Another sign of the end...

Quick question...

The Houston Rockets have a team fan site that has been allowed "media access" the past few years. These are not media members, mind you, nothing more than exaggerated bloggers who created the website as a fan forum. Well, they've been granted access such as attending press conferences, media day, draft day, etc. They are allowed access to news that is undeserved. They post pictures that they've taken from the press meetings, write stories and get quotes from the press meetings, and of course post them on the website before the Chronicle can post on its site.

My question is, is this normal? It's quite irritating, and I must imagine it must be even more so for beat writer Jon Feigen, and what have these webmasters done to deserve such access?

If anyone wants to see for themselves, I can post the website. But I won't until I'm given the okay. I just think it's amazing how much stuff they get for not being anything near a journalist nor having the credentials to support such actions.

 

If they were just going to the press conferences to hang out with coaches and players and not do any real work, then I'd have a problem with it. But from the sound of things, they are doing work: writing stories, getting quotes, taking pictures. Not knowing what the site is, I can't judge the quality of the work, but it's all things that a regular news outlet would do. The Chronicle doesn't have a monopoly on stuff that goes on at press conferences, and these guys seem to just be providing a little bit of healthy competition. And it doesn't sound like they are given any "extra" access that other media can't get. If they were a fan magazine rather than a fan site, would it make them any more deserving of access? I don't see the difference, and from the sound of things, I don't have a problem with them being there. If the Chronicle is worried about getting scooped from a news conference, then all they need to do is change the way they approach those things and get their coverage online sooner.

 

Sort of the same thing, if it is just "bad" or unconventional work, I don't know that I have a problem with it either.

 

Bingo. The guys running this site are putting in the time, attending events and giving the Rockets coverage. What's wrong with that? Just because they don't have a print product doesn't mean they're not worthy of press credentials.

I work for a newspaper, but I'm not so jaded that I immediately dismiss all web-only publications. Take some advice from captzulu. If you write for the Chron and are worried about getting scooped by this web site, then maybe you need to reevaluate how you cover the Rockets instead of blindly bashing the site in question.

 

Sounds like the Chron needs to start thinking web-first with its stories.

 

I've worked for a Web site that was by fans for fans, but I also got the quotes and did the stories. I also got a reputation among other media people for asking the kind of difficult questions that most of us SHOULD be asking coaches or players.

I once got grilled by a coach when I asked him about his team's pathetic midfield play. Before the next game, John Haydon of The Washington Times came up to me and told me the coach's reaction was uncalled for AND that I was right about the midfield play.

By the end of the season, I started considering reactions like that to be badges of honor.

If "bloggers" are getting in there and are asking questions and writing stories, they're media. Period. Journalism ain't exactly rocket science.

 

Glad to see this post is getting the right kind of response. And I mean that with no sarcasm.

 

Actually saw an interesting story on this in The Palm Beach Post in the past week. It's mostly about blogs, but it gives a little insight into how the NHL is embracing Web only outlets as the traditional media are kind of cutting back their coverage. Here's the link:

http://www.palmbeachpost.com/search/content/shared/sports/stories/2007/07/FANS_BLOGGERS_0720_COX.html

 

not to belabor this point, but someone needs to point out what a fraud Chris Botta is. The guy used to take great joy in shitting on anyone from a small outlet who wanted to cover his shitty team, yet now he's the spokesman for an organization that embraces BLOGS?!

The reason no one's covering your shitty team, Chris, is YOU. Jerk.

 

I see a day when a news org won't staff an event and give only an AP brief and box score and refer readers to a selection of blogs, which they will charge for inclusion on their site.

 

And never again shall there be light. Trees are a thing of the past, and newspapers cease to exist.




...Seriously, though, giving blogs access (if doing legit work) is something we should welcome. Challenges and rising above them makes the work a bit more exciting/interesting IMO. I usually put out better stuff under more pressure, anyway. Bring em on. I'm not worried about myself cause I know I do what I do well.