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words-writ-in-starlight · 3 years

Note

For the ask meme: Sarah x Jareth (I almost wrote that as David Bowie), 14, 22, and 29!

I am RIGHT NOW watching Labyrinth with my partners, EXCELLENT timing! Cut for length.

14) When one has a cold, what does the other do?

Jareth has never been “sick” a day in his immortal life. He’s been stabbed, poisoned, cursed, and hungover, but even the weakest goblin is rarely “sick” and Jareth hasn’t spend enough time around mortals to have a good grasp of the fact that nonfatal illnesses even exist.

Point is, there’s an intermediary period between Sarah pointedly ignoring every owl in sight, no matter the coloring, and Sarah becoming the Goblin Queen where she forces him to visit the mortal world more than he has in living memory, including his. (Jareth has a vague sense that he might have been here more often once--perhaps when he was young, before he was King--but he’s been King so long, and the Labyrinth has a chain-tight grip on its own.) Toby is entranced, and also terrified--he doesn’t buy Jareth’s glamour for a second. Sarah spends half her life running interference on Jareth’s behavior, and the other half doing a double major in political sciences and folklore. Which she decided to get before she agreed to start talking to Jareth again, thank you, kindly fuck off.

Point is, eventually even Sarah’s suspiciously excellent immune system clocks out for the day, and she wakes up with a splitting headache, a wet and congested cough, and a sense that her skin is being abraded by even her softest sheets. She’s not sick-sick, it’s just a nasty head cold with a fever, but she calls out of class and flops down on the couch and mumbles non-answers to the goblin who lives in the top of her closet when it scuttles out to see why she’s still home.

She doesn’t even realize Jareth is there until she feels a shadow fall over her and cracks an eye to peer up at him blearily.

“What’s wrong with you?” he asks in his most forbidding Goblin King voice, and she groans and pulls her blanket over her head.

“Go away, Jareth, I’m tired.”

“I will not,” he says automatically as he jerks the blanket down to her shoulder, and then he’s crouching down in front of her, mismatched eyes dangerous and inhumanly bright in the yellow light of her little dorm apartment. “Who did this to you, Sarah? I will not leave without an answer.”

“No one,” she says, squinting up at him. “It’s just a cold.”

“’Cold’,” he repeats, in the same skeptical way that he said ‘phone’ when she complained about his unannounced visits. “I am not aware of that particular toxin.”

“I’m just sick, it’s not like I’ve been poisoned.”

“An illness?” He pauses, pulls a glove off one hand and reaches out to touch her cheek experimentally. His fingers are always cold compared to hers, and she shivers hard when he touches her skin, but he doesn’t flinch. There’s something odd on his face, a locked-up hardness, and he says, “What is it?”

“A cold,” Sarah says again, pulling her blankets back up to her chin and shutting her eyes. “I’m just going to feel like garbage for a few days. Probably less if you let me sleep. Come back and bother me on Saturday.”

He doesn’t leave. Whatever, Sarah decides--that’s his problem. She’s tired and feverish and annoyed and she’s going to sleep whether Jareth likes it or not. She thinks he’s talking to someone--probably that snitch in the closet--about something--sounded vaguely like library and cold--but that’s Not Her Concern. Sarah is done here. She feels the end of the couch sink down by her feet just before she falls asleep.

When she wakes up, the Goblin King is still there, reading a book filched from one of her shelves, pen tapping idly against his lips--he’s marking up the fairy tales again, god, she hates his guts sometimes--and there’s a series of tidy piles on the rickety coffee table. It looks like someone robbed a pharmacy and cleaned out their Cough And Cold aisle, and then sorted their booty by color, which suggests probably goblins just smart enough to recognize a word their king showed them, but not smart enough to read the labels.

Sarah smiles a little and grabs some cough drops from the top of the red pile, and condescends to drape her legs over Jareth’s lap before she goes back to sleep.

22) Where does their first kiss happen?

Sarah has a much harder time in college than she expected. Not with being away from home, although she does miss Toby something awful and spends every second of her breaks with him. No, the problem is that she has to share a room. All the way through freshman year, she has a roommate, and--

And the roommate is fine, she’s a perfectly inoffensive girl from Chicago who keeps her things on her own side of the shoebox room they share and doesn’t bring anyone back to the room and never makes noise late at night, but Sarah hates it. She can’t quite put her finger on why--is a little afraid of what she might say if pressed, if she’s honest. She has these half-finished thoughts that involve words like territory and invader and mine. Sarah has worked very hard not to be a selfish teenager or, possibly worse, the kind of girl who sometimes talks to a Goblin King and wonders privately if his final offer was serious.

Sarah has no plans to be the Goblin Queen, is the point, no matter what Hoggle mutters under his breath when she admits, the summer after her first year of college, that she’s talking to Jareth again. (He just--he can come see her, there, and he can look like a person, and none of her other friends can, and people are weirdly nervous of Sarah, these days, and she was lonely, okay, so she let an owl into her room while her roommate was gone, and let them who never made a bad choice in college throw the first stone.) And that means getting over herself and never voicing any of the thoughts that creep into her head about how her roommate, who has every right to sleep here, deserves to be thrown in an oubliette for disturbing Sarah’s peace.

Sarah is better than that, these days.

The only person who isn’t fooled is, of course, Jareth, who is very perceptive and also very persistently determined to visit regularly. He smothers smirks when he sees Sarah force herself to be kind, and once offers, sweet as arsenic, to take Sarah’s roommate off her hands if you just say the right words, precious. Sarah glares at him and pointedly turns her back, and he laughs as he leaves. But he never does anything to her roommate, and Sarah doesn’t think about how Jareth never actually does anything to her space or anything in it, and doesn’t think about the rules that fairy tales handed down for millennia about places that fall under the power of a creature not to be toyed with.

