Okā¦ Here goesā¦ Mike, I buy 200 copies of the Observer every time there is a Niner story. If thereās not a Niner story, I cuss.
B)
For those of you that donāt know, Over40 runs a fish market as a sideline business and has a rare collection of exotic parakeets in his home. Hence the need for 200 copies of the Observer.
Yes, I do purchase occasion single copies of the Observer, even when itās not basketball season, when I come across them still in the machine at the quick stop.
Only online.
Iām a 7 day subscriber. I love the home sections on Saturday. Did I just say that out loud?
Anywayā¦ our paper delivery guy drives me insane. He has the biggest piece of shit car that idles like chitty-chitty bang bang. At least I know when itās being delivered. <_<
I subcribe on campus through the special student deal and I donāt like how it doesnāt come on āschool holidaysā. A lot of students who are from out of town and too busy to go home on breaks (possibly because of niners games) get denied their paper when these official breaks occur. I have to buy single copies at Harris Teeter and its annoying. How about yaāll only stop subscriptions on Winter Break and Maybe spring break, but please not fall break. There are so many students who hang around on fall break.
I would subscribe if I could in CT. I read it online win or lose. My Dad cuts out the Niner articles for me though.
I will reply to your question if you reply to mineā¦Why was Justin Grey featured over Curtis Withers when there are only 4990 wake alumni in Meck and the five surrounding counties. Both are native to the city and yet only one played ball here. Step up big boy,letās hear it.
[i]Originally posted by lake49er[/i]@Jul 22 2005, 09:25 AM [b] Step up big boy,let's hear it. [/b]Lake, I don't look at the alumni numbers in making every decision, so that wasn't even a factor. There are lots of fans of schools who aren't alumni but who are readers, and I'm on record as saying Charlotte could use more of them. That said, Justin Gray's move back to point guard is a better story than Curtis Withers saying, basically, he's gonna do what he does and hope he makes the team or the J.J. Redick story that was also part of the package. We made a judgment based on the quality of the material. It's not like we hid Withers presence on the team. That story had a refer above the fold on the front page and was part of a package about the tryouts. Feel free to disagree. I expect it from you anyway. And don't bother with the poll. It's a very old post.
I seem to find fewer ābreaking newsā stories in the paper these days. Most stories that I would find interesting to read I have read the day (or several days) before on the web. One of their stories (written by a staff writer) on Bobby Brownās TV show seemed to come straight from an US Weekly magazine. Niner related stories usually lag a few days to a few weeks behind the message board. But for $.50 a day itās not bad.
[i]Originally posted by lake49er[/i]@Jul 22 2005, 10:25 AM [b]Step up big boy,let's hear it. [/b]Lake,
Iām going to borrow you as an example, but Iām not singling you out.
Folks,
Whether or not we disagree with him, Mike does us a favor by making himself available to us on our board. I happen to disagree with him often on his deptās choices, but that cannot be an excuse to personally attack him here. Iād like to ask everyone to remain civil with Mike, please.
Thanks.
Iāve asked Mike this question more than once and have never received a response. Letās try one more time. Watch Mike disappear again after he reads this question.
Mike, why do you āPROMOTEā and āMARKETā the acc schools (especially unc-chapel hill) but only give the Niners the ānormal and expectedā coverage (if that) for a major hometown college team that has had at least as much success in the past 15 years than many acc schools and more success that over one third of them?
You have told us numerous times that it is not your job to promote the Niners, but you donāt mind doing just that for the acc schools.
[i]Originally posted by Over40NINER[/i]@Jul 22 2005, 10:48 AM [b] I've asked Mike this question more than once and have never received a response.ā¦
Mike, why do you āPROMOTEā and āMARKETā the acc schools (especially unc-chapel hill) but only give the Niners the ānormal and expectedā coverage
ā¦
You have told us numerous times that it is not your job to promote the Niners, but you donāt mind doing just that for the acc schools. [/b]
First, you have received a response, just not the one you want. I havenāt run from questions on this board. When Iām around, I answer them.
Second, I base our coverage on a lot of factors, promotion not among them. I try to make our paper reflect the readership, and if you canāt see that there are a ton of ACC fans in this area, youāre not paying attention. Many of them want coverage of ACC schools, so we give it to them. If you were a business with a popular product, wouldnāt you make more of it than you make of less popular products? Our product is information, and if our readership demands coverage of ACC, NASCAR, the Bobcats, the Panthers most, thatās what weāll do the most of.
So, itās not promotion, itās listening to my customers (something Iām doing here, as well). I have been around long enough to understand the market, but if you donāt listen, you canāt keep up. But itās not my job to promote anything but the Charlotte Observer. I do that by providing a general interest newspaper for the Carolinas that reflects the interests of a diverse readership. That means covering everything to its level.
If Curtis had said something astounding, heād have been on the front. He was vanilla. Still, we did a story, ran a photo, made sure he was recognized for making the trials. Now, make the team.
I think we have this discussion every summer. Iām always around to answer questions. My e-mail and phone number appear at the bottom of every post. If thatās running, well ā¦
[i]Originally posted by Mike_Persinger+Jul 22 2005, 10:46 AM-->
[b]QUOTE[/b] (Mike_Persinger @ Jul 22 2005, 10:46 AM)
[b]But it's not my job to promote anything but the Charlotte Observer. I do that by providing a general interest newspaper for the Carolinas that reflects the interests of a diverse readership. [/b]
Mr. Mike
1st of all, I will give you credit for the time spent in this forum.
