Dirk Hoag from the excellent Predators blog, On the Forecheck, left a comment in the previous post about bloggers credentials that I wanted to address. Please keep in mind that I know Dirk, like him a lot, think he’s an excellent blogger, and have met him in person. This isn’t snarking at him, and I asked if he minded me replying to his comments here. So this is all on the up and up.
Dirk’s comments are two-fold, so I’m addressing them as such:
1) Good luck on getting accreditation for bloggers. From what I understand, it was Colorado which led the charge to restrict credentialed bloggers in various cities from having access to visiting teams.
I don’t know if this is exactly the case or not. I know that I have heard the same things, and I know I have heard from people that have talked to the Avs that they don’t seem to keen on the idea. That said, I don’t know how it has been presented to the Avalanche, and I don’t know if there has been a group effort to do so. That said, it doesn’t hurt to try, and it might lead to all of the bloggers here upping their game. Which never hurts.
2) What would media credentials do for bloggers that would truly enhance their ability to counter what you see as failings of the Denver Post? Do they really need ‘we need to work hard and take it one game at a time” quotes to do that?
This is something I’ve heard from plenty of people, and I don’t buy it. Looking at the Washington Capitals experience, they have a rich field of content that goes beyond the stock quotes. I recently discovered the work done by Media Chameleon, and I would say their audio documentaries go beyond what most of the MSM would consider worth doing.
To address the specifics of the Denver Post, You would diversify the tone of the reporting,which is essential to any medium. We don’t just have Law and Order as the only crime drama on TV. We don’t just have on 24 hour news station. But in Denver, we have one newspaper, with two guys. That’s it. Terry Frei was the best of the hockey writers, but he doesn’t do as much Avs writing anymore. Just to spread the coverage out would help. How was the hockey media in Nashville before bloggers were introduced to the press box? That’s where Denver is right now.
I understand the concerns, but I would rather see the chance taken that things will change for the better than not at all.
One response to “In Response”
There’s certainly no harm in trying, and if you folks can somehow open up an opportunity that didn’t exist before, by all means have at it.
I guess what I’m getting at is that the blogs you have in place can already diversify the tone of the coverage of the team. For example, there was a post over at MHH this morning about the long-term outlook for the Avs, and how whether or not the team makes the playoffs this season, there are encouraging signs for the road ahead. That’s the kind of stuff that one usually doesn’t see in a newspaper, which is more focused on the day-to-day stories. Blogs also have the advantage of leveraging their history. Most newspapers archive their online content, making it difficult or impossible to present how a given story has developed over time. But on a blog, for example, you could put together a post on a particular player and show how perceptions of that guy have changed, referencing and quoting pieces from previous seasons. You can also bring together content from various outlets (which is often anathema to the MSM) to provide a richer, more engaging narrative.
It’s in providing that depth of experience and perspective where blogs can mop up most newspapers.
To your point about media in Nashville, I’d say there’s been some development on the mainstream side over the last few years, but how much of that is due to the overall growth of the team’s presence in the city, as opposed to the competitive presence of blogs, that’s incredibly hard to say. I know the sports media pros around town pay attention to the various hockey blogs, but in terms of our influence? I don’t know how great that is.
Of course, every town is different in that regard, so I wouldn’t presume to know how Denver’s situation shapes up. Good luck fighting the good fight…