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female reporters and the dot.coms

Discussion in 'Journalism topics only' started by thirsty, Feb 21, 2008.

  1. gingerbread

    gingerbread Well-Known Member

    Let's be careful there ;)

    I'm told Karen was encouraged to ask the question by other, younger women in attendance, who didn't want to be so bold. And I'm told Karen and Dave have a friendly working relationship; his real answer, remember, came during cocktail hour. It sounds like it was more an enlightening exchange than a contentious one.
     
  2. Simon_Cowbell

    Simon_Cowbell Active Member

    Dave Morgan looks pretty bad in that piece.

    That hiring methodology is bordering on moronic.

    And, no offense, but there is no one I make a trip to yahoo for.

    Nada.
     
  3. 86Mets

    86Mets New Member

    The fact is, newspapers have attempted to "include" women on their staffs and bolster the paper's diversity profile by making women sportswriters "generalists." It broadens the appeal to the section (allegedly) and serves to prove that the paper (or online site) has scope of perspectives and voices.
    The point is, women sports writers are not generally encouraged to become the kind of "experts" in a particular area in the same way that male colleagues are. There are many exceptions, but in general terms, women are cast into "generalist" roles. Or tennis, Olympics, some horse racing and NASCAR.
    And, now that online sites like Yahoo are looking almost exclusively to add "insiders" to the roster, the pickings are slim for women "experts" in particular subjects like MLB, NBA, NFL or NCAA.
    It is in keeping with the increasing preponderance of niche markets that the web caters to.
    The more emphasis place on "insiders" by web sites/portals like Yahoo sports or even ESPN, the fewer women who will be in the content-providing mix.
    The real issue is: Who will create an online site that caters to a more broad audience? Maybe it's not necessary or financial reasonable, since the demographics show the market to be 18-35 year old males. Pity the rest of us looking for a more broad-based point of view & appeal.
    ::)
     
  4. BYH

    BYH Active Member

    Your loss. Jeff Passan and Tim Brown are excellent on MLB. Adrian Wojo is great on the NBA, and I hate the NBA.
     
  5. MMatt60

    MMatt60 Member

    I was going to cite Wojnarski, too, and then I looked at his blog on the Cavs-Bulls-Sonics trade, and he had four paragraphs rewritten from AP. Not very impressive in this particular case.
     
  6. gingerbread

    gingerbread Well-Known Member

    There is much truth to what 86Mets says. If you don't see many women on the Yankees/Mets/Knicks/Giants/Jets beats (to use what I know), they're unlikely to be hired by the dot.coms as "insiders."
     
  7. BYH

    BYH Active Member

    Haven't seen it, but he's not the first BLOGGER!!!!--and by that I mean a real writer, not a Big Leadian foof--to include AP copy in a post.

    I don't criticize writers for including AP copy to fill out a blog. I'd rather they spend their time actually writing something more lasting than a blog entry.
     
  8. MMatt60

    MMatt60 Member

    BYH: I'm with you. But that's ALL he had: four paragraphs.
     
  9. Diabeetus

    Diabeetus Active Member

    He probably is working on a bigger story on it. Don't be hasty.

    As for female writers, whoever's wise enough to hire them will get a leg up on the competition. They generally have a better eye for interesting details and consistently put out great work. Just my observations.
     
  10. gingerbread

    gingerbread Well-Known Member

    Diabeetus,
    You could get stoned for saying such things. :-*
    Now this really won't end well. :(
     
  11. MMatt60

    MMatt60 Member

    Re: Wojnarski ...........Isn't the whole idea on the Web to be immediate? Sam Smith already has a good column online, and he's a print dinosaur (and I mean that in a good way).

    Re: Women having a "better eye for interesting details?" Talk about stereotyping. I would say there are a lot of women who are great, detail-oriented writers and a lot of men, too.
     
  12. Diabeetus

    Diabeetus Active Member

    I'm not stereotyping. Most of the women sports writers that I've read have been great at their craft. I generally try to read minority and women writers because they have a different perspective on things than your average white male writers.

    And before you jump on that part, which I'm sure you will, I'm a white male sports writer and have a deep appreciation for their work.
     
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