She’s signed up to room with the same girl for sophomore year, because she doesn’t have a reason to claim a single and seniors always snap up the free ones. But she shows up to get her key, and the registrar frowns and clicks a few things and then shrugs and hands Sarah a key. He gives Sarah directions to one of the buildings up-campus, and Sarah goes, not particularly suspicious--she’s never been to the up-campus buildings, because people are nervous around Sarah and, while she’s manages to make a friend or two, no one really invites her back to their room. Into their space.

Sarah opens her door and stands there, staring, mildly shocked.

Apparently, she is now the proud resident of a senior-only dorm room, one of the very tiny apartments that are supposed to house two people, with a kitchenette and a couch and everything. There’s no one else’s name on the other door. Sarah is late moving in, but there’s no sign of anyone here, except--

The Goblin King is sitting at the desk in the bedroom that gets the most sunlight, feet kicked lazily up on the wooden top and playing a pair of crystals between his fingers, and he smirks at her.

“I know, I know,” he drawls, vanishing the crystals with a twist of his fingers. “I have no power over you. But the school’s quartermaster--”

“Registrar,” Sarah corrects automatically. He makes a dismissive gesture. “Did you--do this?”

“Of course,” Jareth says. “This...situation is apparently the height of luxury at this institution. You did so despise that fluttering creature--”

“Molly was perfectly nice--”

“--and I see no reason for you to endure her for another year.”

Sarah--should really say that he’s an interfering, high-handed bastard who pretends that he has the divine right to arrange her life to his liking, and keeps rules-lawyering his way around her totally legitimate freedom from his interference.

Sarah really doesn’t want to share a room again.

“What do you want in return?” She doesn’t even pretend that she’s not suspicious, and he puts on an offended face, bringing his feet down and pressing his lips together.

“It is a gift, Sarah.”

...oh. Sarah blinks for a moment. He sounds--geniunely annoyed. Gifts are, in her knowledge of the Underground and the fae alike, serious business.

She acts without thinking, takes a step forward and tucks her hair behind her ear, and kisses the high point of his cheekbone above his frown. When she pulls back, she sees a moment of transparent, raw shock before he orders his face into a self-satisfied and haughty raised eyebrow.

“Don’t say anything,” Sarah tells him, feeling her cheeks burn. “If you can keep your mouth shut, this might resemble a nice moment.”

“If I had known that I could claim debts in kisses--”

“You can’t!” Sarah interrupts loudly. “Don’t get any ideas! Now get out and let me unpack!”

29) Why do they fall a little bit more in love?

Jareth is already thoroughly decided that Sarah is eventually going to agree to be his queen, one way or another, by the time she finally sighs and opens her window and tells the owl that if he’s very very good, and doesn’t talk to Toby, and looks like a regular person, she will speak to him just to get him to stop lurking. He breaks all of those rules very quickly, of course, but she doesn’t kick him out--instead, she yells at him, and he puts on his coldest and haughtiest voice as he snaps back at her, and it’s fun. Jareth never could turn down a challenge, and it’s been a long time since he faced a challenge he might lose, and just like the first time, it makes him ruthlessly determined to win.

It’s not news to him, therefore, that he loves her.

She manages to lie, obfuscate, and generally bullshit her way around admitting what she does at school for nearly three years. But she starts writing her thesis and slips up, and Jareth is stretched on her bed in the apartment he arranged for her like he lives there when he idly picks up a piece of paper and skims her proposal and she sees his eyebrow rise slowly before he holds it up at her.

“What’s this, precious?”

“Homework,” she says flatly.

“‘Thesis Proposal,’” he reads aloud, drawling. “‘Sarah Williams. Proposed title: I’d’ve Et Thy Heart of Flesh: Fairy Tales as a Portrait of Royalty Through History. Majors: Folklore and...’” His mocking drawl pauses, and he can’t quite hide his transparent delight as he finishes the sentence. “‘...and Political Science.’”

When he looks up from the page, she has a stubborn set to her mouth and a bright spark in her eyes, almost angry. “It’s not about you, you arrogant prick, I picked my majors years ago. Give me that, I need the notes.”

“And what do fairy tales say about royalty, dearest?”

“That they’re prideful jerks who steal kids for armies and play favorites--the paper, Jareth.”

“And what do you plan to do with your degree in politics?”

“Regicide,” Sarah snaps, and jumps out of her chair to snatch the paper out of his fingers. He lets her, and smiles at the way she blushes stark red across her cheekbones and down her throat, and wonders whether she would like the emerald ring he’s kept in his private chambers for the past three years.

Mortals have been doing diamonds, for betrothals, but he thinks green suits her better.

#labyrinth #sarah williams #jareth #sarah x jareth #otp: what's said is said #starlight writes stuff #this is legitimately three entire mini-fics i'm so sorry i just love them #ask meme #headcanon meme #anyway for the curious the time sarah gets sick is in junior year so these are slightly out of order #sarah and jareth probably get engaged after sarah graduates and she insists on being allowed to go to grad school before anything Else #(she knows there's a time limit on how long she can get away with lingering in the mortal world--she doesn't look quite right anymore)#(she strongly suspects that she's not aging anymore and jareth has NOT been reassuring about it)#so she gets a degree in (basically) monarchies and how they work #this time it IS actually about jareth and he's extremely smug about it #Anonymous #asked and answered #a queue we will keep and our honor someday avenge

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somethingimnotembarassedbylater · 4 years

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identity

this one’s tricky. i don’t know how i feel about it. you can’t categorize a person in one box, but it makes things easier when you have labels doesn’t it? is what i’m doing right now permanent enough to be a title? is what i spent my time doing 3 years ago but still keep up with enough to be a title? what counts as enough?

