The City Scoop! ~ Discussion ~ November 21, 2008

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I'm not involved with the City Scoop.

I did however try to get one of my bases submitted for the base article. It took me over a month just to get it submitted. Now don't get me wrong, I'm not saying; "Those lazy bums wouldn't put my awesome base into their newsletter." I'm saying that it took me 5 weeks of multiple PMs and posts in multiple City Scoop threads just to get my base submitted for consideration.

At the time that seemed to me to be a strange way to treat someone who was trying to submit content for this newsletter.

Now I've read and completely agree with what the City Scoop staff has said. It's a volunteer thing that is being done on their free time for a hobby. As such I don't expect it to be of the same quality as USA TODAY or The Seattle Times, and anyone who does needs to lay off the crack pipe.

However,it's obvious to me that there's a ton of animosity and water under the bridge between him and the City Scoop staff. I don't know whose fault it is, nor do I care. But the bad part is that he's made a ton of good points and those points are being lost because of the bad blood between you guys.

I myself have scratched my head more than once wondering why these very important items that Tony has mentioned weren't in the City Scoop. Yes it's sad that Lighthouse has left us, and yes I think it deserved front-page coverage, and no it didn't read (to me anyway) like he had died. But what about all of those other things? $5,000 worth of computer parts being given away in a costume contest that was so controversial that the thread on it was over 100 pages long and two of the contestants were disqualified as obvious Trademark violations, and that didn't rate a single line in the City Scoop?

Perhaps the Scoop should consider bringing more people onboard. And since Tony V has so many ideas on how to do things and so much energy to do them with, perhaps you guys will put him to work. If ALL OF YOU ON BOTH SIDES OF THIS DISPUTE are mature enough to forget the past and move on it just might work. Of course the only people that will really benefit from this would be the City Scoop readers. So I guess you guys will have to decide if it's worth it or not.

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I myself have scratched my head more than once wondering why these very important items that Tony has mentioned weren't in the City Scoop. Yes it's sad that Lighthouse has left us, and yes I think it deserved front-page coverage, and no it didn't read (to me anyway) like he had died. But what about all of those other things? $5,000 worth of computer parts being given away in a costume contest that was so controversial that the thread on it was over 100 pages long and two of the contestants were disqualified as obvious Trademark violations, and that didn't rate a single line in the City Scoop?

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My guess is that we'll see them next week (one week lead time and all that). Also, I agree on LH's leaving being front page material, since it is big news in a way that none of these events and contests are - long lasting and with a large impact.

I'd just like to add that...

1) The Scoop has been looking for people to do Event Reporting for quite a while now (just look in the classified section)

2) The majority of the things TonyV is seeing as "missing" from the Scoop are events.

Putting (1) and (2) together can provide some insight into why these events were not covered. Even the computer hardware give-away - that was an event - a costume contest.

Take me for example. I don't do event reporting. I had no idea that this computer hardware was given away, I had no knowledge of the 100+ pages of forum posts about it. I don't think anyone would expect me to know about it either.

I think (and this is just my point of view here) that most of the current active contributors to the Scoop are in the same boat -- we each have our niche contribution that we make to the community and hope that people enjoy it. Plus, working with Scoop staff is a lot of fun and that has its own rewards

I guess what I'm trying to say is... if you want to do Event Reporting for the Scoop, by all means, send Snow_Globe or Mantid a PM with a sample of your work.

I hope that helps.

I think it also would help to have submission guidelines, so we know what we need to do to help. Sending a PM okay, but surely you need to see more than that and as submitter I'd have more questions such as:

Do I need a specific PM subject title?
How long of sample should it be? 100 words...200...1000?
Do I make a different file and link to it, or paste it in the PM window?
How long after I submit can I expect a response?
If my work isn't accepted can I resubmit?...If so, how long do I need to wait to resubmit?

Just basic FAQ/Q&A would help folks out a lot. I'm sure that's reasonable enough, right?

@Altoholic_Monkey

I agree with you 100% - we're currently discussing exactly those items _plus_ talking about how to best take advantage of the new bulletin board system's features.

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I think it also would help to have submission guidelines, so we know what we need to do to help. Sending a PM okay, but surely you need to see more than that and as submitter I'd have more questions such as:

Do I need a specific PM subject title?
How long of sample should it be? 100 words...200...1000?
Do I make a different file and link to it, or paste it in the PM window?
How long after I submit can I expect a response?
If my work isn't accepted can I resubmit?...If so, how long do I need to wait to resubmit?

Just basic FAQ/Q&A would help folks out a lot. I'm sure that's reasonable enough, right?

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We have guidelines written and repost them occasionally, but right now my thinking is we'll be far better served by having them in a specific place always visible and available.

Also several other thoughts kicking around to smooth out the submission process and make it easier and quicker.

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Second, you or someone else at the Scoop needs to be aware of stuff that's coming up.

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As someone who works at a weekly newspaper, I can empathize with those who put together the scoop. We hear this line a lot where I work. With everything that goes on, sometimes there's things we miss. Being a weekly newspaper, we have a real need to be a community newspaper. Which means that we rely on information from the community just as much as we rely on our own information gathering.

