Welcome to the weekly reader feedback feature on the blog, and in honor of Labor Day my question this week deals more with how I do my job, rather than directly with the Silvertips.
During training camp I experimented with a new tool for live blogging, and it seemed to be pretty popular with the readers. So I’m considering other situations in which that tool would be useful.
Well, what about games?
First off, I will NOT be live blogging from any games I attend in person as a reporter. There’s several reasons for this:
1) Conducting a live blog requires me to pay a lot of attention to the computer screen. In doing so it’s inevitable I’m going to miss something, particularly in a fast-paced sport like hockey. When I’m watching training camp scrimmages that I’m not specifically writing about for the paper, missing something isn’t a big deal. But when I’m covering a game, that can’t happen.
2) When covering a game I’m working on a tight deadline as my stories (with box score) need to be completed by 10:45 p.m. Therefore, I try to finish whatever writing I can during the free moments, particularly between periods. Live blogging would cut into that time and make meeting deadline very difficult.
3) I’m suspect many of the people who would be interested in following a live blog would be at the game themselves, anyway.
That means home games, as well as those played in Seattle, are out. But what about the rest? Granted, I’d just be working off an internet video feed, which is something everyone has access to, so it’s not like I’d be able to provide much in the way of unique content. But what it could become is a way to form a community environment during the road games, maybe more like a chat session where everyone interacts and provides imput.
So here’s my proposal. I want to know if people would be interested in this during road games, and I want to know if people would participate in the conversation. If I get enough positive response I might give it a try during Everett’s game at Vancouver on Sept. 19, and if that goes well we’ll see about future possibilities.
Anyway, here’s your chance to have your say. As always, comments are welcome:
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
