AvantGuardHoya
Golden Hoya (over 1000 posts)
"It was when I found out I could make mistakes that I knew I was on to something."
Posts: 1,481
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Post by AvantGuardHoya on Dec 3, 2009 0:47:32 GMT -5
Might be old school, but I'd be lost w/o my Sunday WaPost. I love it, man. Yes, it is old school. I've posted a link on the front page to audited newspaper numbers ending 9/30/09 and the numbers are grim everywhere. The Times now has fewer Sunday readers than the Fredericksburg News-Star. Uh, that would be my friendly, neighborhood Fredericksburg Free Lance-Star.
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TigerHoya
Diamond Hoya (over 2500 posts)
Posts: 2,808
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Post by TigerHoya on Dec 3, 2009 11:42:51 GMT -5
I got an email from the MD beat writer yesterday that he sent to everyone that had emailed him in the past 3 yrs saying they weren't sure what was going to happen but that it looked like sports would be gone.
I used to get the Times when I was at GU just because I was a cheapskate and its cheaper price (plus I'm conservative too.) The Civil War Page on Saturdays was always a good read in the New South Cafeteria on a Saturday afternoon.
I heard all sorts of stories about some of the crazy stuff going on internally when a friend of mine was an asst. editor there until early last year.
I offered the MD beat writer the chance to blog at my Baltimore site until he found something else if it came to that, think he has some other blogging options first if he gets axed though.
I know when the Baltimore Sun canned all those people last year, including the sports writers who got a call at the Camden Yards pressbox telling them they were fired, some of them wound up at the Post, some at MASN, and some wound up blogging for other sites. Hell, a current Sun writer is blogging at his own blogspot site after they killed off his beer blog due to lack of traffic (compared to their other local blogs.)
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DanMcQ
Moderator
Posts: 30,551
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Post by DanMcQ on Dec 3, 2009 15:09:47 GMT -5
My sources tell me that Sports coverage at the Times will end Feb 2 if not sooner. It's a shame.
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mdhoya97
Century (over 100 posts)
Posts: 217
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Post by mdhoya97 on Dec 3, 2009 15:29:09 GMT -5
only reason i check the wtimes website is barker. much better the wapost coverage, but for everything else wapost is better. I would pay if they charged for online access. I don't have a print subscription, as I wouldn't have time to read a physical copy (but damn do i miss the feel of reading a real newspaper).
-M
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Post by jerseyhoya34 on Dec 3, 2009 15:53:08 GMT -5
Maybe we could get Barker to work in our Sports Info Department. A thought, anyway. I have no doubt he'll land on his feet. In the meanwhile, I think we should all show our appreciation for the work he has done for several years as it relates to GU hoops. Thanks, Barker.
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Cambridge
Platinum Hoya (over 5000 posts)
Canes Pugnaces
Posts: 5,303
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Post by Cambridge on Dec 3, 2009 17:02:28 GMT -5
Maybe we could get Barker to work in our Sports Info Department. A thought, anyway. I have no doubt he'll land on his feet. In the meanwhile, I think we should all show our appreciation for the work he has done for several years as it relates to GU hoops. Thanks, Barker. I agree. He has consistently been the best. In fact, there were several seasons where he was practically the only good thing about following Georgetown basketball. I hope that he keeps on following the Hoyas whether or not he's able to write about them in the future.
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Jack
Diamond Hoya (over 2500 posts)
Posts: 3,411
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Post by Jack on Dec 4, 2009 9:20:25 GMT -5
I hope this isn't talking out of school (though it probably is), but when I spoke to Barker last year he said he did not think he was long for the journalism world anyway- a combination of the writing on the wall for print media, the rigors of the life of a beat reporter, and the fact that his wife does very well in her job. He figured teaching was his likely destination, so one figures this only exacerbates his eventual move. Good luck Barker, you did good work and you will be missed.
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mapei
Golden Hoya (over 1000 posts)
Posts: 2,088
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Post by mapei on Dec 5, 2009 10:50:18 GMT -5
Not telling anyone anything you don't already know but I do have a related personal anecdote: one of my relatives went from sports writer at a major city paper (and author of some pro football books) to sports editor at a medium paper to general editor of a small paper to unemployment in about 8 years. Each move was precipitated in part by cutbacks. Now he has no clue what comes next for him and his family.
There's more writing, and it's more widely circulated, than ever - but much less money in it. Not a good career path these days. I don't read the Times but I do read and like the occasional Barker article when someone references it here. We'll miss him.
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Gold Hoya
Golden Hoya (over 1000 posts)
Posts: 1,578
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Post by Gold Hoya on Dec 5, 2009 15:58:06 GMT -5
Um, something tells me Barker's not going to work for Bill Shapland.
The time would seem right for a launch of espnDC.com. Many of their other local sites have been staffed by refugees / early retirement cases from local newspapers. ESPN is becoming willing to step up and play on local coverage as the newspaper business continues to die.
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lichoya68
Blue & Gray (over 10,000 posts)
OK YOUNGINS ARE HERE AND ARE VERY VERY GOOD cant wait GO HOYAS
Posts: 17,438
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Post by lichoya68 on Dec 6, 2009 10:44:38 GMT -5
good article as usual by barker today on the au game i willl miss him if they can him hope he stays around somewhere to wright about the hoyas go hoyas go barker ;D ;D
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Post by AustinHoya03 on Dec 8, 2009 23:44:55 GMT -5
Barker turned in a terse, slightly sloppy recap of tonight's Butler game. Can't be a good sign of things to come.
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DanMcQ
Moderator
Posts: 30,551
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Post by DanMcQ on Dec 10, 2009 13:14:11 GMT -5
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Oh My!
Silver Hoya (over 500 posts)
Posts: 938
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Post by Oh My! on Dec 10, 2009 13:21:05 GMT -5
Barker has likely seen the writing on the wall for a couple years regarding these pending changes. He told me in Orlando last year that his time at the Wash Times was nearing an end, but he did not mention corporate issues. He basically stated that: he & his wife live in Philly; he travels for GU games & writes from home when he can; & he has no lifelong desire to be a beat writer. He is good at what he does, but I trust that he will not be at it for many years to come. I venture a prediction that this is his last season covering the Hoyas. That said, an elimination of local coverage of GU BB may open doors for several of the HoyaTalk posters who once wrote for (or do currently) the HOYA to transition blogs or other means into more formal coverage. Just a thought. Mod Note - Barker Davis is quoted in the Voice blog I linked above this post:
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Oh My!
Silver Hoya (over 500 posts)
Posts: 938
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Post by Oh My! on Dec 10, 2009 13:21:51 GMT -5
Maybe we could get Barker to work in our Sports Info Department. A thought, anyway. I have no doubt he'll land on his feet. In the meanwhile, I think we should all show our appreciation for the work he has done for several years as it relates to GU hoops. Thanks, Barker. Would never happen. See my post above.
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Oh My!
Silver Hoya (over 500 posts)
Posts: 938
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Post by Oh My! on Dec 10, 2009 13:23:10 GMT -5
I hope this isn't talking out of school (though it probably is), but when I spoke to Barker last year he said he did not think he was long for the journalism world anyway- a combination of the writing on the wall for print media, the rigors of the life of a beat reporter, and the fact that his wife does very well in her job. He figured teaching was his likely destination, so one figures this only exacerbates his eventual move. Good luck Barker, you did good work and you will be missed. Didn't even know there was a 2nd page to this thread, & I see Jack clearly beat me to it. Apologies for the post-padding on my part. Please forgive me. It IS the holiday season, after all.
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