Boston's Rapaport to NFL Network

Sources close to the RB Pipeline report that former Boston Herald/Birmingham News/Jackson Clarion-Ledger "young stud" Ian R. Rapaport has accepted a new position with the NFL Network.

rb

 

Will the last person leaving turn out the light?

 

Not the Globe, the Herald. Your point stands, though.

 

Curious what NFL Network's long term plan is. Seems they are loading up for something, wondering if they are considering following the ESPN model of covering divisions with a couple of all encompassing info guys.

With Breer, Darlington and now Rapaport, they'v assembled a talented young group to complement Wyche and LaCanfora.

 

Rapaport did a very good job at the Herald. Too bad for my alma mater they lost him.

 

Dave Kindred thinks he might be good someday.

 

And great hire by the way...

 

Not that I'm aware of but I suppose that'd be the next logical step. Though it would be a bit confusing in cities where they have ESPN sub sites like Chicago, Boston, Dallas, etc.

 

Is there a single newspaper doing anything to keep the talent they have? I ask in all seriousness. Obviously someone like Rappaport would be crazy to stay, but I get the sense that newspapers are driving their young people to look hard at other options just by being incapable of being anything other than dinosaurs.

Ian is great. Happy for him.

 

Unfortunately, keeping that kind of talent -- and paying more to do it, as usually happened when a talented employee received an offer from elsewhere -- simply does not measure out on the bottom line anymore. NFL Network is insulated from that trouble, and for the most part I think the places that are connected to the TV networks are as well (ESPN, Fox and the regional sports network web sites).

But I wouldn't be surprised to see the reckoning come online soon enough. We already have seen it with AOL. And Yahoo's CEO said yesterday that his company was going to lay off thousands of people. Is a news operation that has questionable financial value beyond the fantasy sports revenue going to be immune from that?

 

Does NFL Network do real journalism?

how much autonomy does it have?

when these talented people go to work for the leagues do they risk being perceived as part of the publicity machine?

and if that is so, is their increased visibility mitigated by less credibility?