i started listening to this podcast and honestly its been really interesting. it touched upon the topic of identities, as we know them today, as being a western concept. that statement itself is not hard to come to terms with because the moment you hear it, it clicks - yes. my social learning and unlearning has been done mainly through the internet, which in my case is very largely centered around western ideologies. it’s where i learned how high-schools worked in real life, where i learned sexual health, where i discovered ways of thinking i would have never been exposed to in my day to day life. i’m largely thankful for this, but at some point i realized as well, what i’m learning, i’m learning through the framework of a western mind. that is the standard and it does not budge.

when i think about who i am i can list a couple of things: pakistani, muslim, introvert, really into picturesque things, passionate, private, shy, idealistic, adventurous, vain, insecure, proud, kinda all of it and more. maybe this will change as i grow but maybe it won’t, i don’t know and i don’t think i can ever know. is it really necessary for me to put a title on things because aren’t i fine with the way things are wouldn’t i be doing it for the convenience of others? is it wrong for me to say fuck others when i occupy the same spaces as them? is it my duty to do more? to be more? to define myself?

this may sound a little pretentious to me when i read it again later but i think i just need to start talking to myself to really get to know who i am. who you are isn’t just what you like, it’s also how you react to things, what you’re afraid of, how you interact with the world around you. lemme really think about it, what do i like? i like to watch things, tv shows, movies, foreign films, k-dramas, anime, action movies, documentaries, i don’t think there’s any form of visual media i don’t enjoy consuming and i know i have a problem with being fixated on something very intensely for a little while and then completely forgetting about it. I also love drawing. its something i spend a lot more time on recently but its good to see something real come out of my hands. i think i am a little too into the picturesque things in life. this is a term i learned recently from a book i’ve only read a chapter of and already feel like dropping, and basically the character was also into the picturesque. he was into the visual aesthetic, the beautiful things in life that he over-romanticizes. i feel like i do that too sometimes, or i guess most times because i find myself thinking and viewing my life as a movie, and thinking of the beautiful shots i’d include in the b-roll, or the tender moments as being part of a pivotal scene. maybe that’s detrimental to the actual experience of living but hey, there’s no rules on how to live my life, if this is how younger me decides is a good way to exist then who am i to say no to her? i think i live a very boring and mundane life, like the character in the book does. maybe i should stop comparing myself to him considering he literally commits a murder later on.

i think there are things i could be doing, things i fantasize about me possibly experiencing, things i’ve hear about, things i’ve seen on tv that i could also live, but i don’t think i’ll have the balls to do. maybe it’s a good thing because almost all of them seem like things i’ve been taught against, but it’s lowkey robbing me of my agency in life and what the hell. am i stopping myself from being happy? why would i do that? why would anyone do that? is it because im too shy? to scared? of what though? the repercussions? who would really school me? my parents already have 2 children who live their lives the way they choose to, so why am i different? do i think i somehow don’t deserve that? do i think that i’m better than them? sometimes i just want sarah to shut the fuck up and go live a little, to be out there a little more, to be the person she wants to be, but i always back off, why the hell do i do that? why do i kid myself and say that i’m being a good person by not doing anything, because am i really? i’m just a 19 year old who doesn’t think she has even started living. i see myself as the one in the bleachers, kind dissatisfied with the fact that the racer on the track isn’t there yet, but i’m her, i’m the one that’s meant to be on the starting line, but i don’t see myself even going down the stairs towards the track anytime soon. honestly this sounds sad as fuck, im not even a participant in my own life but when talking to others why do i inflate myself to the point where i make myself believe i’ve actually accomplished something in my life, cause clearly i have not.

this is making me motivated again, nothing like a good old self deprecation to make yourself feel alive again. i want to do things, i do have plans, i want to see things, and i am going to do it. i need more friends though like i know i can do this shit alone but it just feels shitty and i haven’t gotten comfortable enough with myself to do anything more. as much as i can say that i don’t need anyone, it does help when someone’s there enabling your behavior, or maybe i can even call is “supporting” :O maybe hehe. ok then make better friends, go talk to that pretty girl in class, go say hi and talk about the prof, go be the one to compliment someone, go be approachable, its not impossible, so go do it. also get better style.

this definitely spiraled into something it didn’t start out from and i can talk a billion more things about it but i think this is just how i think, so how i think is going to be how i write.

its a warm tuesday june morning, i drank some chai and ate some noodles, i was on my phone for way too long, and i’ve been up all night.

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flauntpage · 6 years

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Discord and Unrest: Current and Former Employees Describe Life at NBC Sports Philly

Both Kevin Kinkead and Kyle Scott worked on this post.

We got a ton of feedback on a story published last week, titled “Some Thoughts on Whatever the Hell NBC Sports Philly is Doing.”

Beyond the reader replies, we were contacted by a number of current and former NBCSP employees, all of whom felt like the station was headed in the wrong direction due to a number of unpopular talent cuts and a wonky revamp of both the television and digital product.

We talked to a half-dozen people – a combination of off- and on-camera folks representing a variety of departments – who were interested in speaking anonymously about the issues. Leadership, money, and a lack of direction were the three topics that came up most frequently in discussion.

Before we get to that, it’s worth considering the important crossroads at which NBC Sports Philly, and all sports networks, regional and national, find themselves at the moment.

Once an indispensable part of sports fandom, cable sports networks have become less relevant in recent years. Gone are the days of fans needing to tune in for highlight shows or roundtable discussions to get brought up to speed on the news and topics of the day. New and social media, along with the continued success of sports talk radio, has rendered almost anything a sports network can show you during traditional news-block hours useless, at worst, or redundant, at best.

