As both a fan of the White Sox and a journalist by trade, I don't know where exactly I fall when it comes to the new location of the press box at U.S. Cellular Field, a debate documented
in a Teddy Greenstein column.
Since I'm not directly affected, I welcome the additional revenue stream. On the other hand, it's part of an unfavorable trend for sports journalists in all sports, namely getting displaced to worse locations in favor of installing premium seating, affecting their ability to see everything that's happening. Even worse, if they voice their displeasure, they have to hear all the stereotypical, ignorant responses, all of which can be found in this
five-page thread on White Sox Interactive.
Namely, they get paid to watch games, they can just watch it on TV, 75 percent of the people in the park could do as good a job, so on and so forth. That isn't singling out WSI -- SoxTalk also has
a similar thread, though a third of the length.
There are few things in life that frustrate me more, personally, because no matter how much you say, you'll never change people's minds. And this is the primary reason why Jay Mariotti disgusts me so much, because he's the first guy critics point to. He doesn't go to the games, instead choosing to write windsock, knee-jerk hatchet jobs from afar, yet he is rewarded for it far more handsomely than any of the beat guys.
Because he writes for a newspaper, Mariotti is labeled a journalist. He isn't. He's just the stereotypical blogger without a blog. This is also the reason
why I railed against "My Boys."It might be hard for non-journalists to feel sorry for pro baseball writers, who are among the top 5 percent of their profession, but gigs like that are rewards for surviving the grind to the top.
Journalists are paid lower than any other degree holders entering the workforce starting out, routinely working 60 hours without being able to claim overtime, and are on call when they aren't working. Not to mention that most writers start out covering preps or youth sports, fielding questions from angry parents demanding their kids' cheerleading squad be covered because they work hard.
That's not saying the White Sox beat guys need to be pitied. From the quotes in the Greenstein column, Phil Arvia's response is probably most representative of the issue, and I'm not sure how his perspective can be belittled by fans, but I'm sure they'll try. Nevertheless, when vapid lines like "they get paid to watch games" are uttered repeatedly, and it's assumed years of experience and hard work mean nothing, those aren't trains of thoughts that should go unchallenged, even if it's a hopeless fight.