Rant: The Chronicle Website... 'just a TOP 10 site these days? (Houston: homes, neighborhoods)

[usc619]

If you think that's bad, check out their Sports coverage....pathetic at best. The funny thing is to compare it to the Dallas morning news, Houston should be ashamed of our local rag.

[Jack Lance]

I am a subscriber to the Chronicle and I find a lot of in-depth investigative reports there. Maybe the paper itself is different from the website in content, but I know if you know what you are looking for the Chronicle on-line is a pretty good source.

Stories I have found interesting in the Chron the past few days range from , new designs for Animal shelters, how Houston has thousands of illegal garbage dumping sites. A comparison between the opening of the Northline light rail line and the opening of the new segment of the Grand Parkway, cost, uses ect.. There was an article in todays edition about a guy who photographs trash and makes furniture and artifacts out of the trash he finds around a south side gully off MLK, it was great.

I like it ,and like that the stories they do print are informative and credible

[hbcu]

I'm a Chron subscriber but its very obvious they're hiring people with agendas now and less who knows what Houston wants and needs.

Sports for example is atrocious as how they ignore TSU, combine a writer for UH and Rice but then run full page stories on UT athletics...there was a game that drew 38K last week at Reliant and they did not send anyone out there but there was 2 full pages on Baylor...are we in Waco? Austin?

The high school coverage sucks and they've gotten away from investigative reporting on the sports side that made them famous in the 90s....also, the lack of competition has hurt the city also

[Schumacher713]

All newspapers are hurting. The internet has changed how we get our news. And, obviously every news source except Fox News has a liberal agenda. It is a big conspiracy! I just wonder what bubble some of your all live in.

[Jack Lance]

Originally Posted by hbcu

I'm a Chron subscriber but its very obvious they're hiring people with agendas now and less who knows what Houston wants and needs.

Sports for example is atrocious as how they ignore TSU, combine a writer for UH and Rice but then run full page stories on UT athletics...there was a game that drew 38K last week at Reliant and they did not send anyone out there but there was 2 full pages on Baylor...are we in Waco? Austin?

The high school coverage sucks and they've gotten away from investigative reporting on the sports side that made them famous in the 90s....also, the lack of competition has hurt the city also

When it comes to sports coverage I tend to go on-line with NFL.com Yahoo, or ESPN . I look more for stats than anything else so those sources hit the spot and are instantaneous. As far as HS Sports I do know that Katy is heading to the State finals along with Pearland in the 5a division 1 and 2 brackets, I read that in the Chron.

But when it comes to local news the Chron gives in-depth coverage to a variety of stories that the local TV Media can't or will not cover. Of course competition would make it better but you have to consider that different types of media are competing with each other, I would prefer another local paper but there is competition.

[hbcu]

every media outlet sucks in Houston as they're all covering the same thing...go to a Texans game and you'll see 1,000 people claiming to cover the game but they're there for the free meal and a story we already know.

But when a college team plays, you can't get half the outlets to cover a game as there are better storylines...

as for HS...that's the basics...if you saw their coverage in the 90s...it was lights out

[Dopo]

Originally Posted by cheryjohns

What you are seeing is a result of newspapers laying off writers and editors, because of the decrease in revenues. It's not just the Chronicle - it's everywhere.

I don't buy that story
I guarantee that the Chronicle gets a s.... lot of money from realtors everytime their main story is:
"You have to see this house in X neighborhood"

[14Bricks]

Originally Posted by hbcu

every media outlet sucks in Houston as they're all covering the same thing...go to a Texans game and you'll see 1,000 people claiming to cover the game but they're there for the free meal and a story we already know.

But when a college team plays, you can't get half the outlets to cover a game as there are better storylines...

as for HS...that's the basics...if you saw their coverage in the 90s...it was lights out

Yup, 15 years ago the chronicle used to have a great sports section. They used to cover all the sports and at all levels. I remember when they used to post the results from high school track meets, that's how detailed the sports section was. Now it's just all texans all the time.

[14Bricks]

Originally Posted by hbcu

I'm a Chron subscriber but its very obvious they're hiring people with agendas now and less who knows what Houston wants and needs.

Sports for example is atrocious as how they ignore TSU, combine a writer for UH and Rice but then run full page stories on UT athletics...there was a game that drew 38K last week at Reliant and they did not send anyone out there but there was 2 full pages on Baylor...are we in Waco? Austin?

The high school coverage sucks and they've gotten away from investigative reporting on the sports side that made them famous in the 90s....also, the lack of competition has hurt the city also

+1. It was better when we had the Post and the chronicle.

[cheryjohns]

Originally Posted by Dopo

I don't buy that story
I guarantee that the Chronicle gets a s.... lot of money from realtors everytime their main story is:
"You have to see this house in X neighborhood"

Not unless that realtor is running an ad. The papers make their money from advertisers. They are lucky if circulation sales pay for most of the paper and ink. If I had a house listed in XYZ neighborhood and they happened to run a story on that neighborhood, do you think they bill the agents that have listings there? Better yet, do you think we would pay? That's not how it works. How do I know? I worked there for over ten years. Realtor "interviews" were fluff pieces to fill out that section - and the editor always went to the same buddy agents. I guarantee the paper did not get paid.

Originally Posted by 14Bricks

Yup, 15 years ago the chronicle used to have a great sports section. They used to cover all the sports and at all levels. I remember when they used to post the results from high school track meets, that's how detailed the sports section was. Now it's just all texans all the time.

Originally Posted by 14Bricks

+1. It was better when we had the Post and the chronicle.

It was better when they had more reporters period. Reporters are human beings that require a paycheck to live. Revenues down because print is dying? Cut back on reporters, etc. Revenues dropping more, because of the prior reason AND less reported stories? Cut back some more. Downward spiral until newspapers are all just passing around top ten lists and AP stories. The papers screwed up when they did not come up with a viable way to sell the paper online.

I left about 15 years ago because the handwriting was on the wall. BTW, I don't advertise in there either, for the same reason.