PJStar-BU squabble

[Da Coach]

Just my opinion... Luciano's column is really a hoot. He tries to make the case that failing local newspapers (especially his columns) are the most important thing in everyone's lives, and they provide news that nobody can get anywhere else. Later in the column he adds this quote: "The greatest crisis in American journalism is the death of local news".
Really? What a joke. Newspapers have made their own bed, and now must lie in it. Instead of providing real "News" to people (as in "Newspaper"), they hold themselves above the public, and have bastardized "News into "Fake News" to push their own agendas, and to force their own corrupt political views down our throats as if their readers are too stupid to notice, and are sheep-like and will believe and follow what they want them to. Plus, instead of joining the digital revolution early on, they stood pat and constantly criticized and demeaned online news, blogs, etc. out of nothing more than jealousy.

Why does he think local papers are failing in massive numbers? It is exactly because they don't provide the news coverage people want, and because the public can get better news coverage elsewhere, and get it when it happens, not when it's convenient for people like Luciano to get it to us. And in addition, it doesn't cost the reader an arm and a leg.

Then he takes shots at readers for the "Urinal Jar" jokes and for for "stomp(ing) and moan(ing) at the mere notion of paying for news" provided by "professional reporters" at newspapers, because, "newspapers are the backbone of journalism, offering a breadth and depth unavailable anywhere else." Yeah, right.
And he says, "Only newspapers have the ability and guts to ferret out truth and hold feet to the fire." What a laugh! When was the last time anyone at the PJ Star did real investigative journalism? They had one of the biggest stories in Peoria in decades (the whole "Joanne Glasser destroying Bradley University and Bradley basketball" story) dropped in their laps a few years ago and never bothered to lift a finger to "investigate" or report a single word of the real story. Then incredibly, they heaped praise on Glasser and Cross as the were finally fired and dragged their sorry butts out of town.

[tornado]

private bloggers and just ordinary people on their own spare time, on their own dime, and using their own cell phones and cameras
have done a better job and Luciano knows it - and that's what fuels their rage
Perfect example - as soon as a Cubs game, a Bulls game or a Bradley Basketball game is over - the most interested fans used to have to wait
til the next morning and read what the PJS told us. Now they can log online, find the box score, read the summaries, and learn FAR MORE
analysis and what other fans saw and thought -- all this and more right here on BradleyFans or other similar sources.
And they can see opinions from all spectrums and sort out which have bias - instead of waiting to the next day & reading
the PJS which is more bitter & biased than anything you'd see on the message boards anyway.
That's why they slam us and other bloggers & message boards at every opportunity.

But would BradleyFans even exist if the PJS simply did their job well - nope.....only when the PJS folks
"SOURED" on Bradley and Jim Les and started "dropping the critical hammer to get rid of him"
(and those are Kirk Wessler's own words describing what they did) - did decent fans decide to do something about it.
And thank God they did or we'd still have Geno Ford as a coach, Mike Cross as an AD and Joanne Glasser at the top
driving Bradley into oblivion, steering us down to DIII, and shifting basketball games to the girls gym and then publicly
blaming the fans for all the failures and not being patient enough - all with the help of the PJS calling us uneducated
and trying to convince us even in 2019 that all the problems and failures need to be blamed on Les & Kavanagh.

[Tommy]

Then he takes shots at readers for the "Urinal Jar" jokes and for for "stomp(ing) and moan(ing) at the mere notion of paying for news" provided by "professional reporters" at newspapers, because, "newspapers are the backbone of journalism, offering a breadth and depth unavailable anywhere else."
And he says, "Only newspapers have the ability and guts to ferret out truth and hold feet to the fire."

That quote says it all, and has pretentious hubris dripping freely from the words and rings of someone who feels like they are royalty and not someone serving the public interest or good.

Like you've already said in so many words, they've made their bed and now they have to lie in it.

[tornado]

PJStar leaving town??

They have had 11,000 square feet of prime 1st floor space in their headquarters - on the market to rent
for 6 months and still have no takers...

https://www.kepplegroup.com/listing/secure-office-space-lease-1-news-plaza-peoria/

BradleyFans.com is soon looking to expand, so wouldn't it be ironic if we rented the space?

