Home › The Cardinal Nation Forums › Open Forum › Less and less demand for traditional sports writers
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February 13, 2018 at 10:24 am #43753
I have been part of the audience for video pushes from higher-ups from multiple organizations. The demographics of those who like to watch video trend younger. Younger is typically what advertisers are targeting. They spend their ad money to reach their target market segments.
So it is not driven by customer preference as much as by what the business believes will maximize their advertising revenue.
If/when advertisers stop paying premium rates for video ads, the sites like FOX will drop video like a hot potato and rush off to embrace the next new trend.
February 13, 2018 at 10:29 am #43754But the catch is video only isn’t really proving to be that great for FoxSports as they are not only losing web traffic but also video impressions. Video content is useful but video only isn’t going to work in my opinion. I might be wrong but I don’t I am.
I find it weird that the market for baseball writers has been more exciting this off season than the actual players market.
February 13, 2018 at 10:31 am #43756Well, you are right that if FOX’s traffic trends way down, video could have been a losing decision. But the ad rates between standard articles and video are very different – not close at all. Further, this takes time to play out and for the cause and effect of traffic changes to be analyzed. There are always a number of changes going on concurrently.
To take a different course, it often requires changes at the very top of an organization, as these overconfident executives often refuse to admit their business strategy is flawed. Instead, they feel they had the wrong people to execute the plan – so they fire the old and bring in the new, burning another year or more, only to fail again. Trust me, I’ve seen it first-hand.
The only hot place for writers right now seems to be The Atlantic. The ESPNs and FOXes, along with newspapers, all continue to trend down. The Atlantic is scooping them up.
February 13, 2018 at 10:54 am #43766Well Jay Jaffe is heading to FanGraphs. That was a big move in my opinion. I love Jay’s HOF analysis.
I feel like I need a spreadsheet just to keep up.
Ken Rosenthal unlocked this article talking about The Athletic’s expanded MLB coverage:
February 13, 2018 at 12:07 pm #43782Yes, Jay joined Fangraphs, but likely because SI is among those cutting back. Eno Sarris, a really, really smart guy, is among those who left Fangraphs – for The Atlantic. So there you go!
February 13, 2018 at 12:20 pm #43784Which brings up my mention of needing a spreadsheet to keep track of the moves. 😉
February 22, 2018 at 11:04 am #44490My guess was right. Mark Saxon has been hired by The Atlantic to be their Cardinals beat reporter. A natural fit. For those who may not know him, Mark is an experienced sportswriter who was transferred to St. Louis by ESPN, only to get laid off the next year, as ESPN pulled back from local coverage.
So excited to join @TheAthleticSTL in one week! Can't believe I get to team with @miklasz and @jprutherford to bring unique, thoughtful coverage of our teams, in my case the #STLCards. We're going to bring it. Trust me, or just try it free for 7 days https://t.co/4bxN6waD1P
— Mark Saxon (@markasaxon) February 22, 2018
March 5, 2018 at 10:07 pm #45038As long as they have investment money coming in, The Athletic is going to continue to grow. I still am wondering how they can become self-sustaining to enable them to pay all that talent based on subscription revenue. I have seen similar pitches in a number of settings in the past. It does not generally go as planned/hoped.
The Athletic just brought in another $20 million in funding, and they're preparing for a big round of expansion. They plan to go from 23 to 45 markets this year and from 120 to 200-350 employees, and are looking to launch NBA, NFL and soccer sites. https://t.co/oTzrmWkPDn
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) March 6, 2018
March 6, 2018 at 10:13 am #45053It would seem to be a niche market, with the Athletic being the one publication filling the need.
March 22, 2018 at 11:00 pm #46103More news about, well, me!
Thrilled to announce that I'll be joining the great crew at @MLBNetwork next month, in addition to my new writing gig at @TheAthleticMLB
My MLB Network debut will be Friday, April 6, on MLB Central. Can't wait!
— Jayson Stark (@jaysonst) March 22, 2018
March 28, 2018 at 10:38 am #46599Free access to the Post-Dispatch has been significantly tightened.
April 4, 2018 at 5:57 pm #47470Derrick Goold explains why the P-D’s website is going the pay route. Looks like we are approaching a time in which the in-house vehicle, MLB.com, will be the only source of free beat reports.
Why is STLtoday no longer completely free? I'll let @dgoold explain because he does it so well. What we do has value and we can no longer give it away. pic.twitter.com/vs1p9dp0RG
— Lisa Eisenhauer (@STLed) April 4, 2018
May 2, 2018 at 8:09 pm #50794More bad news. I got to know Dave Wilhelm on the Cardinals beat and found him to be genuine.
https://www.facebook.com/david.wilhelm.39/posts/10209086400917736June 28, 2018 at 2:07 pm #58422Add FanRag (terrible name) to the long list of new media companies that made big hiring splashes, only to lose money, then undertake a series of job cuts and eventually close its virtual doors. They sold some of their assets, including Jon Heyman, to a company I had never heard of, Fancred.
Interesting that FanRag’s (recently renamed to FRS) CEO Craig Amazeen headed Scout as it became insolvent and was sold via bankruptcy court to CBS early in 2017. Guess he is becoming a shutdown specialist.
