Killing the messenger
Generals' beat writer beaten, metaphorically
Sometimes the general public doesn't really get what we do.
(Which is not a diss, understand. I don't get what nuclear physicists do. Nuclear physicists don't get what concert pianists do. We're pretty much clueless outside our own particular areas of expertise.)
Anyway ... I realize this every time someone calls in to complain that we only cover (school/team name here) when they lose. Apparently they think we have some hidden advance knowledge about who's going to lose when, and plan our coverage accordingly. If that were the case, the richest people in America would be sportswriters, because we'd never miss on betting on sporting events.
Another example: The guy in Flint who paid $100 to have several signs made up urging people to boycott the Flint Journal until it fires Brendan Savage, the beat writer for the Flint Generals of the IHL.
The signs made their appearance in Perani Arena the other night. Savage, of course, was thrilled. Free pub is free pub, after all. And if the message was negative, the reaction likely will be positive; people who never heard of this Brendan Savage guy will now be buying the Journal to find out why's he's torquing so many people off.
In other words, I doubt the Journal fires him. Heck, he'll probably get a raise for juicing their circulation.