Boston media shakeup

[BigJim5190]

Sorry is this is a dp, I didn't notice anything else on this topic. If it is, I apologize and please graveyard this...

But in Boston, there's been some shakeup of media types as the WEEI radio station has started to get a foothold into the scene. Already posted before were people like Rob Bradford (from the Herald) and Michael Felger (from the Herald, although he had recently taken a buyout and was just a correspondent) taking the job for WEEI's web site.

That made the Herald shift John Tomase from the Pats beat (where he would have been a dead man walking) into the Bradford slot and they're currently looking for a Pats writer to take his place.

Now this week news breaks (http://thephoenix.com/BLOGS/dontquoteme/archive/2008/08/14/the-globe-sports-section-gets-a-makeover.aspx) that Tony Massarotti will join the Globe to take the spot vacated by Gordon Edes (who left for Yahoo!). He's going to be more of a general columnist on the web and in print - sort of a new position they created in the wake of losing a few people to a recent buyout.

Amalie Benjamin slides into the head Sox beat and deskers Chad Finn and Corey Allen also get bumped up.

Mazz did an interview here http://shots.bostonsportsmedia.com/ where he said he turned down the WEEI job because it was basically "a startup" and the Globe was more stable -- which struck me as odd because of all the talk of it being a "dying business"

Meanwhile, WEEI hires Ron Borges, Jeff Goodman (foxsports.com) and Alex Speier (Union Leader, under the Herald umbrella) to continue their web presence gig.

My queston to this long-winded post is to the greybeards here. Is this a GOOD thing for the business? The long term growth that amounts to the Globe finding a foothold on the web and *gasp* creating jobs out of it? Or is this just something that concerns the "big dogs" on the beats and the trickle-down effect of these recent hires (and the future hires the Herald will make) will never reach us footsoldiers still trying to make a name for ourselves on copy desks, agate chairs and high school sidelines.

Will papers in other markets see this and copy the plan? Am I looking too much into this? I mean, the move at a big "destination paper" like the Globe seems to create more jobs (replacing the people that moved up) while there are numerous holes at the Herald now. Will those jobs be closed out or combined with existing jobs? What should we expect here?

I'm interested in other thoughts, as I am starting to think I want to be so positive about the future of this business I'm looking at every crack of light as a beacon.

 

[steveu]

Holy ****. That's some good moves by the Globe. (I have to say it... no, I don't work there.)

 

[Moderator1]

dp??

Good info, thanks. Not a "dp" that I have seen.

 

[Michael_ Gee]

The WEEI.com thing could work, if the station puts enough resources into it to cover all the bases - basketball, hockey, college sports (we got a lot of colleges), etc. If it's just another stop for bloviating about the Sox and Pats, well, hell, Bostonians can get that on my blog, it's not really going to do what the station wants.
The beefing up of boston.com is a good thing for journalists, but I fail to see how it helps the Globe's main problem-revenue losses.
The Herald's life-support existence, which has been a reality for well over a decade, continues. I am not sure they will replace Tony, although they might give Karen Guregian her column back, which would be good.

 

[BigJim5190]

Sorry, Moddy. I figured word got around here fast and didn't want to step on any toes about breaking this stuff.

I know Michael is a vet of the Boston scene and you've probably lived through a bunch of these "Here's how we're going to SAVE the business" moves. Is the Globe starting to do it right? And if they are, will the Herald follow suit and pick up guys like MacAdam from the ProJo (he's gotta be the next big move, right?) or the Courant guys or even guys from papers like Nashua who recently lost pro beats? I mean, I guess online is the way to go, but it seems (like you said with the revenue losses) they haven't found a good way to profit off it yet.

I'm young(er) and already jaded in this business, so I don't know if something like this is akin to rearranging deck chairs on the Titanic or not. I see the big guys making moves and I hold out hope that my mid-size market paper in the Northeast can make it happen, too.

 

[Moderator1]

No need to be sorry at all!
I was just yanking yer chain! dp? It's d_b, as in deeper_background, our wonderful little member who always posts news when it is olds.

 

[spaceman]

a lot of the news lately has qualified as a dp.

 

[Moondoggy]

a lot of the news lately has qualified as a dp.

or bs

 

[BigJim5190]

D'oh

 

[Michael_ Gee]

Dear Big Jim: I would be very surprised if MacAdam left Providence for the Herald. Even though it's Belo, the Journal is a more stable situation than my alma mater. Picking up one of the Courant people seems more plausible, but again, I wonder if they'll hire anyone. They seem to be taking their time with the Pats reporter they advertised for, and the pro football season has, after all, started.

 

[whatwoulddamondo?]

they also have some decent guys on staff (ventura, thompson, steve conroy has covered the pats in the past) to fall back on for pats stuff, at least until bruins season begins, when they'd lose conroy.

macadam isn't leaving the projo for the herald. if anything, he leaves for espn.com or another site.

i like the tony mazz move, even though i never, ever thought he'd leave the herald.

and nashua lost its pro beats? not covering the sox and pats anymore? never thought that'd happen.

 

[BigJim5190]

Michael - I figured they would have hired someone by now, too. Kind of surprising they haven't, especially if they bring in someone from outside of New England who needs to get acclimated to the beat.

What - As for MacAdam, not to speculate on him as being unhappy in Providence, I just think he's the most solid guy out there and his name could bring some accountability to a paper, after the Tomase debacle and now losing Mazz to a competitor, could use some good PR. You're right in that I think the ESPN or Yahoo!s of the world would be more attractive. I'd also think if EEI offered Mazz a spot, they've offered it to him as well - especially over a Borges.

As for Nashua, I have a friend up there who is a desker. They pulled the Sox beat mid-week, mid-series. I think they covered Matsuzaka against the Twins or something, then went to AP the next day. Apparently someone in the building is all about being LOCAL, LOCAL, LOCAL up there. So now it's about them trying to shoehorn their Pats guy on the desk three nights a week and writing about the local softball team two days.

 

[jimmydangles]

http://www.boston.com/sports/other_sports/articles/2008/08/16/new_lineup_for_globes_baseball_team/

Apparently Adam Kilgore is on his way in at the Globe, in addition to the promotions of Chad Finn, Amalie Benjamin and Corey Allen, and the signing of Tony Mazz.

 

[dooley_womack1]

So BigJim, do you still have your sports camper?

 

[BYH]

So BigJim, do you still have your sports camper?

AND THE CAPITAL OF NEBRASKA IS LINCOLN!!!!