Irish Independent jouno Conor George gets caught rapih' [MOD WARNING POST 36]

Podge_irl

Swiwi. wrote: »

It definitely is for me. Sure if they are just regurgitating soundbites etc any journalist will do, but for a proper analytical piece I like someone who has a bit of knowledge: hence I would always read Brian Moore for example.

And thus Swiwi pisses on all my Talking Rugby contributions in one fell swoop.

Ugo Monye spacecraft experience

Did you play rugby to a high enough level Swiwi? Genuine question, not being smart!

irishbucsfan

Should also be noted there are some ex-players who are very poor writers as well.

P.Walnuts

I'm not sure I agree with you have to have played in order to be a good writer/analyst at all. It's not the case in other sports, I don't know why rugby would be any different

Swiwi.

Ugo Monye spacecraft experience wrote: »

Did you play rugby to a high enough level Swiwi? Genuine question, not being smart!

Depends on your definition of high enough, I suppose...

I gracefully departed the playing scene at the tender age of 16. Had played rep rugby for Canterbury, though, so if I'd kept on you might have seen me running onto the Aviva this weekend :pac:

peckerhead

It's all gone to hell since Franno's been gone, tbh.

Quint2010

peckerhead wrote: »

It's all gone to hell since Franno's been gone, tbh.

Franco is still there writing for The Hedild and The Sindo..

its_phil

peckerhead wrote: »

It's all gone to hell since Franno's been gone, tbh.

If only he was gone, the rugby writing world would be a better place. A close contest between Hook and Francis for biggest rugby dinosaur.

bilston

Quint2010 wrote: »

Franco is still there writing for The Hedild and The Sindo..

Does he write in Spanish?;)

Quint2010

bilston wrote: »

Does he write in Spanish?;)

Yeah-and double-dutch...:D

.ak

No personal abuse of pundits/players/posters/etc tolerated. Posts deleted.

[Jackass]

I do often wonder what qualifies these people to be sports or rugby analysts. Conor George went to Cork IT and studied English or something (Do they even do English degree's in IT's?) then wrote for a tiny local newspaper before becoming a national journo.

He probably had a Munster fan piece in a local Munster paper and is now a national journo. From what I can gather he's never so much as caught a rugby ball and has learned everything he knows from Munsterfans.com, so do we really need to just hear him go through the thoughts of others in a national paper?

His articles are hardly worthy of an online blog, and he's just another internet waffler like the rest of us, not a respected pundit. And when he starts coming out with things like calling the national captain of the time a "twat" (or whatever he said) and has other tweets drunk about Irish / Leinster players or management, you really need to wonder, what are they thinking employing this guy?

Why don't they have real rugby people with real opinions and an actual clue, not arm chair muppets - Brent Pope, Girvan Dempsey, Mick O'Driscoll, Eddie O'Sullivan, Mike Ruddock - there must be endless candidates of people who would be interested in doing it, pay them for a few sample pieces and give them a few articles and see how it goes down with the readers...

Conor George has a thread here, on Leinster fans, UAFC.co.uk and a sticky on Munster fans, all of which either suggest doing or actually do ban his articles (by his very own Munster buddies) from being published or discussed - he's a fool to every rugby fan and a special embarrasment to Munster fans. Without question he'll lose his job, I'm just amazed it's taking so long...

jamiedav2011

its_phil wrote: »

If only he was gone, the rugby writing world would be a better place. A close contest between Hook and Francis for biggest rugby dinosaur.

Franno can come out with some great insight in fairness, along with some awful tripe.

He's more hit and miss than Hook's constant miss, and more high and low than a Toland or Quinlan for eg.

.ak

[Jackass] wrote: »

I do often wonder what qualifies these people to be sports or rugby analysts. Conor George went to Cork IT and studied English or something (Do they even do English degree's in IT's?) then wrote for a tiny local newspaper before becoming a national journo.

He probably had a Munster fan piece in a local Munster paper and is now a national journo. From what I can gather he's never so much as caught a rugby ball and has learned everything he knows from Munsterfans.com, so do we really need to just hear him go through the thoughts of others in a national paper?

His articles are hardly worthy of an online blog, and he's just another internet waffler like the rest of us, not a respected pundit. And when he starts coming out with things like calling the national captain of the time a "twat" (or whatever he said) and has other tweets drunk about Irish / Leinster players or management, you really need to wonder, what are they thinking employing this guy?