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All of that stuff took me around an hour to look up and write in one big paragraph.

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Take into account, the people that put together the Scoop don't do this full time. They have other things to do in real life that take precedence. The Scoop is something that is heart and soul, something that does take care. But without digging from the community, there are some things that won't get in, because you can't expect the Scoop to go looking for everything.

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Third, do some proactive recruiting. Post a message in upcoming event announcement threads saying that you would like an article about the event in the City Scoop and asking someone to volunteer to write it up. Trust me on this, if someone hears, "Please send articles to the City Scoop," you're not going to get anything. On the other hand, if someone sees a post saying, "We need someone to write up a short (200-500 word) article on taking down the drop ships on Virtue, and a picture or two would be nice," you're much more likely to get someone to spend a few minutes to write something up. Hell, I've read the thread, and there are some posts in there you could almost drop in unmodified. People love bragging about their endeavors. Use that!

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That's basically the same thing. You can hammer people in the head to do things as much as you want, but bottom line, it lands on the person who reads the link. I've often thought about sending in an article or writing a short story and sending it in (because, I think the serial series of Canadiens would be cool). Shout from the rafters, but it still lands on the person, and in today's world, no matter what you do, the person will still be the one to take the initiative. Often, they don't. Pessimistic? Perhaps, but it's also realistic.

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Fourth, take some time to do some actual coverage. Drop PMs to Synapse and Sunstorm asking if you can ask them some questions about background, experience, and so on. (Or at least ask Ex Libris to relay the requests.) Don't sit around waiting for them to come to you. Ask Agent Ruby some questions over in her thread, or if you don't have the time, cull some of the answers she's already given and report on them. One thing I've considered that might be kind of cool, and I think was actually tossed around at one point, is a series of interviews with fan site owners, such as the Titan Network guys, the Badge-Hunter.com/VidiotMaps guys, the CoH Podcast people, some of the radio DJs from The Cape, Split Infinity, etc. Get out of the forum silo! As you probably know, it was announced that Tabula Rasa is shutting down, and being the same company and all, some people are concerned how or if it will affect City of Heroes. There was an interesting thread about this in the Player's Questions forum. Tap this curiosity and write up an editorial to calm folks down and mention that City of Heroes might be getting a few more players soon.

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No comment to this, it basically will be wrapped up in final comments.

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You can't just sit around and wait for the stories to come to you, you have to go to the stories. Drop some PMs. Ask some questions. Do some reading. Visit some other servers. Delegate stories out to other people. You don't have to take hours to do it, just a few minutes here and there.

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If they don't know of something, because no one told them, then it'll get missed. If you see something, drop the scoop a line and let them know. That way, the onus is as much on you, the reader, as it is on the Scoop to get information and articles out there. It's what being a community newspaper/ezine is all about.

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Fifth, you guys really need to lose the "we need a week's lead time to cover stuff" line. Most events are announced, happen, and are over with within a week. You're busy. I get that. We're all busy. I spend at least a few hours a week working on the Paragon Wiki, Forums, and Taxibots sites, plus I have a pretty time-intensive job, plus (as hard as it is to believe) a life outside of CoH. I'm not asking that you write War and Peace every week, and I'm sure as heck not saying that one person should be doing it all. But I guess I really just don't see the big deal in spending an hour or two among the entire Scoop staff in culling a few current events for timely coverage. Of all the stuff I referenced in my previous post, the latest among them happened Thursday afternoon. (The earliest, a week ago Friday.) I'm not criticizing that all of them weren't covered, I'm criticizing that none of them were.

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A production like this takes time. It don't happen in a day. To produce a 24 page, broadsheet newspaper to get it ready for Monday mailout, it takes at least three days. We have a Wednesday deadline of 4:30 p.m. Sure, it could take less time, but not only am I the production manager, I'm the production department. Me, myself and I are the only ones who put all the ads and copy into the newspaper. And that's a full time job for me. For the one's who write the Scoop, this isn't a full time job. I have eight hours a day to put together a paper. Granted, there is a news guy and a sales guy to get other things in place (news articles written, ads sold, so on). For the Scoop, they maybe have two or three hours per day to work on things. It's very mentally draining to do something like that, even for two or three hours.

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I'm not saying that you have to change the world tomorrow. I'm not even saying that you ought to do every one of the items listed above, some of them might not work for you, and they're really mostly meant to illustrate my suggestions. But still, I can't help but think that the City Scoop ought to be thriving like crazy. There needs to be progress, it is supposed to be better than it was on day one, and it's not. I'm sorry if I'm coming off like an armchair quarterback. I wish I could help out, but I already run two fan sites and I've got too many irons in the fire as it is. I can't run the thing for you, I'm not an Editor. Besides, for several months, I did try to help out, offering my services and delivering articles, and felt quite unwelcome for my efforts. I guess I'm just frustrated still at how potential and expectations are so far beyond the current state of affairs, and I wish that someone would step up and deliver. I'm not asking for your head on a stick, or anyone else's for that matter. I know you can do better, but you've got to want to.

