The local paper needs the football club more than the football club needs the local paper

[YankeeFan]

So says the owner of a third-tier English soccer club, who has severely restricted press access to the team:

In recent years, professional sports teams, and even some prominent college programs in the United States, have moved to exploit the shifting media landscape by limiting access and using their own platforms to control — and tailor — messages they then deliver through team-approved media channels.

Swindon Town, a third-division club that typically plays in front of crowds of fewer than 10,000, has taken some of the most extreme measures yet: In effect, the team has eliminated non-game-day news media access. Reporters, photographers and videographers are largely barred from interviewing any member of the team, the coaching staff or the club’s management, save for a hurried question or two for the manager at a postmatch news conference.

Lee Power, the Swindon owner, who put the policy in place, acknowledged the irony of giving an interview to explain the decision but defended the policy because, he said, “at the end of the day, the local paper needs the football club more than the football club needs the local paper.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/05/s...his-one-repels-journalists.html?smid=tw-share

 

[Riptide]

This should be the extent of the weekly coverage now:

Podunk Heights 2
Swindon Town 1

 

[Dick Whitman]

This should be the extent of the weekly coverage now:

Podunk Heights 2
Swindon Town 1

That will probably end up proving the club's point.

 

[da man]

The headline is undoubtedly true of any NFL team.

 

[JohnHammond]

This should be the extent of the weekly coverage now:

Podunk Heights 2
Swindon Town 1

#dyingmediumburn

 

[Baron Scicluna]

This could also lead to more false reports, since there is little to no access, which may end up biting the team in the ass.

Tweet: " Jay Cutler limping at practice #ohno!"

Bears: "No he's not, he's perfectly fine. The report has no merit."

Reporter: "well, my source told me he was limping, and someone else told me he heard that too, so I reported it. Maybe if you'd let me attend practice, I would have been able to see for myself."

Bears: "it's ridiculous where we live in this day and age of Twitter."

 

[Shropshire Slasher]

Charter members of the Premier League in 1992, gone after one year. That, and winning the League Cup in 1968, are their only claims to any fame whatsoever.

Perennial third-tier side, much like a Division II college here, and as such shouldn't get much publicity at all. That's what makes this club's stance odd. Sounds like a pissing match with the local rag.

 

[da man]

Charter members of the Premier League in 1992, gone after one year. That, and winning the League Cup in 1968, are their only claims to any fame whatsoever.

Perennial third-tier side, much like a Division II college here, and as such shouldn't get much publicity at all. That's what makes this club's stance odd. Sounds like a pissing match with the local rag.

Probably more of a statement about the status of the newspaper than that of the team.

 

[Dick Whitman]

(M)uch like a Division II college here, and as such shouldn't get much publicity at all.

Are you talking about this particular club, or soccer in general?

 

[BDC99]

Perennial third-tier side, much like a Division II college here, and as such shouldn't get much publicity at all.

Absolutely. **** 'em. Write a brief off the web summary and put your resources into something more noteworthy.

 

[Batman]

Absolutely. **** 'em. Write a brief off the web summary and put your resources into something more noteworthy.

I wouldn't even do that. Don't put anything in there at all, unless the score happens to be listed among the standings on an agate page.
They wanna get nuts? Let's get nuts.
Don't run any wire copy, don't run any briefs on the team. No articles on transactions, games, nothing. Total blackout. Readers might complain, so you run a front page story explaining the situation and why it is the way it is. Don't take the high road. Make it well known that this is because of restrictive policies.
I doubt it would bankrupt the team or anything like that, but if they don't want what amounts to free publicity then don't give it to them. If all they want is for the paper to cover games and give them free publicity, certainly don't give them that.

 

[BDC99]

I doubt it would bankrupt the team or anything like that, but if they don't want what amounts to free publicity then don't give it to them. If all they want is for the paper to cover games and give them free publicity, certainly don't give them that.

Agree with you on every point. Was just thinking in terms of keeping the readers informed. We have a third-tier soccer team and an arena team in our coverage area, and we just run a few paragraphs on the games, written off info we cobble together online, and focus on the big leagues. If this team doesn't advertise in the paper, then the paper doesn't need the team one bit. And even if does, it's debatable. The previously mentioned soccer and arena teams have far more advertising than coverage we give them. They need as many ways as they can to build awareness and get people to the games.

 

[LongTimeListener]

So, assuming the newspaper is devoted to the same small town or limited readership where the team sells its tickets ... what do you think should make up the daily sports report, then? Are there other stories that the locals would prefer to read about other than this team?

 

[BDC99]

So, assuming the newspaper is devoted to the same small town or limited readership where the team sells its tickets ... what do you think should make up the daily sports report, then? Are there other stories that the locals would prefer to read about other than this team?

Rugby, Premier League, cricket ... whatever. I wouldn't sweat this team one bit.

 

[JC]

they can get all that anywhere, they can't news on their local team.

 

[LongTimeListener]

OK.

Now you can think about why a person would read your paper.

I don't know the particulars of the town, but my gut feeling is the team is probably right.

 

[BDC99]

Bull****. It's just the owner being petty. And the regular readers will be more pissed at the team than the other way around. Any publicity is good for a team that draws less than 10,00 fans. I'm sure there are plenty of other local stories to cover. There's probably local rugby, cricket and other soccer teams as well. **** this team if they don't want you doing features and game previews to build interest. Giving the readers the news is why I initially said run a brief, but I'd be OK just ignoring them. Amazes me how many people on this site are anti-newspaper. Yes, there are other places to get the news, but if you want to get it from a source that reports only stories slanted toward the team, be my guest. Or listen to the radio. Sigh.

Mr. Lawrence, the editor, said that there was some talk among local journalists about boycotting Swindon Town’s opening game as a response to the club’s policies but that such a stance by The Advertiser “ultimately wouldn’t serve the readers.” Instead, the paper will seek to cover the team without its cooperation.

Although the club does not have to answer difficult questions, Mr. Lawrence noted, it also misses out on coverage that might be advantageous, such as an article about reduced ticket prices or, say, the manager’s appearance at a charity event.

 

[JayFarrar]

Pay for a ticket and cover the team from the stands.

Run stick figure drawings, that's been done in England before, if they won't let you shoot the games.

I know the economics are changing but it used to be true that minor-leagues and small colleges were dependent on media coverage to sell tickets and get butts in the seat.

Does anyone know if that's still the case?

 

[JC]

Bull****. It's just the owner being petty. And the regular readers will be more pissed at the team than the other way around. Any publicity is good for a team that draws less than 10,00 fans. I'm sure there are plenty of other local stories to cover. There's probably local rugby, cricket and other soccer teams as well. **** this team if they don't want you doing features and game previews to build interest. Giving the readers the news is why I initially said run a brief, but I'd be OK just ignoring them. Amazes me how many people on this site are anti-newspaper. Yes, there are other places to get the news, but if you want to get it from a source that reports only stories slanted toward the team, be my guest. Or listen to the radio. Sigh.

Yes, your local Podunk press is fair and balanced. They never slant stories for the good guys.
It's not anti newspaper, it seems to be reality.

 

[BDC99]

Yes, your local Podunk press is fair and balanced. They never slant stories for the good guys.
It's not anti newspaper, it seems to be reality.

Yeah, I'm pining for the days when we get all of our news from the government offices and teams themselves instead of having reporters digging into things. Sounds like utopia!