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July 20, 2006

Dear AP Sounding Board members,

Editors at 12 publications responded to our survey on AP's World Cup soccer tournament coverage – stories, photos, graphics, multimedia and TV.

Based on the replies, AP material dominated members' print and online services, where AP video was also available. Syndicates' copy was used by some to supplement AP.

Even though the U.S. team was eliminated in the first round, panelists said their newspaper coverage remained consistent throughout the month-long tournament. Most newspapers devoted up to a page or more daily to stories and illustrations of the matches and other developments. Some gave front-page placement to the tourney kickoff and Italy's victory. Many also linked throughout the tournament to AP's multimedia presentations.

Survey comments were highly complimentary of the AP team effort, including these words of praise: "good feel for the emotion," "previews and match stories worked well," "coverage worked great," "consistency and quality of preview material" stood out.

Editors said feedback from their audiences varied, though was mostly low key. One panelist saw a definite "hunger" by readers for Cup coverage. Another said his paper "had been criticized for a lack of soccer coverage in the past. Not so here." Others described reader reaction as "modest" or "almost none, which is good. They would certainly complain if they were displeased."

A couple of editors singled out "big-picture stories" or "more specialized but not necessarily better" story coverage from some syndicates. One noted, "In a perfect world, it would've been nice to get a shot of the infamous head-butt" by France's Zinedine Zidane against Marco Materazzi of Italy.

Mike Feldman, AP's deputy director of photography, said of that red-card incident in the Italy-France final: "No still photographer had the actual head butt. We have only aftermath of Materazzi on the ground and Zidane walking away." When FIFA organizers wouldn't permit frame-grabbing from TV, "it took a day to find a network that said they had frame grabbing rights ... via ABC we finally had something on Tuesday."

Many thanks to all who took the time to participate in this survey. Results will be scrutinized by senior AP editors for coverage post-mortems and future planning. Full responses follow, in the order of receipt.

— Dave Minthorn

Ron Fritz, sports editor, The News Journal, Wilmington, Del.

1. Did AP's tournament coverage meet your needs in all formats:

Stories: Yes _X_ No __ elaborate: For our purposes, I don't think AP missed one big story.

Photos: Yes _X_ No __ elaborate: Photos were good, and timely. Didn't have to wait for shots.

Graphics: Yes _X_ No __ elaborate: We didn't have space for many graphics, but I liked what I saw.

Multimedia: Yes _X_ No __ elaborate: We thought the multimedia was pretty good.

Television: Yes n/a No n/a elaborate:

2, Did you use any other news services for World Cup coverage?

Yes _X_ No __ If so, which service(s) and what was notable about those reports? Gannett News Service simply because we're part of the newspaper company.

3, How many columns or pages daily did you devote to the World Cup? An average of three columns a day.

4, What was the feedback from your audience on World Cup coverage? I actually spent Sunday at an Italian restaurant watching the game and they liked the coverage. They were big fans of the paper.

Mike Dimauro, assistant sports editor, The Day, New London, Conn.:

1. Stories: Yes __ No __ elaborate: We felt the stories were thorough and well done.

Photos: Yes __ No __ elaborate: Same as the stories. Gave a good feel for the emotion.

Graphics: Yes __ No __ elaborate: We didn't run any.

2, We used all AP copy.

3, We devoted about a page a day; one story on the section front, a jump and some kind of sidebar or roundup inside.

4, Much positive feedback. We had been criticized for a lack of soccer coverage in the past. Not so here.

Bill McMillan, assistant managing editor, Detroit News:

1. Stories: Yes _X_ No __ elaborate:

Photos: Yes _X_ No __ elaborate:

Graphics: Yes _X_ No __ elaborate:

Multimedia: Yes _X_ No __ elaborate:

Television: Yes __ No __ elaborate:

2, Yes __ No _X_ We used AP for the bulk of the coverage, but also used MNG and NY Times for features, too.

3, Averaged 3 cols a day

4, There definitely was a hunger by readers this year. We had several breaking stories with Yzerman and Shanahan leaving the Wings and the red-hot Tigers and our readers let us know when we didn't give the World Cup bigger play.