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The easiest thing to do is drop them a line letting them know of an event coming up. If you know about it, great. Don't assume the Scoop does as well. Maybe they do, but chances are, maybe they don't.

I see the Scoop very much akin to a weekly community newspaper. We rely on the community, as much as they rely on us. Without the community, there is no paper. Without the CoX community, there is no Scoop.

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I think it also would help to have submission guidelines, so we know what we need to do to help. Sending a PM okay, but surely you need to see more than that and as submitter I'd have more questions such as:

Do I need a specific PM subject title?
How long of sample should it be? 100 words...200...1000?
Do I make a different file and link to it, or paste it in the PM window?
How long after I submit can I expect a response?
If my work isn't accepted can I resubmit?...If so, how long do I need to wait to resubmit?

Just basic FAQ/Q&A would help folks out a lot. I'm sure that's reasonable enough, right?

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We have guidelines written and repost them occasionally, but right now my thinking is we'll be far better served by having them in a specific place always visible and available.

Also several other thoughts kicking around to smooth out the submission process and make it easier and quicker.

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Might I recommend a stickied thread? Something with submission guidelines (formatting for files, contact email address if not via PM, file sizes, etc), what you'd need for event coverage, that sort of thing?

Michelle
aka
Samuraiko/Dark_Respite

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I think it also would help to have submission guidelines, so we know what we need to do to help. Sending a PM okay, but surely you need to see more than that and as submitter I'd have more questions such as:

Do I need a specific PM subject title?
How long of sample should it be? 100 words...200...1000?
Do I make a different file and link to it, or paste it in the PM window?
How long after I submit can I expect a response?
If my work isn't accepted can I resubmit?...If so, how long do I need to wait to resubmit?

Just basic FAQ/Q&A would help folks out a lot. I'm sure that's reasonable enough, right?

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We have guidelines written and repost them occasionally, but right now my thinking is we'll be far better served by having them in a specific place always visible and available.

Also several other thoughts kicking around to smooth out the submission process and make it easier and quicker.

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Might I recommend a stickied thread? Something with submission guidelines (formatting for files, contact email address if not via PM, file sizes, etc), what you'd need for event coverage, that sort of thing?

Michelle
aka
Samuraiko/Dark_Respite

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I agree with Michelle. I understand you want to wait for the new forum software, but no ETA (not that I'm aware of) has been given so it wouldn't hurt to have that formatted now and sticked for when we do change forum software.

Lemur, the staff is still putting out the Scoop weekly and I'm sure some folks might like to help out but to do that we have to know the process for submissions. If nothing else, couldn't there be a link to the submission guidelines put into the updater when the Scoop is advertised?

Yup we're working on pretty much exactly that. Submission guidelines saved and linked, and a kind of "report your own event" questionnaire for people who aren't comfortable writing their own write up.

I'll also note that I get asked for submissions guidelines several times a week. I do respond and I also point people to the Joining the Scoop article.

Triumph: White Succubus: 50 Ill/Emp/PF Snow Globe: 50 Ice/FF/Ice Strobe: 50 PB Shi Otomi: 50 Ninja/Ninjistu/GW Stalker My other characters

See right there...I missed that and didn't even know it was in the scoop.

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If you want to submit just an article or two while not being on the staff, that is also good. Write something up (between 400-800 words), and submit it. I can't promise all submissions will be put into the Scoop, but we will try our best. One word of warning: We have a two week deadline, so if you submit something, do not expect it to appear in the same week.

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Just this paragraph answers some of the questions. Also it mentions a 2 week deadline, but in this thread you mentioned you had 1 week (unless I misread). I see event reporters are mentioned but are puzzle and suduko needed still?

Some aspects of the submission guidelines are a little outdated, I think we say 2 weeks for unsolicited submissions because we want the time to go over them. In the case of event reports or other timely things, that would obviously be handled differently.

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See right there...I missed that and didn't even know it was in the scoop.

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If you want to submit just an article or two while not being on the staff, that is also good. Write something up (between 400-800 words), and submit it. I can't promise all submissions will be put into the Scoop, but we will try our best. One word of warning: We have a two week deadline, so if you submit something, do not expect it to appear in the same week.

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Just this paragraph answers some of the questions. Also it mentions a 2 week deadline, but in this thread you mentioned you had 1 week (unless I misread). I see event reporters are mentioned but are puzzle and suduko needed still?



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2 week external, 1 week internal. We put that in place because we had someone surprising us 2 days before we handed over the Scoop to the Community Reps, and then complaining after that the article was supposed to be commemorating a specific date. Even though it was put out a few weeks later "the timing was ruined".

People like puzzles. I loved doing them, we've had requests to have them back. Just not as many as event and interview requests.

Triumph: White Succubus: 50 Ill/Emp/PF Snow Globe: 50 Ice/FF/Ice Strobe: 50 PB Shi Otomi: 50 Ninja/Ninjistu/GW Stalker My other characters