[Dub]

Do it. That would completely rule

[pfcmsh]

This is a great example of the problem. In my opinion,The PJS has lost touch with it's customer base. In a great sports town like Peoria, you would think that the PJS would want a good relationship with the university. Sure, Bradley had struggled because of a previous administration that, in my opinion, was trying to eliminate Bradley as a D1 school. We all believed that Bradley would do something about it and they did! Bradley is recovering nicely under the leadership of Dr Reynolds and Coach Wardle. With a tradition as rich as Bradley has in the NCCA, you would think Bradley would receive more respect from a newspaper that has benefited from Bradley basketball over the years. Look at our turn around! To post an article with the headline "Bradley Disgraces Itself...." , is not a way to endear the fan base to the newspaper. This is why I say that the PJS has lost touch. Furthermore, I feel there is some animosity towards Bradley, if you reflect on the articles, or lack of articles, by former reporters in the past 8 years. We are not interested in positive coverage, we are interested in any coverage. Something has gone sour. I used to subscribe to the PJS by mail to follow Bradley. I do not remember such negativity in coverage as there has been in the last 8 years. Coach Wardle knows how to handle himself and is a great representative of Bradley. If he indeed said these things, he had a good reason, in my opinion.

I have found Dave Reynolds to be pleasant with no axe to grind against us. I have met him a few times at games and at the ITOO suppers. I am not in the know as to what all has happened, but I think this article (not written by Dave) is an attempt to gain readership. It is, in a way, sensational and is the kind of journalism that raises the question of motive. The PJS may be dying a slow death, like a lot of other newspapers in similar markets. It seems to me that the way to prolong it's existence would be to first cover Bradley basketball, then cover it fairly. Your spitting in the face of your customer base with an article like this one. What the heck is going on at the PJS?

[tornado]

brace for even more ridiculous garbage that the media will spew our way....

I have been reading more and more that people in the media & journalists claim the GOVERNMENT should step in
and use TAXPAYER MONEY to help save the dying newspapers. Seriously - they want the ability to claim they are a
FREE and INDEPENDENT PRESS - completely free and unfettered to offer news & criticism on the government - and yet they
want to be fully on the take from the government and pad their bank accounts with money taken from taxpayers!!!
Heck- when things are government funded you always get the $600 hammers, $1200 toilet seats and other enormous
waste, overspending and corruption....

Interesting that the people calling the LOUDEST for government support & subsidies paid to newspapers...are all from newspapers like the NY Times, Washington Post, Phila Inquirer, Bloomberg, etc....
https://archives.cjr.org/feature/the...m_solution.php

Heck, it's already happening in Canada and other nations - an of course...once the government starts paying $$ to the
newspapers, then you can count on the government expecting to tell the newspapers what to print and what not to. That
is always the first step towards the formation of a totalitarian or Nazi-like rule over people.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/jou...lout-1.5147761
https://business.financialpost.com/o...has-just-begun

[Da Coach]

Well said, pfcmsh..... that is the sentiment of many people I have talked to in recent years, and you describe one of the main reasons so many have dropped their newspaper and online subscriptions.

By the way, WMBD has a very positive article about Bradley--> https://www.1470wmbd.com/bradley-uni...king-for-jobs/
I posted about it here--> https://www.bradleyfans.com/forum/sp...nks-high-again

Correct me if I am wrong, I cannot find that the PJ Star has anything about this. And that is a symptom of the bigger problem.
We have often posted articles by beat writers of other MVC teams that post regular informative articles between games, and regularly in the offseason. And years ago, we used to get those from the PJ Star. But in recent years, about all we get are the brief reports on game nights, and the regular negative hit pieces. It is obviously by choice that they have decided now to ignore and take shots at Bradley, almost as if Joanne Glasser was still editing their material.

[tornado]

almost every other MVC team has had good summer coverage - every day or two...
we have had nothing....

SIU - 3 articles in the past 3 days -
https://thesouthern.com/sports/colle...4282873f2.html
https://thesouthern.com/sports/colle...798857ae8.html
https://thesouthern.com/sports/college/salukimania/grad-transfer-suggs-signs-with-siu-men-s-basketball-team/article_7a6f7bb2-cce7-5086-9928-b267031b355b.html

Indiana State - three long, well-researched columns in the past week
https://www.tribstar.com/sports/local_college_sports/isu_sports/new-look-isu-frontcourt-hopes-to-make-its-presence-felt/article_304b0f0d-5b88-58f5-9219-17ba032bc216.html
https://www.tribstar.com/sports/loca...c3a84d77b.html

https://www.tribstar.com/sports/local_high_school_sports/isu-recruits-combine-for-vs-kentucky-all-stars/article_03bfb115-1326-58ec-98d9-b44645ffa674.html

I'm not even sure we have a beat guy assigned to Bradley any more - Dave R. appears to be doing other sports

[Tommy]

I'm not even sure we have a beat guy assigned to Bradley any more - Dave R. appears to be doing other sports

The real question is, 'If the PJS wrote an article in the woods, would anyone read it?'

