j mart... was very good, and i used to watch him closely.
he rarely asked questions at press conferences. he did almost everything in one-on-one settings, which helped him get decent answers (subjects will typically answer more freely when cameras aren't in their face). he consistently got quotes and info that others didn't have, and this is (largely) why he was the guy the fans most wanted to read.
if i got a job at the topeka paper tomorrow, covering k-state sports, i'm certain that i could become a relevant media person that fans would want to read. not because i'm a good writer (i actually think i'm a shitty writer), but because i feel like i have an understanding of what fans want to read.
jmart was a great reporter for this level, no question. but he didn't ask provocative questions, that i can recall at least. you don't think asking the kind of questions you mentioned above would impair your ability to get future info? even just tamed down versions of those questions? or you just wouldn't care?
j mart was a great reporter for any level. he didn't ask provocative questions at pressers because he (rightly) didn't want reporters at the KC Star, TCJ, GoPowercat, etc., to benefit from his intuitiveness. for example, let's say he exclusively found out that ron prince ran his players at 3 a.m. after a loss to louisville. he woudn't ask prince about this at a presser because he'd be simultaneously informing everybody else in the media. so, more likely, he would get players one-on-one and ask them what happened...while making them fully aware that he knew what happened.
the next day, j mart has an interesting story, while the rest of the media publishes the same player feature about antwon moore or something equally irrelevant.
the reason why coaches and players rarely give reporters anything good is because they don't respect them. day after day, john calipari, for example, has to answer the same dumb questions. "what does it mean to be so great?" ... "what is the pressure like?" ... "how does it feel to be so good?" ... and on and on. the questions are predictable and lazy and useless. john calipari learns nothing from his exchanges with reporters.
now, compare that to the national guys, writers like jeff goodman or gary parrish. these guys get scoops all the time, and seem to have a great relationship with coaches. here's why: because they've earned the respect of the coaches. the coaches realize that these guys constantly work the phones, constantly ask questions, constantly dig for info about every team and every coach and every player. so, when tom crean or buzz williams or even oscar weber talks with goodman, there's actually a decent chance that crean or buzz or oscar will LEARN something FROM goodman.
do you think oscar learns much from arnie? or d scott? or kellis? i highly doubt it. the current coach-media relationship is set up so that the media takes, takes, takes and gives basically nothing to the coaches in return. back in the day, the media could say, "we give you coverage! we are the reason why your sport is so popular!"
but in 2015, the media can't play that card anymore. these teams...from k-state to kentucky...no longer need the print media. k-state could hire its own team of writers, videographers, etc., and fans would be plenty informed. the print media, largely, is irrelevant. instead of trying harder, they keep doing what they've always done, they don't evolve, and i suspect they'll be extinct sooner rather than later.