Brian Kollars, sports editor, Dayton (Ohio) Daily News:

1. Stories: Yes _X_ No __ elaborate:

Photos: Yes _X_ No __ elaborate: In a perfect world, it would've been nice to get a shot of the infamous head-butt.

Graphics: Yes _X_ No __ elaborate:

Multimedia: Yes __ No __ elaborate:

Television: Yes __ No __ elaborate:

2, Yes _X_ No __ We used some copy from our sister paper in Atlanta to go with AP stories.

3, 3-5 columns

4, Generally positive. I think the timing was right for this event. There wasn't much else going on, so sports fans paid attention. Put it up against the NFL and it's back-page news.

J.R. Ogden, sports editor, The Gazette, Cedar Rapids, Iowa:

1. Stories: Yes _X_ No __ elaborate: Previews and match stories worked well for our needs.

Photos: Yes _X_ No __ elaborate: Photos were outstanding throughout the tournament

Graphics: Yes _X_ No __ elaborate:

Multimedia: Yes __ No __ elaborate:

Television: Yes __ No __ elaborate:

2, Yes _X_ No __ We used some Knight-Ridder features to supplement, but 95 percent was AP.

3, We ran a roundup every day, probably around 20-25 inches, plus a photo or two. It did vary, for sure. When U.S. played we played it on the cover and we also had one of the semifinals on the cover (the other fell on a busy local day). We also centerpieced the final on Monday. We run an "Opinion Page" every Tuesday where we run columns from around the country. I used a World Cup one each week.

4, Actually, very little, which is a good thing. If our coverage did not meet the needs of our readers, we would have heard complaints. Soccer fans are very vocal.

James Day, sports editor, Statesman Journal, Salem, Ore.:

1. Stories: Yes _X_ No __ elaborate: One thing that stood out for us was the consistency and quality of the preview material. Starting with a piece on United States goalkeeper Kasey Keller living in a castle in Germany we published material every Sunday in the final month/ six weeks leading up to the games. Features on the top players and teams, plus capsules that we published three or four days before the games began. Also really liked the World Cup today feature. We were able to make use of it in notes and rails. Ditto for the capsule / predictions on the quarterfinals and semifinals. One puzzling gap was that there was no story budgeted to preview the Italy-Germany semifinal. We had to cobble something together from other files. There was a preview the next day for the France-Portugal semifinal. We also found the stories produced for Tuesday, 7-11 editions on France's Zinedine Zidane to be confusing. There was a Zidane story, a France reax story, a Robert Millward story, all leading with Zidane and all referencing different facets of the story.

Photos: Yes _X_ No __ elaborate: Volume, scope and breadth all were exemplary. If a match had a key play, AP had a picture of it. Great job.

Graphics: Yes __ No _X_ elaborate: We're kind of in a graphics-challenged environment right now because of resource issues. We used other elements: logo, Online teaser boxes, TV information, standings and pairings to give readers more entry points on our packages.

Multimedia: Yes _X_ No __ elaborate: We linked to AP's site for World Cup extras.

Television: Yes __ No __ elaborate: Does not apply.

2, Yes _X_ No __ The bulk of our report was AP. Used some USA Today and LA Times. Grahame Jones of the L.A. Times produced some of the best material we saw, although we really did not have space for some of the feature / trend / analytical pieces he produced.

3, Two full pages of preview coverage, daily roundups, leading up to a quarter of a page or so for quarterfinals and semifinals. Full page preview of finals. Full page results of finals.

4, We got a modest amount of feedback, some from readers who wanted more coverage, some responding to columns and blogs I had written, some suggesting changes in the game because of controversies that resulted.

Rob Wieman, night sports editor, The News Tribune, Tacoma, Wash.:

1. Stories: Yes _X_ No __ elaborate: We made consistent use of the notebooks.

Photos: Yes _X_ No __ elaborate: Almost too many. Not enough time to go through them all.

Graphics: Yes _X_ No __ elaborate:

Multimedia: Yes __ No __ elaborate: N/A.

Television: Yes __ No __ elaborate: N/A.

2, Yes _X_ No __ Bloomberg, NYT, McClatchy. More specialized coverage, not necessarily better.

3, Up to a page per day. Usually about half a page.