[it's boogie time]

almost every other MVC team has had good summer coverage - every day or two...
we have had nothing....

You'd think it would be pretty easy for whoever runs the Bradley Basketball twitter feed to get some video and analysis of the new guys.

[tornado]

they have been - but they don't have the help from team managers and others who are not there for summer school...they've also been a man short on their coaching staff for the past month.

they have posted these videos & photos...in case you missed...
https://twitter.com/bradleyumbb/stat...05458853797889
https://twitter.com/bradleyumbb/stat...08892767068160
https://twitter.com/bradleyumbb/stat...43350097317888
https://twitter.com/BUBrianWardle/st...41081084080128
https://twitter.com/BradleyBraves/st...82929416073216


I have often said I think the folks at Bradley are missing a lot of opportunity by NOT HAVING
more events, open practices and fan-related things during the summer.
The fans are out, looking for things to do, weather's nice, and this is the middle of the SEASON TICKET SALES PUSH!!
So why not open the gym and let the fans get a little involved and see what's going on? It doesn't have to be a big, scripted
event - just an open practice - or an opportunity for the players to sign autographs for kids - or a cookout or bouncy-house event on the quad...It's been my experience that the summer events have been very well attended and generated a lot of interest..

when they have held open practices, they draw hundreds and generate interest & enthusiasm. LINK

Indiana State just announced this summer event - sounds like a lot of fun for Sycamore fans
...they're even offering discounted SEASON and game ticket prices just for those who attend

https://twitter.com/IndStMBB/status/1140977022757482497

[it's boogie time]

they have been - but they don't have the help from team managers and others who are not there for summer school...they've also been a man short on their coaching staff for the past month.

they have posted these videos & photos...in case you missed...
https://twitter.com/bradleyumbb/stat...05458853797889
https://twitter.com/bradleyumbb/stat...08892767068160
https://twitter.com/bradleyumbb/stat...43350097317888
https://twitter.com/BUBrianWardle/st...41081084080128
https://twitter.com/BradleyBraves/st...82929416073216

None of those players are new. It feels like the 80s again where you had to wait to develop film or find someone that had a camcorder if you wanted to take a video.

[Da Coach]

The Bradley SID's and basketball publicity people surely must realize that the PJ Star isn't going to help them get publicity (remember, "it isn't their job to promote the Bradley brand") and they should do a better job of providing news and information through other sources. In fact, it is now obvious that the PJ Star is trying harder than ever to ignore Bradley and avoid reporting anything more than what is necessary. They used to do nice articles about all the incoming new players, and give frequent updates over the summer, and news about recruiting. But that never happens any more. Maybe it's due to budget cuts, but IMO, it is more than that. If they can dedicate enormous time and space day after day to cover high school track and field events like they do, they surely have the resources for an occasional article about the things Bradley fans want to see.

But that's OK, since a growing portion of the fan base no longer bothers to get their news about Bradley basketball from the PJ Star anyway. They get it directly from the Bradley website, the Bradley social media pages, and from dedicated fan-input on the message boards. And the fans aren't drawing paychecks to do so.
So I hope the Bradley people can start putting out more info to the public through these sources like every other MVC team does. Stop waiting for the PJ Star to show interest.
The lack of information is hurting the fan interest and fan following. And with the massive decline in attendance and revenue in the past few years, that is the last thing they should want to continue.

[Mikovio]

I think the relationship is complicated. I don't think Dave Reynolds hates Bradley or anything but I do think he tempers enthusiasm and comes across as a sourpuss. I also don't think he's the hardest worker. Some enthusiastic young guy like Aaron Ferguson on the beat would do wonders, but they're not looking to hire with the way things are, and we're probably stuck with Dave for the foreseeable future.

It's a dying medium and if you want to help it along either cancel your subscription or do what I do and get an electronic subscription for only like $8/mo. I do think there are some hard working people at the paper like Andy Kravetz who do a good job keeping up with the police and courts so I can justify that expense. Steve Tarter did a good job on the business side (he ran the whole section by himself, and did a podcast), but alas he was let go too. Luciano now seems to just look through police reports for weird occurrences. Yesterday there was an article about some lady having calimari dumped on her car. Ok, so she washed it off and went on with her life. Not what I’d call newsworthy. Even the $8 is getting harder to justify.

As for where to get your news, our local TV and radio do a great job. Jim Mattson is the hardest working guy around and he gave the Braves and Wardle their due on his ESPN radio show and on WEEK. WMBD radio is of course on board. Pegler is an ISU guy of course but does a decent job and Matt McClain who is the weekend sports guy went to BU. Show them love, tune in and let the PJStar wither on the vine if they so choose.