An On-line Sports-based Daily? Let’s do it.
3
By The Spotter
How did it come to this? Blame rampant capitalism and the completely vile tentacles of the style-over-substance digital age. Loyalty and recognition of people who have dug deep all their working lives to eke out great examples of sports journalism seem now to have about as much value as a manky old dollar coin. How else to contemplate yet more devolution of the role of the endangered sports reporter, this time at NZME.
It’s all about the market. And it’s horrible. Flimsy, flatulence-inducing Facebook-fed ‘news’? Unequivocally, no.
Consider this though- and it’s exactly the right time for it. Rather than sit and contemplate the doom in all the change, is it not time for a collective of great sporting media types and minds to come together and start producing an in-depth, well-crafted daily NZ sports online digest/journal/platform?
There must surely be a few discerning advertisers in love with sport out there somewhere who are also sick of callow (and shallow) news reporting and would like the idea of linking to something a little more niche-based and intelligent.
Because guess what? There would be enough talented sports journalists in this country to staff it twice over. I’m guessing also that the stories would be informed and never slip into the habit of insulting the readers’ intelligence with inconsequential or click-bait dross (note the term ‘Reader’, not ‘Consumer’).
Don’t pan the concept for any lack of detail or realism. Remember that nothing was ever achieved by droning ‘Can’t do it’ or ‘It’ll never work’.
Just because an uninfluential, Twitter-less (but highly passionate, caring, despairing, yet forever optimistic), small beer of a sports writer like myself brings up such a preposterous suggestion, it’s no excuse at all not to legitimately consider such a thing as an option for the thousands upon thousands of sports junkies in this country.
I’d even like to help start making it happen, or better still, be a part of it if it ever does.
Obviously I have no hope on my own of bringing a thing like this to fruition. I’ve got no power, no money, no influence. All I can do is plug the idea and hope it happens.
We are madder on sport in this colourful country than they are in France, yet they have their own brilliant sports daily, ‘L’Equipe’. C’mon the Kiwi sports fraternity- let’s do this. In the words of the great John Clarke’s Fred Dagg: It could turn out to be a cracker.
Paul Montague (talltree@xtra.co.nz)
Paul, do you follow Lockeroom? An off-shoot of Newsroom? I really appreciate their pieces, and Suzanne McFadden’s features are always fantastic. It’s often more feature and opinion based than news-based, but a good step down the path you’re keen on.
Hi Heather, (nice piece on S Mannering, too!). I do sometimes look at LockerRoom. I agree it’s excellent.
My vision (if I could choose, or start something, ha) would be for a more fan-based, inter-active newsy-type site. But with some form of eclectic side too, so it doesn’t all get too draining and over-wrought 🙂
It would take some sort of partnership to get things started (or at least have a go at doing so). I don’t know where to begin, tbh. Any good ideas, let me know! I don’t mean to sound like a helpless ninny- just stating a fact. I really have little clue. I need direction and expertise.
Even if it started off as a kind of Saturday morning sports preview show. I’m a huge TV panel junkie- I think they are exciting, raw, topical and serious and humourous at the same time, so perhaps podcasts might be the way to go. I like the titles of ‘EYE ON THE BALL’, ‘THE SIDELINE’, ‘OVER THE LINE’ or possibly ‘THE SPORTS EYE’.
It will be interesting if anything come of any of this over the next year or two.
Oops ‘comes’ in my final sentence above..
By the way, Hamish Girvan’s link about ‘The Athletic’ site from the US was really relevant. Cheers Hamish, nice 🙂