Behind The Headlines

Covering the bad with the good

I knew some readers would be upset. I knew it as soon as I saw Pine Island stumble tragically in Saturday’s Breeder’s Cup Distaff and have to be put down.

I knew it because I knew that somewhere in our extensive coverage of the Breeder’s Cup races in Sunday’s newspaper, we should publish a photo of the accident, if we had one.

This week, I’ve received two letters from upset readers. “It’s the kind of reckless journalism that gives horseracing a bad name to outsiders,” a Georgetown reader wrote. A Lexington reader added: “I am appalled that a Kentucky paper who is founded in the heart of horse country could show this much disrespect.”

The breakdown of a racehorse is a tragedy, but Pine
Island’s accident, dumping jockey Javier Castellano into the track a few races before he was to ride Classic favorite Bernardini, was news.

We know some readers would rather not see unpleasant news in their newspaper. Unfortunately, breakdowns are a part of horse racing, and we make no apology for showing a photo of something more than 75,000 people witnessed at Churchill Downs. However, we did it as tastefully as possible: with a small photo, taken by David C. Burton and distributed by The Associated Press, on the bottom of page 4 of our 8-page Breeder’s Cup special section. 

Journalists shouldn’t ignore the unpleasant aspects of sport, and neither should sports fans. Fortunately, the forward-looking leaders of Kentucky’s horse industry are spending big bucks to try to minimize horse injuries. Most notably,  Keeneland and Turfway are among the first tracks to install artificial surfaces that are healthier for horses. In Keeneland’s first meet on Polytrack last month, there were no catastrophic equine injuries. A year ago, on Keeneland’s traditional dirt track, there were seven.

Here’s hoping that Polytrack and other advancements will minimize the need for future news stories like the one about Pine Island. But we believe that covering this wonderful sport means covering it all: the good, the bad and the ugly.

Tom Eblen
Managing Editor

New Online Kentucky Derby Coverage

The Herald-Leader, as always, will be devoting a lot of resources to coverage of the Kentucky Derby. This year, though, we have developed a plan for Derby coverage online that will offer readers some new ways to experience Derby week.

We will be providing daily photo slide shows from the backside of Churchill Downs, sports columnist John Clay will be blogging throughout the week, and we’ll be offering the latest news as it happens. Starting Wednesday, sports reporter Alicia Wincze will produce a daily podcast that covers the events at the track.  Multimedia slide shows of compelling Derby stories will be available. We’ll also have a panoramic view of the backside of Churchill Downs that will allow readers to use their mouse to take a look for themselves.

On kentucky.com, you'll also find an interactive guide to Churchill and tips for betting that can be downloaded and taken with you. You can relive last year's Derby, Preakness and Belmont races through an interactive replay that shows where the winners made key moves and how the field changed as the races progressed. Another interactive feature of each race includes silks and jockey pictures.

On Derby Day, we'll again bring you all the latest news at the top of our homepage. But look for other special features. We will be posting photo slide shows on Derby fashion and celebrities throughout the day. For the race itself, we will have a slide show from the start to the winner’s circle that will include sound and the call of the race.  We’ll also be providing audio clips of interviews with the winning owner, trainer and jockey.

Mike Johnson
Deputy Managing Editor

Sweet Sixteen in Cyberspace

The Sweet Sixteen is taking place in Rupp Arena this week, always a special time of year for Kentuckians. The Herald-Leader, as always, has a team of reporters and photographers covering the event. But this year we’ve added some special coverage on Kentucky.com

Mike Fields, known around the state for his unmatched coverage of high school sports, has jumped into cyberspace. Mike is blogging throughout the tournament offering the kind of coverage and insight that only he can provide as the game are played. If can't get out to the games, this is a great way to keep up with the action as it's happening.

We’re also offering multimedia coverage of the tournament online for the first time. We’re producing photo slide shows of every game, accompanied by audio that provides sounds from the arena and a highlights report of each game by online reporter Todd Van Campen.

Mike Johnson
Deputy Managing Editor

Preparing for March Madness in Kentucky

Kentuckians love their basketball. That passion is never more evident than during March Marchness when tournaments get underway. Fans are buzzing and teams are playing around the state at every level — from preps to small colleges to major colleges.

The Herald-Leader sports staff must juggle resources and news space among all the schools in our coverage area. Like any tournament, we must change as the brackets unfold each night. It is our most challenging, and exciting, time of year. We deal with the deadline rush of daily tournament games while at the same time cranking out special sections. We provide a live special section on the NCAA tournament — a section that is produced in fewer than six hours. 

Once the tournaments start, we must decide how to divide our people among the various tournaments and sites. UK is naturally a priority. Another factor may be a school’s proximity, and if it is in our circulation area. We do a special boys' Sweet 16 section the Wednesday the tournament starts in Lexington.  It is only four days ahead of that when we know who the tournament teams will be.  We also do special coverage advancing the girls' Sweet 16 in Bowling Green. A welcome challenge this year is the UK women. Their success means we will dedicate a writer to follow them – a writer who in the past would have been helping cover another tournament.  We don’t get extra people with new teams, we just move our staff members around to try to best meet readers' needs and be fair to the teams.

Readers see our writers' bylines, but that is only part of the story. We have a staff of page designers, copy editors and headline writers who work well into the early morning hours to put together each day's Sports section. It all makes for a hectic, chaotic and somewhat stressful month. It is our version of Madness – but one we enjoy, because we know you are reading closely.

Gene Abell
Sports Editor