July 5, 2018 at 9:36 pm #59265Interesting twitter dialogue over the past 24 hours started by Bernie Miklasz. He began by accusing the local media of being afflicted with “Stockholm Syndrome”, while expressing relief he no longer has to participate.
Since the most promiment place he no longer works is the Post-Dispatch, it was assumed they were at least a part of his less-than-flattering reference.
After Derrick Goold responded, Miklasz called “the market a little bit soft” and said he (Bernie) has been “part of the problem”. Miklasz also stated his respect for (beat writers) Goold, Jen Langosch and Mark Saxon. Jen has been a regular on his radio shows and he and Saxon are co-workers at The Athletic. He then dodged those who asked him to name those he was being critical of.
Miklasz went on to point out the team monitors what is being written and spoken about them.
July 23, 2018 at 5:50 pm #61690Many jobs lost at the NY Daily News directly affecting baseball coverage.
Tonight is the first Mets or Yankees game I have ever covered without a Daily News reporter in attendance. An awful day for New York journalism, as summed up here: https://t.co/EMp8MAkAe5 via @nypost
— Mike Puma (@NYPost_Mets) July 23, 2018
August 5, 2018 at 12:34 pm #64155Here is some “inside baseball” about sports reporting though it is college football oriented. Fair amount of stuff about contracts and layoffs of sports reporters.
https://deadspin.com/how-espn-ended-up-paying-brett-mcmurphy-to-post-the-yea-1828089258
October 11, 2018 at 11:11 am #72220ESPN lets Jerry Crasnick go and hires Jeff Passan away from Yahoo.
https://nypost.com/2018/10/11/espn-poaches-yahoo-star-as-its-new-schefter-of-baseball/
December 25, 2018 at 9:41 am #78484A sign of the times? (The Athletic article)
I Used to Write for Sports Illustrated. Now I Deliver Packages for Amazon. https://t.co/jjW9j2Luqc
— Bryan Curtis (@bryancurtis) December 25, 2018
December 25, 2018 at 9:48 am #7848514NyquisTParticipantQuite honestly, I can understand why his guy is delivering packages.
January 14, 2019 at 10:52 am #79952Jen Langosch is stepping down as beat writer for MLB.com. Her maternity replacement, Joe Trezza, already took the job covering the Orioles.
Some personal news to share: I will soon be ending my tenure as the #STLCards beat writer to move into a management position with @MLB. Details and a thank you here: pic.twitter.com/7Iy60ebc99
— Jenifer Langosch (@LangoschMLB) January 14, 2019
January 14, 2019 at 12:21 pm #79953This stinks it happened after Trezza already took the assignment for the Orioles beat. Is Craig Mish on the market? He already has a large following Cardinal following on twitter.
January 14, 2019 at 2:56 pm #79957Good for her, she’ll be missed. She offered informed and highly readable reportage throughout her tenure, by gosh.
January 17, 2019 at 11:13 am #8014014NyquisTParticipantI thought that Trezza was by far the better of the two.
He may be kicking himself. Let’s see the Baltimore Orioles OR the St. Louis Cardinals? (holding one’s palms out in a measuring motion).
However…. this is a huge opportunity for all the guys here. A chance to really make your opinions matter, since the manager and GM spots are taken. 🙂
THIS IS REAL!!!!!
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Beat Reporter – St. Louis Cardinals
at MLB.com (View all jobs)
St. Louis, MO
We are searching for a beat reporter to cover the St. Louis Cardinals. The reporter would cover Spring Training, the regular season, any postseason games as well as the Winter Meetings. We want someone who’s a baseball nut, but also appreciates the lighter side of the game and is inclusive of the casual fan, who can think and write quickly and accurately, and is intuitive about which types of content will resonate. Being open to feedback, direction and new approaches on how to over a Major League Baseball team is a must.Responsibilities include:
Building and developing trusted sources in the organization
Writing news, game recaps, analysis and feature content
Reacting quickly and accurately during breaking news
Augmenting content with photos, videos and a social media presence
Communicating proactively with content teammates and managers
Qualifications include:Excellent writing and self-editing skills
Ability to juggle multiple responsibilities on deadline
Thorough knowledge of baseball and statistics
Obsessive about accuracy
Sound news judgment
Social media savvy
Experience with content management systems and web publishing a plus
Basic HTML and Photoshop skills a plus
Must be available nights and weekends
*****************************************************************************
That last qualification is the deal breaker, and that savvy thingy rules out most.January 17, 2019 at 3:06 pm #80162Thanks for the heads-up, Ny. I think I’ll look into this.
Obsessive about accuracy, that’s me all over!On the other hand, I don’t really possess any social media savvy whatsoever. I’m not particularly open to direction or feedback from others. I don’t know anything about baseball’s lighter side, and I couldn’t care less about casual fans. Who needs casual fans? I can’t relate to casual fans.
I’m also no good at reacting quickly, objectively self-editing, working on deadline for demanding bosses, or juggling numerous responsibilities like so many chainsaws. And I won’t work weekends or nights.
Maybe I’m not the best choice.
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