Why don't they have real rugby people with real opinions and an actual clue, not arm chair muppets - Brent Pope, Girvan Dempsey, Mick O'Driscoll, Eddie O'Sullivan, Mike Ruddock - there must be endless candidates of people who would be interested in doing it, pay them for a few sample pieces and give them a few articles and see how it goes down with the readers...

Conor George has a thread here, on Leinster fans, UAFC.co.uk and a sticky on Munster fans, all of which either suggest doing or actually do ban his articles (by his very own Munster buddies) from being published or discussed - he's a fool to every rugby fan and a special embarrasment to Munster fans. Without question he'll lose his job, I'm just amazed it's taking so long...

He isn't employed by the Indo anymore.

[Jackass]

.ak wrote: »

He isn't employed by the Indo anymore.

Ha! Nice! I didn't read back through the thread to see why he had come back up again, but now it makes sense!

Good riddance.

jamiedav2011

[Jackass] wrote: »

I do often wonder what qualifies these people to be sports or rugby analysts. Conor George went to Cork IT and studied English or something (Do they even do English degree's in IT's?) then wrote for a tiny local newspaper before becoming a national journo.

He probably had a Munster fan piece in a local Munster paper and is now a national journo. From what I can gather he's never so much as caught a rugby ball and has learned everything he knows from Munsterfans.com, so do we really need to just hear him go through the thoughts of others in a national paper?

His articles are hardly worthy of an online blog, and he's just another internet waffler like the rest of us, not a respected pundit. And when he starts coming out with things like calling the national captain of the time a "twat" (or whatever he said) and has other tweets drunk about Irish / Leinster players or management, you really need to wonder, what are they thinking employing this guy?

Why don't they have real rugby people with real opinions and an actual clue, not arm chair muppets - Brent Pope, Girvan Dempsey, Mick O'Driscoll, Eddie O'Sullivan, Mike Ruddock - there must be endless candidates of people who would be interested in doing it, pay them for a few sample pieces and give them a few articles and see how it goes down with the readers...

Conor George has a thread here, on Leinster fans, UAFC.co.uk and a sticky on Munster fans, all of which either suggest doing or actually do ban his articles (by his very own Munster buddies) from being published or discussed - he's a fool to every rugby fan and a special embarrasment to Munster fans. Without question he'll lose his job, I'm just amazed it's taking so long...

I'd take issue with parts of that. Firstly, you don't necessarily need to have done a journalism masters, or to have played the game to a high level to be an excellent journalist.

Similarly, players don't always (and often don't) make good journalists, in print certainly.

Most journalists would start at a small paper before graduating to a national in fairness, and CG is a special embarrassment to Munster fans? Seriously?!

.ak

.ak wrote: »

No personal abuse of pundits/players/posters/etc tolerated. Posts deleted.

*cough*

Name calling included, no matter how trivial you think it is.. it's all precedent. Posts deleted.

Larbre34

At least it shows there are still some editorial standards in sport in this Country, eventually. Mind you, I still wouldnt line the dog basket with a free Indo.

[Jackass]

jamiedav2011 wrote: »

I'd take issue with parts of that. Firstly, you don't necessarily need to have done a journalism masters, or to have played the game to a high level to be an excellent journalist.

Of course, but it helps. The point I was making is that he had one of the highest profile jobs in Irish sports journalism with little or no stand out qualifications. SOME of the following would help: A popular article in a regional (not local) paper that was respected and had run for a number of years, strong journalism educational and credentials, a history or special knowledge of the area in which you are being employed to write, demonstrated ability of garnishing respect and following for your abilities (such as an online blog or ezine column). He has none of the above.

jamiedav2011 wrote: »

Similarly, players don't always (and often don't) make good journalists, in print certainly.

Of course this is true, but that's why I was saying feel out people with the knowledge, multiple interested parties, get some sample pieces, whoever gets past the editor give them a few articles in the paper and see who goes down well with the reading public.

jamiedav2011 wrote: »

CG is a special embarrassment to Munster fans? Seriously?!

http://www.munsterfans.com/threads/32894-Conor-George-Ban-All-Articles

Buer

[Jackass] wrote: »

Of course, but it helps. The point I was making is that he had one of the highest profile jobs in Irish sports journalism with little or no stand out qualifications. SOME of the following would help: A popular article in a regional (not local) paper that was respected and had run for a number of years, strong journalism educational and credentials, a history or special knowledge of the area in which you are being employed to write, demonstrated ability of garnishing respect and following for your abilities (such as an online blog or ezine column). He has none of the above.

