PIZ Posted January 5, 2018 Share Posted January 5, 2018 Are regular people posting stuff like this? http://buffalonews.com/2018/01/04/letter-watson-was-way-off-base-in-column-about-the-bills/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MJS Posted January 5, 2018 Share Posted January 5, 2018 16 hours ago, stony said: So you point out that you enjoy Vic and TG. Both of whom write numerous articles/columns weekly that you presumably enjoy. But you're not going to pay $2.99/mo because you didn't like one article. You're a moron. It's very easy to understand why. It sounds like you are the "moron". You don't have to agree, but it is pretty simple and understandable why he feels that way. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BringBackFlutie Posted January 5, 2018 Share Posted January 5, 2018 (edited) I wonder if the children with severe/terminal illnesses being helped by the Andy Dalton Foundation want us to go away. I guess they'll just have to deal. We have real-life problems to worry about. Edited January 5, 2018 by BringBackFlutie Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Plunge Posted January 5, 2018 Author Share Posted January 5, 2018 55 minutes ago, JoshBarnett said: Sorry I did not see myself tagged earlier in this thread. ... Someone referenced earlier in the thread that the email would be read by a junior level assistant and discarded. Let me assure you that is not the case. I've read, our managing editor has read it, our editor has read it, among others in the newsroom. We all appreciate the tone and your points and the way you made them. Just for clarity, let me say that I am not speaking on behalf of the management of the Buffalo News or Rod or anyone else. I'm just a guy who has been doing this a while in other places and someone who has great respect for my colleagues in this newsroom over the last few months. While some of you think I am just a shill for the News based on some of my other posts, I have tried to be as available to the readership and the fan base as I possibly can. We might disagree but I always listen. So here I am on this issue. (I will await being pilloried.) Rod is the metro columnist in the same manner as Sean Kirst, who has been effusive in his praise for Bills fans and has another column coming later today sharing many great stories of excited Bills fans. I am sure Rod had conversations with his editor about this column and what he wanted to say and the way he wanted to say it in the same way that I have conversations with Bucky and Sully. It's part of the editor-writer dynamic. Perhaps we should have made the distinction clear that Rod is not a sports columnist -- don't know that would have mattered. Perhaps we should have not put it on the sports or Blitz pages online. It ran in the metro section in print. But one thing we have to believe in is the diversity of voices. One person is less enthused than everybody else seems to be, and that's OK. I don't agree with him, but what type of organization would be if we refused to publish a meager 18 inches -- representing less than one-half of one percent of what we have done on the Bills -- because it is contrarian. 1 I can't tell you how much I appreciate this response Josh. For the record, I was not one who thought the letter would go unanswered. I also recognize, as I said in the letter, how difficult it must be to manage a newspaper these days. Our society has become incredibly divisive, and as a result, you can't print anything now without offending someone. I hate to be "that guy" who's easily offended, but I felt this needed to be addressed. I was aware that Rod is not a sports columnist. And one of the other posters on this thread mentioned that he suspects this was more of a "final straw" for me. He's partially right. Without naming names, some of the people who write for the sports section seem to like to focus on the negative aspects of things. And whether they're right or wrong in the approach, it's hard for Bills fans to read sometimes. The Bills get slagged by the national media enough, it hurts more when it comes from someone in your local market. I recognize that this isn't a fair comment. It's your JOB to have a take. And the last 18 years have been hard. So I'm not complaining about it. Just stating that the other comment made in this thread is partially right. My letter was driven partially by emotion. I tried my best to not let emotion dictate my tone, but it was certainly there. The last thing I'll say is this. You commented that we have to believe in diversity of voices. And I agree. But we also need to have some common sense. I 100% support someone's right to be a contrarian. But it doesn't mean I have to like it. Take any topic, sports, politics, etc...there will always be multiple views. The article written by Mr. Watson was a deliberate attempt to piss people off. And that just isn't cool, in my mind. You want to publish an article like that at a different time of the year? Fine. But why do it when emotions are already so high? When Bills fans are elated, for the first time in almost two decades? I think, Josh, what I'm saying is someone in the editing department maybe should've weighed the risk vs the reward on this one. Does this mean you're sensoring him? No. But maybe a conversation around "What exactly are you trying to accomplish here Rod" and "Do you really think this is the best way to get what you want to get across here?" would've been appropriate. I mean, he didn't even mention the money that was raised for the Dalton Charity in the article. He just comes across like a grumpy old man shaking his cane at people walking on his sidewalk. I don't want this to come across as "preachy". And I certainly don't want to talk to you about how to do your job. That would be completely inappropriate. But in this society, people are very reluctant to ever admit a mistake. And based on the response to this article, I think we can all agree that it didn't add anything positive to your paper, the city you write for, or the fan base of the team. I'm thrilled that you are doing an all Bills section this week. I'd expect nothing less! Josh, again, thank you for your response. I am very appreciative. I wrote the letter because I wanted you and your newspaper to know that while you have the right to publish anything you want. You have the right to have any take that you want - positive, negative, contrarian or whatever. But you also need to know that there are consequences to those choices. And we, as readers, have the right to do what WE want to. That article was very insulting to a lot of people and many will vote with their dollar. That's why I wrote it. I just didn't want that to be lost on anyone at the Buffalo News. I just wanted to extend the courtesy of providing some direct, balanced feedback so you can gain the perspective of one of your readers. Thanks again. Go Bills!