S.F. Chronicle Will Not Go Overboard Covering Bonds’ Chase

S.F. Chronicle Editor Discusses How Paper Will Cover Bonds’ Home Run Chase

With Giants LF Barry Bonds entering the ’07 season just 21 home runs behind Hank Aaron’s career record, the S.F. Chronicle’s coverage of the chase “will not include the usual local celebratory approach most often found when a local athlete reaches such a milestone,” according to Joe Strupp of EDITOR & PUBLISHER. With the newspaper having printed the leaked BALCO grand jury testimony that linked Bonds to the controversy, it “cannot appear to be gloating over the fact that its scoop has tainted the record chase.” However, it also cannot “pull back and fail to give the record the proper scrutiny and context.” S.F. Chronicle Sports Editor Glenn Schwarz said, “It puts us in an odd position, but you can’t ignore the baseball history achievement.” Schwarz indicated that Bonds coverage “will not approach the attention he received in 2001 when he broke the single-season home run mark.” Schwarz: “There were advertisers who lined up and we had extra pages that last week of the season. There was also a four-page tribute to him.” Schwarz said that the balance “between overcoverage and underplaying the story is not a concern to him,” as beat writers and columnists “can give context to the record, as well as point out the underlying negative elements.” Schwarz: “I want perspective and context in the news story, but the columnists are free to go where they go” (EDITORANDPUBLISHER.com, 2/21).