UCLA, USC fans looking for the rest of the story
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UCLA and USC football fans may be fierce rivals, but if there’s one thing they agree on, it’s that they want coverage of the games in their morning paper. But on Sunday, many were disappointed to find only halftime scores of Saturday night’s Stanford-UCLA and Virginia-USC games.
The deadline for the first edition of the Sunday paper is 9:30 p.m., and for the late edition, it’s 10:30 p.m. The late deadline this week was extended until 11 p.m. specifically for coverage of the UCLA and USC games. When all goes as planned, that late edition should reach at least 70% of the Sunday circulation, which this week was about 928,000.
However, all did not go as planned. ‘We were having issues on one press,’ said Russ Newton, senior vice president for operations. That resulted in the late news reaching only about 60% of Sunday newspapers. The margin is significant -- more than 90,000 papers.
Associate Editor Randy Harvey said reporters and editors had made their deadlines. “Sports hit its mark, but, ultimately, it didn’t pay off with the numbers we hoped for due to circumstances beyond our control,” he said.
The Times heard from a number of unhappy fans.
William Green of Granada Hills was one of them. “So after sitting through the miserable UCLA game at the Rose Bowl Saturday night, I pick up my morning L.A. Times Sports section to read the analysis that I have enjoyed through the years, and what do I find? A few details on the early moments of the first half and a bunch of filler articles obviously written before kickoff, and the halftime score,” he e-mailed. “What on Earth has happened to the Sports section, the main reason I still subscribe to the paper?”
He wasn’t alone.
From Michael Alley Jr. of Glendora: “How is it possible that in reporting Saturday night’s football game between UCLA and Stanford that you only printed the halftime score of 13-0 in your final Sunday morning edition? Believe me, I do understand about deadlines, but you only reported up to halftime? I highly suggest that The Times does not do something stupid like this again.”
From Doug Bohlmann in Lake Forest: “Wow, front page articles on USC and UCLA first-half results. I know you’re pinching pennies, but come on, the games didn’t end that late to provide them with full coverage.”
From Phillip Kaplan of Irvine: “I opened the Sunday Sports section expecting to read coverage of USC’s home game against Virginia. Instead, I read a couple paragraphs about the first half (completely unsatisfying). Did the Times’ reporters cut out early to beat traffic? A 7:30 p.m. home game is not too late to cover for a paper sold on the promise of ‘local news.’ ”
From Jim McDermott: “I was planning to read about the USC football game. I got a Cliffs Notes version that ended at the first half, saying go to the L.A. Times website for ‘complete’ coverage. I have always expected, and still do, complete coverage in the Sunday paper. I know the newspaper industry is in dire straits, but publishing ‘half the story’ will only bring on the demise quicker.”
At left, UCLA quarterback Kevin Prince is chased from the pocket by Stanford’s Max Bergen. Credit: Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times. At right, USC’s Jordan Cameron catches a touchdown pass in front of Viginia’s Corey Mosley. Credit: Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times