For the Philly sports fan, SportsNite with Neil Hartman and Leslie Gudel, or SportsRise with Ron Burke used to be appointment viewing. What’s more, it was novel in the both the breadth and depth of local coverage it provided, beginning in 1997.

The height of the cable news boom, the late 90s were shaped largely by the new and varied niches cable networks could cover, from Music TV to Court TV to sports. Not only did a network like CSN air the games, but they offered nearly around-the-clock coverage of the teams. Until then, local fans were served during off-hours by only the newspaper, sports talk radio, and a few minutes of nightly news broadcasts.

Michael Barkann, Hartman, Gudel, Burke, Dei Lynam and Derrick Gunn became mini rockstars to local sports fans. CSN was essential in a sports-dominated market.

That landscape has completely changed.

The value added by highlight, roundtable, and, to a lesser extent, debate shows is gone. The web fills that vacuum admirably while providing a platform for the average fan to engage and create. You’re now literally part of the sports conversation, whereas before you were only in branding– the voice of the fan. Suddenly, the back-and-forth of static studio shows feels boring and contrived compared to lively Twitter debates, in-depth podcast discussions, and the comment sections of social media posts. We don’t need to hear what Joel Embiid said after the game, because we can watch him celebrate or lament live on Instagram. Highlight shows serve only to reinforce the importance of clips we saw online four hours earlier, or sometimes eight hours earlier. Sites like this one (and many others) provide the continuous updates without readers having to wait for a scheduled broadcast window. Even self-important branding plays, like a “CSN Insider,” which is actually just a beat reporter who, often, is no more inside than 6-8 of their peers, or “Authentic Fan,” feel outdated and disingenous.

So, we’ll argue that NBC Sports Philly, and many other regional sports networks, are right to do away with their stale fare. From a content standpoint, that stuff is longer interesting. From a financial standpoint, it loses money.

The decisions to do so, including the choice to let go of longtime veteran on-air folks who excel at reading a teleprompter, are not popular, but they are necessary. You can’t teach someone who is used to a camera setup, a script, multiple takes, and a tightly defined framework to just pick up their phone and be creative. [A counter to this would be someone like John Clark, who has excelled on social media and uses his access to inform fans everywhere, and not surprisingly he has been elevated in the NBC Sports-Comcast family of networks.]

More relevant to this piece, though, is what NBC Sports Philly has done in the wake of unpopular decisions and cost-cutting. Some of those decisions can be excused as NBC-led initiatives over which the local shop had little control, while others can be critiqued from a local level. Both deserve attention.

So it’s with that framework and understanding of the business dynamics that we take you inside with current and former NBC Sports Philly staffers as they identify pain points within the once-hallowed halls of the Comcast SportsNet studios.

Early on in reporting this story, it became immediately clear to us that much of the criticism focused on Vice President of Content Michelle Murray, who has been with the network since 2008, and middle management in general. The source of discord is a belief that management “simply does not have any idea what they’re doing,” according to Person 3.

That was echoed by Person 1, who said this:

“She is clueless. She doesn’t know how to manage. She doesn’t listen to experts in their departments. She knows everything. She knows more than everybody. I think the biggest problem is Michelle Murray’s lack of recognition of talent, lack of recognition of where the company is going, and lack of understanding of what the market is.”

Person 1 went on to explain that Murray was previously in charge of the newsroom, but was promoted to her new role last March, one which gives her oversight of all content decisions, according to this person. She was described by one source as being “harder on women than she is on men,” with that same person explaining that they felt like Murray viewed other women as a “threat.” That may or may not have anything to do with the recent exodus of female employees, which includes Molly Sullivan, Jess Camerato, Dei Lynam, Leslie Gudel, Leila Rahimi, Rachel Micali, Jillian Mele, Colleen Wolfe, and Sarah Baicker, among others. One source believed that Murray didn’t view Wolfe as good enough for local TV– Wolfe, however, now has a prominent role at NFL Network. Rahimi is anchoring at NBC Sports Chicago, and Mele landed a huge gig at FOX News.

Another person described interaction with Murray as an “abusive relationship,” highlighted by belittlement and other behavior that was “crazy, controlling, and weird.” There also wasn’t much praise for other managers, who were painted as not having much power or influence working under Murray. One mid-level male manager was characterized as a “toxic pig who is bad at his job.”

“It’s a boy’s club and it pays to know people,” says Person 6. Another source pointed out that the station currently does not have a female producer or director, though Breakfast on Broad was directed by a woman for the entirety of its run.

Also worth noting is that Amy Fadool is prominently featured on the network, and that Murray has a high-ranking management role.

Almost every person we spoke with was very complimentary of Andy Schwartz, the longtime web guy who basically created CSNPhilly.com and oversaw the station’s digital product.

Specifically, Schwartz, who was let go more than six months ago, was said to be one of the more outspoken voices during station meetings, offering ideas on how to improve the product and move things forward. Marshall Harris, who recently left the station when his contract was not renewed, was another person who was portrayed as “vocal” in meetings and “challenged the status quo.” Murray, according to Person 3, was “clinically insecure and threatened by good, smart, productive ideas.”

This results in what sources explain is an atmosphere where nobody is willing to speak up and make suggestions about how to keep the station ahead of the curve. It’s a situation where employees would rather just “shut up and get paid as long as possible” instead of trying to “work together to make things better, but risk getting fired,” as Person 2 told usb.

Brian Monihan, the station’s president, has, according to sources, addressed the workforce twice in the past year – once when Breakfast on Broad was cancelled, and again when a round of layoffs took place last November. “BOB” went through a rollercoaster of ups and downs over two years, with three different executive producers working on a show that some say had little support and an unclear directive from above. The program’s cancellation resulted in the eventual reassignment of Barrett Brooks and Rob Ellis, while Baicker and Mele ultimately left the station.

