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For more than 30 years, John Kiesewetter has been the source for information about all things in local media — comings and goings, local people appearing on the big or small screen, special programs, and much more. Contact John at johnkiese@yahoo.com.

Enquirer Won't Stop Covering Reds Road Games

Courtesy Cincinnati Reds

Update at 3:10 p.m.: Enquirer President and Publisher Rick Green says that Enquirer Media is "always looking at different kinds of adjustments to our budgets," but eliminating covering Reds road games in September is "a ridiculous notion."

Green was reacting to my blog post at 12:18 p.m. today (below) saying Enquirer editors were considering not traveling with the Reds to away games in September. The proposal had been mentioned to Reds beat writers C. Trent Rosecrans and Zach Buchanan in the past week, I'm told.

"I don't have any plans to stop covering Reds games on the road. The Cincinnati Reds are a franchise topic, not just in Cincinnati but throughout Reds country," Green said.

When I asked if there had been internal discussions to skip some road games, Green said: "It would be foolish to stop covering the Reds on the road."

So I asked if there was talk about cutting back on Reds' travel expenses, and he said:

"We're always looking at different kinds of adjustments to our budgets, just as we did 25 years ago, when we'd consider whether we'd be sending someone to LA for the TV press tour, or look at other travel. We're always having discussions about our budget, and about cutting back expenses."

Original post at 12:18 p.m. Monday Aug 1:  I'm hearing that Enquirer editors are considering not covering all Reds road games in September – and that beat writers C. Trent Rosecrans and Zach Buchanan are pushing back against the idea.

It would be the first time since before World War II that the Enquirer baseball writers would not be traveling with the Reds during the season, according to my knowledge of Enquirer history.

The paper can send 7-8 staffers to the Republican National Convention  in Cleveland, and at least three  to the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia, and can't send one person to St. Louis, Pittsburgh, Chicago or Milwaukee?

Things must be really, really bad if the Enquirer is giving up the exclusive advantage newspapers have enjoyed for decades over TV. The Enquirer is the only media outlet with the team from the first day of spring training in February through game 162 in October.

TV stations go to spring training for a week or less and bank a lot of taped interviews. Fox Sports Ohio covers most of the 162 games, but not all, and only a couple during spring training. Not even WLW-AM, the Reds radio flagship station, travels with the team on the road. Only the Enquirer is there for all 190+ games every year. Until now?

Why would the Enquirer seriously consider giving up its exclusive Reds franchise? The one they boast about during Reds games which "gives you the home team advantage?"

The Reds beat writers understandably aren't happy, and have been told that, at this point, they still will be traveling in September. Stay tuned.

John Kiesewetter, who has covered television and media for more than 35 years, has been working for Cincinnati Public Radio and WVXU-FM since 2015.