Sacramento Bee's coverage of the draft is god-awful

[Anthony1]

Man, what a freaking waste. Every day I look in the Sports section to see if there are any interesting tidbits of info on the Kings draft situation. Most days, I'm finding absolutely nothing, and on the days when they actually have something, it's about as cookie cutter as you can get.

It sucks having such a crappy newspaper as the only one in town.

 

[kennadog]

GP is notoriously tight-lipped. I doubt there's much information to report that has any basis in fact. Which is what true reporters should report----facts. Nor speculation and rumors reported as if they are facts, which far to many so-called reporters do these days.

 

[sidney]

Jason Jones out with a new baby I believe and no one else has picked up the slack. How about asking why more top guys haven't been working out? Coverage has been terrible.

 

[bajaden]

Jason Jones out with a new baby I believe and no one else has picked up the slack. How about asking why more top guys haven't been working out? Coverage has been terrible.

In my humble opinion, Jason Jones is a poor beat writer. During the lockout I got more info from Sam Amick than I did Jones, who was more interested in following the Raiders. Matter of fact, I get more info on what the Kings might be doing in regards to the draft from Amick than I do Jones. I read newspapers all over the country trying to gleen any info I can about each NBA team, and almost all of them have daily articles related to the draft and their team. Its a shame Amick left, followed by Cooper. The Bee's coverage is pathetic.

 

[UK_King]

The most "in depth" interview i heard with Petrie was the "Season ticket holders conference call" on the official site.

obviously he didn't go into plans but at least we got to hear him talk draft which is always interesting.

 

[Glenn]

Voison had an article today that quickly summarized who was available and why we would be interested. She left out Drummond (appropriately!) As far as beat reporters go, nothing. Not that Petrie shares anything but at least Jones could read KF.com and come up with some interesting analysis to plagerize. Frankly we've been spoiled as the good ones move through here pretty quickly. Be thankful that R.E. isn't writing.

At the least, why not have a count down thing like our Brit buddy is doing. There's a lot of deadlines and the like that we should be concerned about.

 

[rhythmless]

The Bee is pretty awful as a whole. Their website is more ads than news at this point.

 

[Heuge]

Jason Jones is as good a beat writer for the Kings as the Maloofs are owners...

 

[bajaden]

Voison had an article today that quickly summarized who was available and why we would be interested. She left out Drummond (appropriately!) As far as beat reporters go, nothing. Not that Petrie shares anything but at least Jones could read KF.com and come up with some interesting analysis to plagerize. Frankly we've been spoiled as the good ones move through here pretty quickly. Be thankful that R.E. isn't writing.

At the least, why not have a count down thing like our Brit buddy is doing. There's a lot of deadlines and the like that we should be concerned about.

If your a good journalist, you talk to to the team trainer, Jerry Reynolds, the guy that cleans the uniforms, the janitor. Anyone and everyone whose around the orginization to find out info. You don't sit by the phone at home and wait for Petrie to give you a call. It amazes me that Sam Amick who doesn't work for the Bee anymore, or in any way cover the Kings, prints more inside info about the Kings than Jones ever dreamed of posting. All that tells me is that Jones is just a lazy a$$.

 

[pshn80]

Could the Bee be down on the Maloofs, Petrie, Smart, etc. like KingsFans.com is? Maybe so. Hopefully the forgiveness process can cure that like it has on this site. Meanwhile the Bee is the best newspaper in Sacto.

 

[bajaden]

Could the Bee be down on the Maloofs, Petrie, Smart, etc. like KingsFans.com is? Maybe so. Hopefully the forgiveness process can cure that like it has on this site. Meanwhile the Bee is the best newspaper in Sacto.

I suspect your going for the irony of the situation since the Bee is the only newspaper in Sacto.....

 

[PurpleHaze]

And to think the Bee is planning to start charging $ for some of its currently free online content. I suspect the Bee which is losing tons of money via canceled paper subscriptions over last few years as well as advertising revenue being down, is looking for any way to survive. What they don't realize is their content, or lack of it, is one of the rags biggest problems.

 

[rainmaker]

GP is notoriously tight-lipped. I doubt there's much information to report that has any basis in fact. Which is what true reporters should report----facts. Nor speculation and rumors reported as if they are facts, which far to many so-called reporters do these days.

Where I would respectfully disagree, is in that many bee writers covering the NBA for other teams often discuss team needs, weaknesses vs strengths, and draftees who could help answer those problems. There's been little analysis whatsoever from the Bee regarding our problems or roster analysis, and until the subpar Voison article absolutely no draft coverage or analysis of players we might target.

There's been no analysis on Smart at all. Not his lineups or sub patters. No analysis at all of our league worst defense. No analysis at all of what type of a foundation/roster balance is needed to get back to the playoffs. I personally don't care about rumors, as hoopshype is the place to look for that, but am embarrassed for the Bee and their complete lack of any analysis at all, when other Kings blogs offer plenty of analysis and post various thoughts on an almost daily basis. Plenty to discuss, plenty to read about the Kings, but the Bee doesn't really offer anything.

 

[upinsmoke]

In our glory days the sports section was great! But sports aside over the years they have fired their best talent and changed the format needless to say the bee does not end up on my door step anymore.

 

[kennadog]

In our glory days the sports section was great! But sports aside over the years they have fired their best talent and changed the format needless to say the bee does not end up on my door step anymore.

You are right that the paper has lost its best reporters and columnists. The paper has shrunk down to almost nothing. Unfortunately, I afraid we could end up like New Orleans, a major city with absolutely no newspaper. People just aren't buying newspapers anymore. At some point, we'll have to pay to access newspapers online, if they exist at all. Loss of true journalists and reporters is a real threat to democracy, not just sports.