Specific charges against BOB from within center on the notion that there was a half-assed effort to make the show succeed. On one hand, NBC threw it’s heavy promotional might into marketing the show – including during live game broadcasts – but then relegated it to The Comcast Network, now NBC Sports Philly+, giving it little chance of success. It rarely registered in the ratings.

This is an observation that is in line with our beliefs on NBC’s use of specific formats. It seems they occasionally are only willing to go halfway with a modern product. BOB, while it wasn’t perfect and had difficulty attracting guests, was fine for what it was and, we feel, a better option than a SportsRise-like show or format for the reasons already discussed. But it still played second fiddle to the more traditional format and got relegated to the JV network, meaning it didn’t pick up important carry-over viewers from games the previous night.

Similarly, End Game, the more informal post-game show NBC Sports Philly occasionally airs after its regular post-game show, feels like the more suitable and modern version of the format, but the network seems to be hesitant to embrace it as a viable product and thus gives it little chance to succeed.

With regard to Monihan, his name only came up one other time in our discussions, with a former employee describing him as “awesome” and suggesting that he wasn’t part of many of the problems laid out in this piece.

But that same person lamented the lack of cohesiveness under him.

“There’s literally no communication and no direction,” said Person 4. “You can’t fire people and lay off people and punish people because they’re not doing what you want, when you never actually told them what you want.”

Talent and content

Harris and Camerato were mentioned just as frequently as Schwartz in our talks with current and former employees.

The gripe, specifically, was that it seemed like both were doing what management wanted, which was taking on a variety of roles, being active on social media, and showing a flexible and more wide-ranging skill set as the station “streamlined” its product.

“Here was somebody who was trying all of these different platforms,” said Person 1 of Harris. “And whether what he was doing was working or not, it wasn’t always his fault. And that was – literally – the directive is that we are supposed to be one room, one team, try all of these fucking new things.”

We tried our best to reconcile these comments. These are legitimate gripes with recurring themes. On the flip side, there are always going to be people who disagree with specific decisions or the general direction of the station. In some cases, specific examples were provided, so you can be the judge.

Harris did a short-lived web series called The Spot, which apparently ran into union issues. That was said to have been passed off to another department that later suffered a round of layoffs. The 700 Level Show was cancelled, and there was also “an unseen pilot of a Philly sports-based knockoff of SNL Weekend update,” which sounds interesting, if nothing else.

On the web side, a floated policy was to keep articles to 500 words or less. Some say this was enforced early on and has since become a general guideline, while others feel like it never got out of the idea stage. Regardless, you’ll now find that stories rarely eclipse 500-600 words, and the lack of clarity on the issue is notable. But the concept of a 500-word limit seems like a particularly shortsighted effort and a total misread of a market that increasingly values quality and differentiation. A word limit on an article comes with the goal of viral and clickbait content baked in.

Video clips running 90 seconds in length, the types that translate well to social media, also began to be featured prominently, though it’s unclear if that was Murray’s idea or if it came down from Stamford headquarters instead. Travis Hughes, a former SB Nation editor and founder of Broad Street Hockey who joined the station three months ago, is now in charge of digital content.

There was also confusion and bewilderment over the installation of televisions in the newsroom that featured a “grid” of sorts that was supposed to serve as a schedule for digital postings. For instance, maybe a podcast was expected to be published at 10 a.m. specifically, and when that happened an employee was supposed to update the grid to let everyone else know what content had been placed on the web. We were told that employees “just ignored” the grids entirely, leaving a bunch of new televisions sitting around the newsroom, unused.

NBC Sports Philly says they are in the process of a renovation of their newsroom in an effort to modernize the equipment and workspace.

On one hand, there’s something to be said for coordination. On the other, scheduling posts can often work against the spontaneous nature of successful digital media.

All of this seems to stem from the idea that “traditional television people” are being tasked with fixing and evolving the NBCSP product, as Person 1 explains. They described an hour-long staff meeting where management talked about “how to make a viral video,” a pep rally of sorts that concluded with the playing of Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believing” as employees left the room.

“It’s not for a lack of trying, but the approach to incorporating legitimate change has been so ham-fisted,” Person 6 says.

We contacted NBC Sports Philly and offered an on-the-record interview for this story. They respectfully declined but offered up the following statement:

“NBC Sports Regional Networks invests heavily, and the most of any RSN business entity – in all markets, in both infrastructure and personnel. This is part of our strategy to best serve the fans where and how they are consuming content, which is across multiple platforms. We understand there are some former employees whose lives have been negatively impacted, and these types of decisions are always difficult. However, we strongly believe we are in a better position today to serve our fans and grow our business.”

There’s also an element, some say, of trying to mirror ideas and formats being used by ESPN and other national networks.

One example of that is Quick Slants, the nightly Eagles show that features Gunn, Brooks, Dave Zangaro, and others. Instead of putting the talent on a desk in a roundtable fashion, each person actually faces a different camera, giving you an “Around the Horn” vibe when the reality is that they’re actually sitting 20 feet apart in the same studio:

This format was literally parodied by Barstool Sports’ short-lived Spitfire (then Spinzone), which poked fun at the two-camera setup.

There was also some internal grumbling when Reuben Frank was taken off the show, as he was seen as a knowledgeable contributor who fit well with Gunn. But the format feels forced and like a very cheap takeoff of what worked for ESPN 10 years ago.

Other me-too opportunities (the old business definition, not the modern one) have fared better. Most are in agreement that the decision to simulcast Mike Missanelli’s show was a welcome, if overdue, addition to the virtually non-existent daytime lineup. The show has even begun to register in the ratings, something that is very rare for mid-day content on the network. This is at what is presumably a very low cost (though we don’t know the specific business arrangement between NBC Sports and 97.5 The Fanatic).

