Monday, June 23, 2008
Al Diamon
Pain – or Public Relations – Management?
(page 1 of 3)
Hurting unit: Rebekah Metzler, a reporter for the Lewiston Sun Journal, was seriously injured on June 19 at the Lost Valley Ski Resort in Auburn, while taking a ride in the “Zorb,” a huge plastic ball that’s supposed to roll down mountainsides with people strapped inside.
Metzler’s credibility may also have taken a hit.
Metzler was supposed to try out the ride and write a story, but while she was inside the orb, it hit a post, bounced in the air and landed hard enough to fracture her back. She was hospitalized, and there have been no recent reports on her condition. But before she went silent, Metzler contributed several quotes to a June 20 Sun Journal story.
“I wouldn’t want this incident to become a black cloud over the Zorb,” she said. “I think if things are done correctly, it’s safe.”
There’s more: According to the story, she thought operation of the attraction was “more relaxed” for her unfortunate run than it would be for the public. “I think there’d be more vigilance if they were doing this for the public,” she said. “I don’t think they were doing all the things they needed to be doing to make it safe.”
And this: “I think if the concern level is there,” she said, “it’s going to be pretty safe.”
I don’t understand – and the story doesn’t explain – how Metzler came to those conclusions or why she even got in the sphere if she thought it hadn’t been properly prepared. Maybe those quotes were the painkillers talking. Or maybe she’s confused about the roles of journalism and public relations. Whatever the cause, making excuses for Lost Valley and the Zorb seemed odd.
It seemed even odder on June 21, when the Sun Journal reported the ski area had failed to obtain a state permit and safety inspection before operating the attraction, and the Zorb’s owner may not have had permission from the New Zealand creator of the concept to use the Zorb name.
Lawsuits aplenty on the way. No doubt the defense for all involved will be calling Metzler as a witness.
Limping unit: What do you do when revenue and readership at your newspaper are both in sharp decline? You offer readers less for their money.
Well, maybe you don’t, but that’s what the Portland Press Herald and Maine Sunday Telegram are doing.
According to a June 22 column by editorial page editor John Porter called “Cost-cutting won’t undermine our mission,” cost-cutting will undermine their mission. Assuming their mission is to be a good local newspaper.
To save money, the papers are dropping long-time Sunday columnist Nancy Grape and replacing her with columns submitted by readers – that is, columns the Telegram doesn’t have to pay for. Local editorial cartoons are also taking a major hit. Mike Prevost, whose work appeared every other Thursday, is history. Steve Meyers has been cut from three drawings a week to just one.
Posted on Monday, June 23, 2008 in Permalink
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Reader Comments:
Thanks for picking up on the Zorb coverage. It's unfortunate that the reporter was injured. Equally unfortunate has been the Sun-Journal's handling of the whole mess.
It's clear that management never checked out the alleged rogue Zorb operator before telling a reporter to strap herself into a giant (and, according to her, improperly inflated) ball to be rolled at high speed down a hillside. The company's website is laughably amateur, for starters.
But instead of asking editors whether they performed due diligence, the Sun-Journal's coverage has focused on whether said rogue had obtained the appropriate state permit. Surely a legitimate question, but why not ask the obvious one first: Didn't editors assume some risk when they asked the reporter to take this assignment? Just what did they know about this company and what precautions it would take, if any?
Equally puzzling was a story in Sunday's paper in which said rogue told reporters he had "legal rights" to use the name "Zorb." Yet they never questioned him about where or how he obtained those rights, even as the original company's rep told the reporters that the rogue was not licensed to use the Zorb name. No sense of curiosity, apparently.
Hilarious, though, was the executive editor's comment that reporters take "risks" in their line of work. I equate reporterial risks with war correspondents, covering organized crime, etc. Strapping yourself into an uninflated ball and being rolled down a hill isn't a risk. It's just a stunt -- and one that was billed as "the wildest ride of your life" at that.
So let's see: We've apparently got homeless people camped out en mass along the Little Androscoggin being flushed out by police following last week's murder. Where are they going? A new state report says Lewiston's Somali population has little steady employment due to language barriers (or so reports the Twin City Times). Hey, at least we can turn to the Sun-Journal for Zorb coverage. Such as it is.
Wasn't Metzler hired to be the Sun Journal's statehouse reporter? Does anybody know how many legislators were in that Zorb with her?