Here's Adam Heller from Tuesday's edition of the McGill Tribune:
While blogs have spread rapidly and are continuously growing in popularity, it is not necessarily a good thing that some bloggers are accepting press passes to cover their teams. Blogs offer a refreshing view of sports that is not manipulated by the gravity of mass media. Deadspin, for instance, just wouldn't work if they were sitting up in the press box covering games. Its power lies in the fact that it is critical and detached from the corrupting force of beat journalism. People read it because they are looking for something beyond simple facts, strategy and "expert" analysis.In general, wouldn't it be better if the press covered the games from the stands, away from all the hoopla, loyalties and the general circus unfolding in the dressing room? Why bother when the teams themselves now have reporters that give out the raw information and have websites that put up injury reports and breaking news. It seems repetitive to have every reporter fighting for the same stories, yet being unable to put forth anything juicy because they will never be allowed in the dressing room again.
Blogs, it seems, have changed the nature of the playing field. Traditional media still breaks most of the stories, gives most of the strategic analysis and provides a bulk of the inside gossip. But blogs, in a word, are deeper. They signal the rise of sports-culture, similar to pop-culture as it is seen in People magazine and Us Weekly. The opportunity for more access is always appreciated, but bloggers might be advised not to abandon what makes them tick: analysis from the outside.
Point taken. Thanks, Adam.
UPDATE: Another vote against.
People read Deadspin because its bitchy, funny and just a little bit crass. I don’t think anyone reads Deadspin to learn things.
I don’t want to beat this too much because I outlined my thoughts on blogging and the MSM in the comment section of a post last month. However, I will say this; I think there may be a divide in thinking between American and Canadian hockey fans when it comes to blogging. In Canada there is widespread reporting on hockey. As the McGill writer indicated, bloggers are following MSM reporters, who are doing the digging and have the connections. In the United States, the hockey beat writer is often being punished for something. It’s a small step up (if that) from covering preps in the minds of most American sports journalists. As most know, many papers in the US have cut their hockey coverage a great deal. Something has to fill that void and, in many places, it has become bloggers.
Hockey in the US can almost be viewed as a niche sport. The biggest niche sport in the country, likely, but a niche sport none-the-less. The Internet in general and blogging in particular are perfect for niche sports. Bloggers who are good and who consistently provide quality product while covering niche sports will get noticed by those involved in those sports. As they get noticed, they will be granted more access and in turn their influence will grow. I think the author of this blog can speak to that.
As can I. Outside of my 9-to-5, I have published a website (CollegeColours.com) that covers Canadian university football–a sport with a small but dedicated fan base that is desperate for high quality reporting on the sport. The Canadian MSM has consistently failed to deliver it, at least at the level most fans want (with apologies to Mirtle, he covers CIS football for the Globe and Mail and does a pretty good job of it–that is what stories he can get past his editors, who are more interested in, well, hockey). In 2004, I stepped into that void and managed to garner a great deal of attention for the website (I’ve been written about in MSM publications all across the country, have made numerous appearances on sports radio and (my favourite!) was even featured on a dinner-hour TV newscast (CTV Regina). When I started the site, it took the appearance on a standard news site. However, I am redesign it to a blog format (which is why it is ugly right now–the redesign is taking more time and more money than I imagined and I’m keeping the site on a basic blog skin until I have all the work done).
Accreditation is not an issue for me. I’m well know in the CIS sport community and have never been turned down for a press pass. That said, unless it’s really cold outside, I try not to spend too much time in the press box while I’m at games. I have found that most of my readers want something a little different than what they can read in the morning paper (a couple years ago I worked my coverage of the national semi-final game around an interview I did with a fan in the beer tent…I thought the end result was quite good, and certainly not something you would read in the MSM.)
Spam alert. If you want to see my temp. blog, put /lockerroom after the URL above.