Money

Many of these changes, particularly personnel decisions, seem to be driven by money.

The explanation from Person 2:

“That money is not flowing in Philly’s direction, nor is it to the other RSNs. The way I understand it is that the various RSNs typically delivered varied returns. Some were much more profitable than others and given more leeway on the monetary side. Philly and Bay Area were probably the most notable in that category. Others performed well enough and others operated at a loss. There are obviously a lot of variables that affect those performances (market size, fan base, team broadcast rights, etc.). However new management and directives came down from Stamford and now all RSNs are kind of being treated as equals, and with a more watchful eye over them. To put it simply, money that may have been there in the past (especially for Philly) is not there anymore.”

Person 3 offered a different perspective on the money situation:

“You’re right that these decisions aren’t financially driven. They’re driven by some vague idea of a ‘new direction’ or ‘new vision,’ but it’s a direction and vision that hasn’t been clearly articulated to anybody. The staff literally has no clue what they are supposed to do or how they are supposed to do it or what their bosses want. People are basically getting laid off or not renewed for not carrying out a vision that has never been articulated to them.”

Two different viewpoints explain a similar problem.

The answer may be somewhere in the middle. Live game broadcasts and, to a lesser extent, post-game shows, is where the bread is buttered for regional sports networks. There may be some combination of cost-cutting and homogenization trickling down from NBC Sports proper, while on a local level the network seeks to trim the fat of shows and assets that can no longer support themselves. It’s been apparent that NBC wants to make everything look the same across their regional networks, which has eliminated any of the unique flavor CSN had back in the day, which – by the way – was often the model for the other networks. It’s like they created the format for certain shows, passed it off to their counterparts, and then NBC handed it back to them as a watered down, rubber stamp knockoff of the original version that created the asset in the first place. Like if Tony Luke’s were to start serving the microwave version of its pork sandwiches at its original South Philly location. Philly Sports Talk is a ready-to-eat version of Daily News Live, and it doesn’t taste as good.

Marc Farzetta plays Johnny Carson’s iconic character “Carnac the Magnificent” and Ray Didinger plays his sidekick Ed McMahon as they go through Eagles answers and questions.

One problem specific to money is something that NBCSP has no control over, and that’s the cost of obtaining game footage.

For example, you’d think that “30 for 30” type of content, as Russ and Kyle discussed on the podcast, might be perfect for this market, but despite being the broadcast partner for multiple teams, NBCSP still has to pay money for actual game film. That’s why most of the documentary type shows feature very little footage, because it’s too damn expensive. We saw this in the recent 2008 Phillies documentary, which felt predictably unsubstantial.

Union labor

One of the biggest issues I (Kevin) had in television was dealing with labor unions.

I started at two TV stations in Georgia, a “right to work” state in the deep south where employees can’t be forced to join a union. This was something I enjoyed because the only things that really mattered were your skill level and work ethic. If you were motivated and did three jobs, you were fine. If you were lazy and did one job, you got shit-canned. Seems very reasonable to me.

When I came home to Philly, CBS 3 was represented by two separate unions, SAG-AFTRA for the producers, writers, anchors, and reporters, and IATSE for the photographers, editors, directors, and technical folks. The issue was that a clash of responsibilities and goals always existed. For example, I wasn’t supposed to shoot or edit video, since that was someone else’s job. But I knew how to shoot and edit video and wanted to do both so that I could provide more value as a jack-of-all-trades type of employee while simultaneously bolstering my resume. That got me more shifts and more money, but was frowned upon by some of the IATSE people, who thought I was a “scab” trying to take their jobs, when I was really just trying to get the goddamn cold open edited before 5:57 p.m. So my experience was that the co-existence of two unions representing one staff with different endgames and values made no sense and was ultimately counterproductive.

It’s somewhat similar at NBCSP, where conflicts can arise because some employees are union members and some aren’t. PAs and broadcast techs, for instance, are IBEW 98 members, but directors, producers, and web people are not. On-air talent also does not have union representation, and most anchors or front of house types are going to have agents involved with their contract negotiations.

Person 5 describes a couple of scenarios where the union setup became an issue:

“In one department, you could do whatever you wanted. There were no restrictions. But, for example, there was a show that wasn’t done in the studio because the studio was (union territory). They wanted this cross-usage of video and stuff, but say one of the digital people created something, they weren’t allowed to use that on television. They would have had to find a workaround to get it on TV. That becomes annoying, because you’re putting restrictions on creative people. And some of the editors they used for TV, who are union-based, some of those people are super creative. But they were put into a box and couldn’t do anything. You’d get these situations, too, where, say television has four shooters, one at Flyers and three at the Eagles, and something happened with the Sixers. You couldn’t just send a digital person over there even if they were able to get the job done. Anything that was shot for television was a union job. That became a struggle.”

These are deep-down issues that largely interest only employees, however it’s indicative of the struggle regional sports networks face.

Gone are the days where only one group of people is capable of shooting or editing usable video. A skilled multimedia journalist can be just as effective with their phone as a professional videographer can be with $8,000 worth of camera equipment. Often, the most interesting video is now shot with a smartphone. While the high-end HD cameras are set up in a press conference, the beat reporter on their iPhone may capture a unique locker room moment or impromptu gaffe that’s worthy of attention. How does a network square this circle? To be clear, when it comes to sports talk radio, we’ve always been big proponents of “that’s their problem to deal with” when legacy issues such as having to fill 24 hours a day are brought up, so this isn’t an excuse for the network. The union issue is not NBC Sports Philly’s fault, but they have to deal with it just the same.

What next?