2ndā¦Iād be an idiot, if I didnāt acknowledge the additional coverage given this past season towards the menās basketball program at UNC Charlotte. Hereās your attaboy 
BUTā¦throughout various discussions Iāve seen something like the reference I quoted above and I donāt agree with it. It may be something stated by someone much higher than you OR it may be your goal for the sports department.
You make it pretty clear that your sports page is to appeal to the Carolinas. My expectations of the Charlotte Observer is to provide a general interest newspaper for Charlotteā¦not the Carolinas.
When I read the Charlotte Observer sports page, I expect coverage of:
NASCAR, the Panthers, the Bobcats & the 49ers.
In my opinion, stories on these subjects should trump anything from the ACC. If I have an interest in something about an ACC school, Iāll go online and read info from the newspaper in that city.
Will someone who still reads the Observer please help me? Did ANY of the Basden info with the Bulls make page 1 of an Observer sports section. That entire story is, in my opinion, much more interesting to the Charlotte sports community than ANYTHING Felton or May have done since the NBA draft. Iām sure theyāve gotten multiple front pages.
More local stories would be nice.
Oh yea chapel hill is not local.
[i]Originally posted by SilvioDante[/i]@Jul 22 2005, 01:07 PM [b]You make it pretty clear that your sports page is to appeal to the Carolinas. My expectations of the Charlotte Observer is to provide a general interest newspaper for Charlotteā¦not the Carolinas.
When I read the Charlotte Observer sports page, I expect coverage of:
NASCAR, the Panthers, the Bobcats & the 49ers.
In my opinion, stories on these subjects should trump anything from the ACC. If I have an interest in something about an ACC school, Iāll go online and read info from the newspaper in that city.
Will someone who still reads the Observer please help me? Did ANY of the Basden info with the Bulls make page 1 of an Observer sports section. That entire story is, in my opinion, much more interesting to the Charlotte sports community than ANYTHING Felton or May have done since the NBA draft. Iām sure theyāve gotten multiple front pages. [/b]
Hereās where I finally feel comfortable jumping in. I agree with your list Silvio, for what Mike probably still calls his ācityā edition.
What I am saying is that I recognize that Mike is trying to sell interest stories to the far flung distribution points that the O reaches. But what we rarely discuss is that these areas recieve early (print) editions which vary in content from the final (local/city) edition that the O prints. I have always been disappointed that we arenāt a mainstay & a priority in that edition at least. While I realize that Mike sees numbers that suggest we be #11 or #15 or wherevr on his priority list for non-local editions, Iāve never understood why we remain in that priority spot for the local one. Why are we graced constantly with stories about Duke or Wake in the ālocalā print edition of the Observer, while the Niners are relegated to page 6?
Years ago, it was a huge pain to rebuild/reorder stories from one edition to the next. The O would have to pre-plan to move the big ones, because doing it on the fly in time for the presses was pure chaos. Maybe with technology itās gotten easier. Maybe not.
I personally donāt get the paper, Iāll purchase one only if the niners are front page of the sports sectionā¦which is hardley ever butā¦
I do see mikes point, there are more wall*mart carolina fans here then Charlotte 49er fansā¦trueā¦Iād also say there are a lot more braves fans, and yankee fansā¦or even boston red sox fans, patriot fans, then charlotte 49er fans as sad as that sounds.
So should the boston red sox get coverage over us? Noā¦and they donāt, reallyā¦should the CHAPEL HILL Tarheels get coverage over usā¦noā¦I bet ya 90 percent of Charlotte residents know where Felton, May, and Williams are playing next yearā¦but have never heard the name Eddie Basden, let alone where heās gonna end up playing, and what college he went toā¦ Is that because they dont care, no not really, its just not splattered all over the sports sectionā¦Sure Eddie wasnāt drafted, but in summer league play he shut down first round picks like Garcia, and HODGE, and in the NBA world has become a bigger name then either of thus so far.
Itās the CHARLOTTE Observer, and weāre the CHARLOTTE 49ersā¦I guess if we arnāt important enough to write about, maybe you should become the Carolinaās Observer, because your not a home town paper.
Maybe itās not that people donāt or wonāt care, maybe they just donāt know. And without the Observer, how will they?
Mike, thanks for coming on the board and answering all questions, but part of the reason the Charlotte 49ers are Charlotteās best kept secret, is because you donāt write about us. Or if you do, itās deep in the sports section.
Iām a LT supporter of the Niners and periodic visitor to this boardā¦also, I happen to work at a major newspaper (not in NC).
A few comments on this dialog:
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We are fortunate to have the sports editor from the local newspaper conversing on the board - thatās not typical from my experience. (I know many appreciate this point, but I want to highlight its uniqueness.)
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The Observer is one cog in the wheel of a public corporation expected to generate a profit -pretty high margins to boot, I believe. Iād be stunned if Mikeās performance werenāt based on a circulation objective or two like customer retention rate or ABC paid circulation.
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Iāll admit Iām not in the CLT market and am somewhat removed from the passionate argument some of you make about 49er coverage. However, I have not read a single response from Mike over the years that wasnāt consistent with the industry challenge: meeting the needs/expectations/wants of a diverse readership with a limited news holeā¦obj: retain customers, meet circulation levelā¦reach profit targets.
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If writing a daily article about the 49ers would retain more customers and grow circulation, heād do it starting tomorrow!
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A winning program will generate interest and broader demand for more coverage will follow. As some of you noted, this BB season was pretty good!
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This is a good dialog to have with the sports editor. Understand, however, there are other contingents tugging on his collar for attention too.
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I am not Mikeās mother, relative or buddyā¦just taking a quick break in the daily grind with an appreciation for this biz.
Best wishes this summer to all!
If you lived in this town and had to be force fed all acc all the time from the observer you might be singing a different tune.