You can say that about multiple journalists. Having the above doesn't really help you to be a better journalist; it helps you get your foot in the door. If you've a flair for writing and an ability to analyse and understand the game then you're well ahead of most.

Also, he worked for regional papers. The Evening Echo is a regional paper. Just because it's based in Cork does not mean it's specific to Cork alone. He had written for years as a journalist for various publications and in an editing role. I thought his writing was pretty poor but to say he had not stand out qualifications is just clearly incorrect.

[Jackass]

It's not incorrect. He was a terrible writer and had no distinct qualifications. I don't think that can be disputed. My points are about how he got there in the first place, and the fact that he doesn't have any of the things I mentioned (or you did) and the fact that he has lost his job clearly show that to be correct. He should never have gotten the job in the first place. The Indo made a mistake which they've now rectified.

As you said, what I mentioned will get you in the door, the reason it gets your foot in the door is because you are qualified for the job. But you say that doesn't make you a great journalist as "If you've a flair for writing and an ability to analyse and understand the game then you're well ahead of most. ", which is all well and good, but if he had that skill we wouldn't be having this discussion, and clearly he doesn't considering he's been fired.

So I'm not sure why there is an argument over me saying he was never qualified.

If you can't demonstrate a strong rugby knowledge (such as a player or coach), you would want to have heavy qualifications on the other side of the spectrum, such as a fantastic writer. He has neither.

durkadurka

We don't know that he's been fired. He does appear to have left the indo, but we don't know under what circumstances

Ugo Monye spacecraft experience

There isn't really a "qualification" in Journalism though, and this is coming from someone with a BA in Journalism!

It's something a lot of reporters George's age would have learned in papers like the Echo. Another example is the off the ball guys, a lot of them wouldn't have a direct qualification in journalism but would have cut their teeth working as researchers in different local and national radio stations

There's a big difference between standard sports reporting and opinion pieces too. George should have been kept well away from the latter

.ak

durkadurka wrote: »

We don't know that he's been fired. He does appear to have left the indo, but we don't know under what circumstances

This. Be careful with speculation people.

Buer

[Jackass] wrote: »

So I'm not sure why there is an argument over me saying he was never qualified. .

If you don't think having 16 years experience as a sports journalist and editor makes you qualified to be a sports journalist with another newspaper then I'm afraid I can't help you with your confusion.

Ugo Monye spacecraft experience

Rightwing wrote: »

The standard of journalism, sports and across the board is woeful. No wonder the sales are in the dumps.

Is it?

And even if it was the sales are "in the dumps" because of the massive amounts of free content on the internet

jamiedav2011

Rightwing wrote: »

The standard of journalism, sports and across the board is woeful. No wonder the sales are in the dumps.

It's not at all, if you know where to look.
Kimmage, Walsh, Peter O'Reilly, Murray Kinsella, Miguel Delaney, Dan McDonnell, Thornley (at times), Eugene McKenna, Damien Lawlor, Enda McEvoy, Christy O'Connor, Ken Earley, Malachy Browne, Ger Gilroy etc etc.

All brilliant insightful Irish journalists.

Falling sales have little or no correlation with the standard of journalism.

[Jackass]

Buer wrote: »

If you don't think having 16 years experience as a sports journalist and editor makes you qualified to be a sports journalist with another newspaper then I'm afraid I can't help you with your confusion.

16 years? Was he the editor in chief of the school news letter? Also, a number of years being consistantly bad at a job doesn't make you qualified.

His previous "skills" should have highlighted his "talent" also.

He's been picking up attention for his reporting skills on Munster fans since his echo days - And remember, these are the people he was pandering to! The echo is the journalism equivalent of The Star by the way...

See here: http://www.munsterfans.com/threads/21574-Conor-George-on-the-Echo

He's a clueless fan boy and always has been.

P_1

I think where George and the Indo went wrong was by having him write both reporting and opinion pieces. If he had just stuck to reporting the previews and reviews of matches and kept his opinion private I don't think that he would be the laughing stock that he is now.

Podge_irl

I'm not entirely sure he is capable of keeping his opinion private.