Beyond the labor and financial trickiness, there also seems to be a disconnect along generational lines, with one person describing the station as being “cliquey” as senior staff look to “pat themselves on the back” without listening to some of the younger staffers.

“They’re trying to hit an audience that they have in their newsroom, but they don’t want to listen to them,” is how one source put it.

That’s not to say that everything NBCSP does is misguided.

First and foremost, the live broadcast rights are what’s important. The network a few years ago signed a well-publicized 25-year deal to retain the Phillies, and they have Flyers and Sixers games. So that’s ultimately what will determine success or failure. But as is becoming a theme in this piece, there are, of course, moves that can be debated.

The network took over personnel decisions on Phillies broadcasts and put the likes of Matt Stairs and Jamie Moyer in the booth, both of whom weren’t particularly good on-air. Ben Davis is a palatable choice, while Mike Schmidt is there to do his best Jimmy Duggan, to wave his cap and give the people a thrill. With the Sixers, the so-far unpopular decision to let go of Molly Sullivan appears to have been made by the network.

But the pre- and post-game shows still offer something for the casual and hardcore fan alike. The game broadcasts are ultimately well-produced with professional commentary, even if we can haggle about individual personalities. If that’s the network’s bread and butter, they could do much worse.

Whatever the case, the recurring theme is that the station formerly known as Comcast SportsNet used to be a giant in Philly sports media, with entertaining shows, high-level content, and talent that moved the needle. Every single person we spoke to gave off sincere vibes of disappointment that the place has gone through such a meandering reconstruction.

“When I got hired, it was an honor to work there,” said Person 4. “It used to be a bustling place and now there’s nobody there. It’s a ghost town, and it’s just heartbreaking to me. It’s just sad.”

The post Discord and Unrest: Current and Former Employees Describe Life at NBC Sports Philly appeared first on Crossing Broad.

Discord and Unrest: Current and Former Employees Describe Life at NBC Sports Philly published first on https://footballhighlightseurope.tumblr.com/

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Latest story from https://movietvtechgeeks.com/sarah-troyer-talks-supernatural-athena-lopez-lifelong-fan/

