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Cutter's Log - Stardate 0102.10.30
Current Song - Take a Bow (Madonna)

In an effort to cut travel costs, many newspapers are making deals with opposing teams' newspapers to cover their "road" games. One reporter is at the game, instead of the home reporter and visitor reporter.

Two ways in doing this can be done: That one reporter may write a version of the article in the home view, and then edit the piece to make it look like one in the visitor's view. The other way has to do with schools that have more than one paper covering them; one writer will write the same article for both papers.

It's a step in the right direction for the newspapers. What used to be capsules are now actually written by someone. No company is more active in this than Shaw, and the Small Group realizes this: pieces seen in the Dispatch/Argus and Ottawa Times are being seen in Shaw papers and vice versa. Another plus on the Shaw side will be the formation of the Northern Illinois Big 12, which has three Shaw connections (SV/Morris/DeKalb).

The biggest complaint that will rise from all of this will be the "bias" or "slant" toward the reporter's primary team. They'll say, "why didn't the paper send a reporter to this game?" Hopefully they now know of this important cost-cutting measure in order to keep the good sports sections still looking good.