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MJS Posted January 5, 2018 Share Posted January 5, 2018 1 hour ago, JoshBarnett said: Sorry I did not see myself tagged earlier in this thread. ... Someone referenced earlier in the thread that the email would be read by a junior level assistant and discarded. Let me assure you that is not the case. I've read, our managing editor has read it, our editor has read it, among others in the newsroom. We all appreciate the tone and your points and the way you made them. Just for clarity, let me say that I am not speaking on behalf of the management of the Buffalo News or Rod or anyone else. I'm just a guy who has been doing this a while in other places and someone who has great respect for my colleagues in this newsroom over the last few months. While some of you think I am just a shill for the News based on some of my other posts, I have tried to be as available to the readership and the fan base as I possibly can. We might disagree but I always listen. So here I am on this issue. (I will await being pilloried.) Rod is the metro columnist in the same manner as Sean Kirst, who has been effusive in his praise for Bills fans and has another column coming later today sharing many great stories of excited Bills fans. I am sure Rod had conversations with his editor about this column and what he wanted to say and the way he wanted to say it in the same way that I have conversations with Bucky and Sully. It's part of the editor-writer dynamic. Perhaps we should have made the distinction clear that Rod is not a sports columnist -- don't know that would have mattered. Perhaps we should have not put it on the sports or Blitz pages online. It ran in the metro section in print. But one thing we have to believe in is the diversity of voices. One person is less enthused than everybody else seems to be, and that's OK. I don't agree with him, but what type of organization would be if we refused to publish a meager 18 inches -- representing less than one-half of one percent of what we have done on the Bills -- because it is contrarian. Regardless of your opinion on the subscription service around Bills content, you can't deny that massive amount of coverage we have done since Sunday's win, including today's eight-page special section, special packages coming Saturday and Sunday and nearly 3,000 column inches between Sunday and Thursday. That does not include a ton of additional pieces that were online only. Today's special section is more celebratory in nature. Among the contents are two full pages of quotes from Bills fans, celebrities on what the end of the drought means to them. Sully spoke with a ton of former players on what it means to them. Here is the cover. The major point to me is that it just simply wasn't a quality article. It was pretty useless and unprofessional. I don't really care if he feels that way or not, but you don't expect to read something like that coming from a supposed professional. You expect to read something like that from a random person in a comment section. Low quality journalism through and through. He clearly put nothing more than 5 minutes of effort into that piece. And he got paid to do it. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FappyTheClown Posted January 5, 2018 Share Posted January 5, 2018 (edited) 17 hours ago, White Linen said: I honestly do not think they care. Edited January 5, 2018 by FappyTheClown Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Plunge Posted January 5, 2018 Author Share Posted January 5, 2018 6 minutes ago, FappyTheClown said: I'm not sure that's a fair comment, particularly since Josh Barnett took the time to weigh in on this thread. He is the Executive Sports Editor for the paper. Shows me that he DOES care. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stony Posted January 5, 2018 Share Posted January 5, 2018 43 minutes ago, LeGOATski said: Jesus !@#$ing Christ. An opinion piece from someone who doesn't like football needs to be censored? I think this was part of my point last night that I wanted to make, but then again, I was drinking a lot of vino. Either way, sorry Plunge for the insult. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FappyTheClown Posted January 5, 2018 Share Posted January 5, 2018 Josh Barnett responded? He has some sweet throws! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Plunge Posted January 5, 2018 Author Share Posted January 5, 2018 1 minute ago, stony said: I think this was part of my point last night that I wanted to make, but then again, I was drinking a lot of vino. Either way, sorry Plunge for the insult. All good man. And thanks for saying that. Go Bills! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Buftex Posted January 5, 2018 Share Posted January 5, 2018 Who cares what Rod Watson has to say? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LeGOATski Posted January 5, 2018 Share Posted January 5, 2018 5 minutes ago, FappyTheClown said: Josh Barnett responded? He has some sweet throws! Yes!! A PRIDE legend. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
K-9 Posted January 5, 2018 Share Posted January 5, 2018 I appreciate Watson’s call for perspective. Why did he assume we don’t have any? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BADOLBILZ Posted January 5, 2018 Share Posted January 5, 2018 13 minutes ago, K-9 said: I appreciate Watson’s call for perspective. Why did he assume we don’t have any? Leave it to you to empathize with that jerk! Amirite eball and teef and yolo and swatteam? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Green Lightning Posted January 5, 2018 Share Posted January 5, 2018 5 hours ago, Jauronimo said: You don't know that! Stop pretending you do. I now know all need to know about you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jauronimo Posted January 5, 2018 Share Posted January 5, 2018 8 minutes ago, Green Lightning said: I now know all need to know about you. Incorrect. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
What a Tuel Posted January 5, 2018 Share Posted January 5, 2018 4 hours ago, K-9 said: I appreciate Watson’s call for perspective. Why did he assume we don’t have any? I assume because the Buffalo News has committed a lot of space for it in the past week? Either way, it is pretty presumptuous to assume that we can't concern ourselves with more than one thing at once. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BuffaloBillsGospel Posted January 5, 2018 Share Posted January 5, 2018 Oh that Ron Swanson, he's such a card. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Green Lightning Posted January 5, 2018 Share Posted January 5, 2018 28 minutes ago, Jauronimo said: Incorrect. Not your call to make. You don't get two chances at a first impression. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jauronimo Posted January 5, 2018 Share Posted January 5, 2018 4 minutes ago, Green Lightning said: Not your call to make. You don't get two chances at a first impression. That's not very Christian. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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