DolfanDaveInMI
Active Roster
So long as it doesn't turn into a "quit writing bad articles about us" ***** session, I think Wannstedt and Spielman meeting with the Dolphins' beat reporters is a really good idea.
Before starting my own business earlier this year, I was a reporter and bureau chief for seven years. Periodically, I would be contacted by elected officials and party leaders to join them for off-the-record conversations. This allowed them the opportunity to tell me what they were doing and why, for me to tell them how their actions were being perceived and why, to work through any festering disputes, and generally re-open a line of communication that may have closed for whatever reason. Off-the-record was a requirement for these conversations because you're never going to have a candid sharing of information if you think that what you say is going to show up in tomorrow's newspaper. In almost every case, the working relationship with that elected official or party leader was stronger after that conversation.
The Dolphins' brass obviously believes that the print reporters aren't understanding their decision-making process on free agency and other issues. Having an opportunity to talk them through it and to answer their specific questions without it showing up in Wednesday's paper should benefit all sides.
And even if we don't see the reports from Tuesday's meeting in Wednesday's paper, don't think for a second that everything discussed in there won't show up in an article in coming weeks. They'll just show up in a different context and dribbled out over time.
Before starting my own business earlier this year, I was a reporter and bureau chief for seven years. Periodically, I would be contacted by elected officials and party leaders to join them for off-the-record conversations. This allowed them the opportunity to tell me what they were doing and why, for me to tell them how their actions were being perceived and why, to work through any festering disputes, and generally re-open a line of communication that may have closed for whatever reason. Off-the-record was a requirement for these conversations because you're never going to have a candid sharing of information if you think that what you say is going to show up in tomorrow's newspaper. In almost every case, the working relationship with that elected official or party leader was stronger after that conversation.
The Dolphins' brass obviously believes that the print reporters aren't understanding their decision-making process on free agency and other issues. Having an opportunity to talk them through it and to answer their specific questions without it showing up in Wednesday's paper should benefit all sides.
And even if we don't see the reports from Tuesday's meeting in Wednesday's paper, don't think for a second that everything discussed in there won't show up in an article in coming weeks. They'll just show up in a different context and dribbled out over time.