Sarah Troyer talks 'Supernatural,' Athena Lopez and being a lifelong fan

I really enjoyed the recent Supernatural episode “Tombstone,” and not just because we got Dean Winchester back in cowboy garb (along with Castiel this time. Sorta). The episode had both humor and emotional resonance, which is how I like my Supernatural. It also had some interesting guest characters. I was especially taken with Athena Lopez, who isn’t your typical coroner – or your typical guest character, for that matter. So I reached out to Sarah Troyer, who brought the character to life and made her memorable even in one episode. Sarah had tweeted that she had watched the show since she was a kid, so it was a thrill to work on it – which let me know she has excellent taste in television. She agreed to answer a few questions so we all could get to know her better. Lynn: How was the character described to you or described in the breakdown? Sarah provided the description, which is always fascinating to me to see. Role: Athena Lopez 20s - early 30s, please include all ethnicities in your suggestions. This "Goth Rocker Betty Page" is a sexy, offbeat undertaker who has lived in an Old West cemetery her whole life...GUEST STAR (17) Lynn: What did you add to your understanding of Athena to ‘flesh out’ the characterization? Was there any backstory that you constructed other than the bits of information we got on the show? Sarah: After reading the script, I believed Athena to be a strong, determined character with a loving side to her. Although she may be seen as different (her style, music interests, job), she’s absolutely confident in who she is. I don’t think viewers got to see much of her office, but it was plastered with her favourite bands, artists, pin-up girls, etc. She definitely didn’t hide who she was. Secondly, she didn’t have much issue telling anyone off, whether it was Sam, Dean or Dave (one of my favourite things about her). However, I knew Athena had a loving side, and I tried to keep that in mind so she didn’t become too brash or even standoffish. When she finds out Dave robbed a bank and murdered someone, I didn’t think she could just flip him the bird and say have a nice life. I think there would be a lot of confusion and mixed feelings in a situation like that, a moral dilemma. She loved Dave and was with him for so long, she thought she knew him but now he’s turned into someone she doesn’t know – who is he really? She should walk away but it’s hard to walk away from someone you have so much love and history with. I reflected on my own relationship and tried to play it as honestly as I could. So maybe I didn’t give her much of a backstory, but I read in between the lines of the script to add little details about who she was and her thought process behind each of her actions. Lynn: Actually I think all that thought you put into making sense of her motivations and emotions totally came through. I had a feeling that you had put time into figuring Athena out, and that’s why she came across as a fleshed out character who grabbed my attention. One of the things that made Athena appealing was that she seemed to be in a relationship with a guy who was just a bit too possessive and controlling, who sometimes seemed to ignore her boundaries, and yet she also seemed drawn to him. In other words, she seemed very real – I think many of us, as women, have been in those situations. Was this dynamic something you played up? (Because some of your subtle choices really showed Athena’s ambivalence about Dave’s way of showing his affection). Sarah: Dave giving Athena a slap on the behind and her standing up to him was a playful dynamic between the two of them, in my opinion. If it wasn’t, she wouldn’t have given him a big grin and a kiss. However, I do think we see Dave’s manipulative, possessive side when he says “we got it good here, why do you want to mess that up?” causing Athena to falter and second-guess herself and her wants. Lynn: Definitely. Sarah: Unfortunately, we all can get into relationships with someone who we think wants the best for us when in reality only wants what’s best for them, i.e., Dave only wants to move once it becomes in his best interest, faking his support for Athena’s dream. Athena’s blind to his manipulations because she cares for Dave and believes he does too. This further plays into her confusion as to what to do when it comes out that Dave robbed a bank and killed someone. Lynn: And you’re right, that’s realistic. I think we’ve all been there, and I’ve certainly worked with lots and lots of clients who were struggling to let go of a long-term relationship when it became clear the other person didn’t have their best interest in mind. I also wanted to ask Sarah about Athena because to me; she really had that ‘fangirl’ vibe. And Sarah had tweeted that she watched the show before she got the audition, so she was a fan herself. Lynn: Supernatural has had quite a few female characters who fans related to because they seemed like ‘fangirl’ type characters, including Athena. We meet her when she’s dressed in a way that many Supernatural fangirls might dress, and she’s clearly a music fan. I think that might be why I was drawn to the character and wanted to know more. Was that something you were conscious of in playing her since you said you’ve been watching the show for years? Sarah: I mainly focused on script analysis and scene work when developing Athena but I’m over the moon that I could play a character that so many Supernatural fans relate to. I know I always appreciate seeing female characters that have more to offer than their looks. I think Supernatural does a great job of giving their female characters more dimension and character. Lynn: I agree, the Show has gotten so much better at that. Were you aware of the Supernatural fandom and how much of a force it has been over the past thirteen years? Sarah: As a Supernatural fan, I knew of the fandom. I’m not overly active on social media so I never knew its force. But after tweeting about my role, I definitely felt it. What an amazing, loving, inclusive fandom! Everyone is so positive and supportive. Apart from a great cast and crew, no wonder the show has gone on so long! All the love from the supernatural fandom keeps it going. I feel so blessed to have received some of that love <3 Lynn: When did you start watching the show and would you consider yourself a fan? Sarah: I’ve been watching the show since season 1! I would watch and re-watch episodes like crazy. Sometimes I still do - some of the more comedic episodes especially. When I was about 13, on a soccer trip to Vancouver (I’m originally from Calgary), I was praying that I might see the boys driving the impala, or get to meet them. [caption id="attachment_51526" align="aligncenter" width="420"] Source: Sarah Troyer Twitter[/caption] Lynn: How was it working on the show you’ve viewed as a fan? I know that the first time I went on the Supernatural set as a journalist/writer, I was very aware that I was a fan, and it made me much more nervous than I would ordinarily be! Sarah: In the past, working with big name actors I’ve always kept my cool but not this time. I was incredibly nervous! The first day I barely spoke two words to Jared and Jensen. I had no idea what to say, and was nervous that I would say something stupid – which I did, but the guys were great about it. Richard Speight (the trickster) was even on set one day and I just sat in my chair keeping my eyes averted – I’m such a big fan of his! Still kicking myself for not chatting with him. Lynn: Oh no, he’s so awesome too! Hopefully he’ll read this and know you were fangirling him from afar. Or from close up. So can you share some behind the scenes insights from filming the scene with Jared and Alex? Your delivery of the ‘did his parents sign a permission slip’ line was priceless. Sarah: The guys were great! Alex kept mostly to himself but was ready to work whenever we were rolling. Jared was, of course, improvising funny lines and keeping everyone laughing. I hope some of it makes the blooper reel! Everyone was very inclusive and we all joked around with one another on set. At the end of the first day Jared gave me a big hug. The whole experience was amazing. I can’t get over what a positive experience it was. Lynn: Can you share some behind the scenes insights from filming the scene with Jensen and (guest star) Eric where they finally kill ‘Dave’? Were you there to watch Jensen come tumbling out of that hole in the wall, or was that filmed on a separate day? Sarah: That was a cool day on set. I love filming scenes with multiple characters. Everyone coming together adds a whole other aspect and feel. With the scene creepily lit, the gunshot, the blood and everyone’s different energies the scene definitely felt more intense. Lynn: I’m guessing the blood splatter wasn’t all that much fun, but it came off perfectly. How was that done? Sarah: I’m always happy to do the nitty-gritty part of the job. In Wynonna Earp I got to do my own roll and drag stunt so the blood splatter was a walk in the park! Very simple, I sat in my chair and the special effects team used a spray gun. The first take, the splatter wasn’t enough so I had to quickly wash off and change into another set of clothes for a second take. Luckily we go it the second time round! Lynn: I got to know Jared Padalecki and Jensen Ackles as I interviewed them for my first few books, almost a decade ago, and when they wrote chapters in my most recent book, which let me get to know them in a different way. I’ve been consistently impressed with how much they care about this show and these characters, even 13 seasons in. I’ve also seen them goof off on set until the last possible second. What was your experience like working with them? Sarah: Oh exactly that! Lots of laughs. I believe a big portion of one day was finding crazy gifs of Jared and Jensen. Lynn: That could definitely fill a day. Or two. Or a hundred. Your IMDB says you’re also a composer – is your first love acting or music? Sarah: Acting for sure! Although in my upcoming short film I get to act, sing and I composed the main theme song. [caption id="attachment_51523" align="aligncenter" width="696"] Source: Sarah Troyer Twitter[/caption] Lynn: What’s coming up for you that you're excited about? Sarah: This December (2017) the short film Under Pressure will be released. I get to play the lead character, Sophie, a struggling musician. I’m super excited about this project as I feel many artists will relate to Sophie. Secondly, I have been writing music for a while but have never shared it - Under Pressure will be the debut of my first song! It will be available for download on Renegade Productions’ website and iTunes. Lynn: That’s awesome, congrats! I’ll be on the lookout for Under Pressure – and hope to see you back on Supernatural one of these days too. I’ve said it many times, but one of these days I’m going to send a gigantic fruit basket to the people who do the casting for my favorite show because they find the best people – main cast and guest actors. Keep it up, folks! Check Out Our 2017 Holiday Gift Guides: [abcf-grid-gallery-custom-links id="50643"]

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#Featured #Interviews #Jared Padalecki #Jensen Ackles #Sarah Troyer #Supernatural

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