4, Mostly quiet. There isn't much of an appetite for international soccer here.

Tom Batzold, sports editor, Democrat and Chronicle, Rochester, N.Y.:

1. Stories: Yes _X_ No __ elaborate:

Photos: Yes _X_ No __ elaborate: Almost too many!

Graphics: Yes _X_ No __ elaborate:

Multimedia: Yes _X_ No __ elaborate:

Television: Yes __ No __ elaborate:

2, Yes _X_ No __ Gannett News Service

3, Depended on the day, plus whether USA was still playing. Never more than two pages.

4, We augmented wire with local coverage. Seemed more people were interested this year. Overall: Coverage was great. We'd like to see better coverage on USA events, such as NBA Finals. We wait far too long for AP stories, box scores on events in our country.

Shannon Connor, sports editor, Arizona Daily Star, Tucson, Ariz.:

1. Stories: Yes _X_ No __ elaborate: In the early rounds, we did a lot of advance coverage. For those bigger stories, we used other wire services – Cox, NYT etc. We also attached a roundup of the day's games and the AP coverage provided worked well.

Photos: Yes _X_ No __ elaborate: We used at least two photos a day – sometimes 3 or 4. I really enjoyed the photos – especially ones in the crowd or out in the streets. The atmosphere was captured.

Graphics: Yes __ No _X_ elaborate: About 3-4 of our graphics were created in house. We didn't have space for many graphics as the month progressed

Multimedia: Yes _X_ No __ elaborate: Our site, azstarnet.com, used ALL AP items. The stuff was well received.

Television: Yes __ No __ elaborate: n/a

2, Yes _X_ No __ As I said above, we used big-picture stories from The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, The NYT, The LA Times, The Chicago Tribune, etc. We did this because the quality of the bigger-picture stories was better. The stories weren't as vanilla. That said, on July 8, we used a WC AP story that was an overview of the tournament and it was excellent.

3, From 3 to 6 each day.

4, This was difficult because the hard core World Cup fans weren't looking at us and the "regular" sports fan didn't care so much about the World Cup. We did not get a lot of feedback.

We kicked it off with a great presence on A1, Sports and then a double-truck inside – with a fan's guide to the event. That was well received by all and a fun, big effort.

Roy Hewitt, sports editor, The Plain Dealer, Cleveland:

1. Stories: Yes _X_ No __ elaborate:

Photos: Yes _X_ No __ elaborate:

Graphics: Yes _X_ No __ elaborate:

Multimedia: Yes __ No __ elaborate:

Television: Yes __ No __ elaborate:

2, Yes __ No _X_

3, 1 to 2 columns a day.

4, Almost none, which is good. They would certainly complain if they were displeased.

Nick Pugliese, senior editor/multimedia sports, The Tampa Tribune, Tampa, Fla.:

1. Stories: Yes _X_ No __ elaborate:

Photos: Yes _X_ No __ elaborate:

Graphics: Yes _X_ No __ elaborate:

Multimedia: Yes __ No _X_ elaborate:

Television: Yes __ No _X_ elaborate:

(NOTE: a check today showed AP's extensive multimedia coverage of the World Cup was linked at www.tampatrib.com)

2, Yes _X_ No __ Getty for photos.

3, We had a full page inside almost every day of the tournament with a front-page presence about half the time.

4, Very good, even after the U.S. was eliminated.

Bill Rose, managing editor, The Palm Beach Post, Palm Beach, Fla.:

1. Stories: Yes _X_ No __ elaborate:

Photos: Yes __ No _X_ elaborate: I believe we had to go to Getty Images for the all-important head-butt photo.

Graphics: Yes _X_ No __ elaborate:

Multimedia: Yes __ No __ elaborate: n/a

Television: Yes __ No __ elaborate: n/a

2, Yes _X_ No __ We used the Tribune Company (Graham Jones). That's not necessarily a knock on AP but a nod to the L.A. Times' good coverage.

3, Six

4, Positive. There was probably more interest – I'm basing that on good TV ratings – than we anticipated.

Dave Minthorn, manager, AP News Administration, coordinates the questions and answers. Newspaper editors wishing to suggest a topic can send an e-mail to Minthorn at dminthorn@ap.org.

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