Local opinion: Sometimes you have to wait for the rest of the story
By Rudy Coggins
Published in Sports on August 2, 2012 1:49 PM
The anonymous tip called in to the News-Argus sports department has somehow leaked out into the county.
And boy, it has created quite a stir.
Some callers have phoned us wanting to know why the "rumor" hasn't been put in print.
Here's why.
It's not official, folks.
Yes, we know someone has been "hired" as the new head varsity boys' basketball coach at Goldsboro High School. The problem is we cannot report it until the person's appointment is approved by the Wayne County Board of Education this month.
Until then, you will have to wait for the rest of the story.
Reporters face challenges every day, whether it's tracking down a breaking story or waiting to receive confirmation about facts he or she has gathered before a story is printed.
It's not an easy task.
Too many times the public wants to "shoot the messenger" because a story doesn't appear or a picture isn't published in a timely manner. And despite the attempt to explain our situation, the complainer turns a deaf ear.
The News-Argus is an award-winning publication that attempts to deliver the news to our readers in a timely and efficient manner. We compete with two morning newspapers and the Internet, which makes our jobs that more challenging to bring "fresh" information to you each day.
From a sports perspective, it's difficult for a three-person staff to cover everything that happens on a daily basis. Our readership involves a five-county radius that includes nine middle schools, 14 high schools and Mount Olive College. That's not to mention youth sports. Plus, we live in ACC and Pirate Country and we are obligated to follow North Carolina's professional sports teams, too.
In the fall and spring, we're responsible for covering more than 100 teams on the varsity and junior varsity levels combined. Getting to every event is impossible, especially when more than 15 to 20 events are getting played every day.
We seek assistance, like all newspapers, from the coaches and athletics directors to report their school's information when we are not present. And many times, there is consternation when an event is not reported and the readers would rather point fingers at the newspaper instead of the people responsible for sending the results to us.
Every athletics director in the county has the information to contact us -- our email address, fax number, 24-hour sportsline and the direct numbers to each reporter's desk in our office. If you don't see your school reported, please take the time to ask either your coach or athletics director why they haven't called us.
We want to promote your school's success.
But we cannot do it alone.