Relationships and trust. Those are just two reasons why AI will never replace real PR and true journalism.

Case in point: While trade rumors have continued to swirl around Milwaukee Bucks superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reporter Lori Nickel spoke with him and offered readers a look beyond the obvious, which is, he hasn’t played as much as he’s wanted to. (This followed and is just as, if not more, transparent.)

Trust between an athlete and any reporter is developed over time. Mirin Fader earned it so she could write a book about Giannis’s rise in the NBA. Nickel’s has grown by being in the arena through the years.

While obviously keeping some things close to the vest, Antetokounmpo shared with Nickel how he worried for his family during last summer’s trade headlines. Yes, even in small-town Milwaukee. He knows the business, though.

So do others in Nickel’s orbit, including her colleague and Bucks’ beat writer, Jim Owczarski, who has earned national attention for his own personality-driven stories.

“Team public relations helps set up interviews on an occasional basis, but for the most part, be it when I was covering the Cincinnati Bengals, Green Bay Packers or now the Milwaukee Bucks, getting those kinds of deep-dive, time-consuming interviews come about largely because of the professional relationship I built directly with the player by being there every day, good or bad, win or lose,” Owczarski said. “It’s up to me, or any journalist in my position, to establish a relationship, grow it and maintain it. You’re earning it every day and can never take it for granted.”

Owczarski said team PR helps with introductions, but trust allows stories like Nickel’s to see the light of day.

“PR can aid you in a way, like maybe tell a new coach or player who you are, your history or what kind of questions you ask,” he said.

Owczarski emphasized that reader feedback is proof of the value that personal connections play in stories.

“I think readers understand that if you can get a subject to really open up, it’s the result of a lot of earned trust.”

Note: The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel pieces are behind a paywall. Journalists gotta get — and deserve — to get paid. There’s an option to subscribe for $1 (cancel after the first month if you want) to read the stories linked above. Thanks for understanding.

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Speaking of machines and their limitations …

Do you find algorithms totally whacked? My Instagram account keeps feeding me NCAA Men’s Basketball champion Michigan promos, while timely things I want to see are hidden behind a lead curtain. (Probably because I type stuff like this sentence, but still …)

That’s one reason people who once used social platforms to build their story views have cut back on using them. Aaaairball, algos.

But back to NCAA basketball champions – congrats to the Big Ten (Michigan men) and Pac-12 (UCLA women) conferences. Because the old Pac-12—the Conference of Champions – lives forever.

Disclaimer ** All emdashes, endashes and ellipses in this newsletter were and have always been written by a human.

©2026 Gail Sideman; gpublicity.com; SIDEbar

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