the people on this board that I respect do the same.

That said, I think your initial point was good and requires no specialized knowledge into the world of media: catch more flies with honey... yada yada yada

[shaneb]

I would say anything that I have said here to anyone's face I am not ashamed of my opinions or my support or the Daily. Find me at a game sometime.

[MeanGreenSig]

Shane,

Sorry if you misunderstood, I did not mean to question your credentials, I am impressed and proud that an alum from NT is doing so well. That said you catch more flies with honey, try not to be so defensive. The bottom line is: If the daily had to rely only on subscriptions to survive they would be bankrupt.

No matter what anyone wants to believe if you do not write or sell to your audience you do not make money. I would not pay a cent to read a UNT related Pub that consistently published articles I felt were unrelated to UNT or I believed were not in the University's best interests(wrong or right).

IMHO your a little bit extreme comparing someone who does not agree with your views to Nazis, etc.

Two more questions: Why do the majority of UNT Daily writers tend to be anti football? Does writing articles that have nothing to with the status quo somehow put you on higher moral ground?

I don't buy into the fair and balanced argument I have read the daily many years, who are you trying to kid?

Some Examples:

I am an Financial Advisor it amazes me how the financial media is about them not you. CNBC has more useless BS than any thing I have ever seen they follow whatever is hot at the moment (BTW,that is not how you build wealth). I saw a study recently that looked at Money Mags top mutual fund picks for a 5 yr period if you bought when they said buy you lost money(in a good mkt at the time) if you did the opposite of what they said you beat the market. Where is the fair balanced reporting there? it is all about selling subs and ads not truely helping anyone. Sorry these are the facts, I could give you infinite examples if you like.

GMG!

[OXatUNT]

I'm Proud of RV it's about time our School Officials look like they support our sports programs. If this continues we will have the school spirit we all want and believe we should have.

As for the comment that shane stated about popularity I think that's BS. Here in Houston the Chronicle covers every Division 1 and 2 Texas College Football team except North Texas. In fact there slant on the UT game was almost exactly how the NTD's article read. Praise about how well the UT defense did and how poor their offense was in the second half. There was nothing as to why except that the UT offense couldnt get it together. It's like they didn't even play agains us. The only place we were mentioned was in the Box scores. I think this is why everyone is so pissed off..... I know I am.

Can't we all just get along....?