Rugby media serve up same nonsense
Roar Guru By Gatesy, 28 Jan 2009 gatesy is a Roar Guru
- Tagged:
- Chris Hickey, Clyde Rathbone, Craig Gower, John Mitchell, Mark Gasnier, Northern Hemisphere, Phil Mooney, press conference, Rugby Union, Sonny Bill Williams, Tana Umaga, Waratahs
Here we are again, about to enter into a new season. The journos are all refreshed and ready to get into it, after a long summer layoff, where we were served up the usual rubbish. Do they think that the rugby fraternity is made up of idiots?
In this, my comments do not include anything that happens on this website, as it is about the only decent haven of interesting rugby – or general sporting journalism – in this country.
Thank goodness that the French Rugby scene has suddenly become interesting, because the fare would have otherwise been pretty thin over Christmas.
So, Messrs Growden, Morton and co, have had their holidays and now they’re back. And what happens?
They all write a version of the same story. Journalism by press release.
Each of the main papers and news sites carried the story about Daniel Braid, with almost identical reportage. Then we had little snippets from the Super 14 franchises – again the press releases.
Mortlock won’t be the Brumbies Captain. Big deal, but at least 20 journos wrote 20 similar versions of the press release.
Each also carried the Tana Umage comeback story. Again, almost identical reporting.
Are we in for another season of the journos trotting out the trite and true?
Is this how it works? The ARU, the Waratahs, the Reds, or the Brumbies announce a press conference, all the hacks turn up.
If they’re asleep in the back corner, it doesn’t matter. They just trot out the contents of the press handout and pretend that they’re a real journo.
If that’s not how it is, it certainly is how it appears to us mugs in the public!
Recommend this story.
Jim Beam Devil's Cut
As bourbon ages, a portion of liquid is lost from the barrel due to evaporation. This is known as the Angel's Share. When the bourbon is taken from the barrel, a certain amount is left trapped within the wood. It's that extracted liquid, and the rich flavours from deep within the barrel that are in Jim Beam's Devil's Cut.
Click here to learn more about Jim Beam's wicked new bourbon.
January 28th 2009 @ 11:11am
James Mortimer said | January 28th 2009 @ 11:11am | Report comment
I agree 100% with the article and fellow Roarers remarks.
Of course, I am my own biggest fan! But one of the reasons I commenced sports writing was I felt that there was a significant amount of crap in the media.
The best example regarding Australan media is that the Super 14 (of which I grow more giddy about every day) has only just begun to warrant mention. Compare this to myself and Roar, we’ve been talking about it for over a month.
Wayne Smith of the Australian is pretty solid.
But the Fox sports team is beyond terrible. Did anyone read the latest issue of Inside Rugby. There preview of the Super 14 and Six Nations was absolutely atrocious – and full of editing mistakes.
Of commentary interest, Grant Fox has been announced to replace the late John Drake.
January 28th 2009 @ 11:20am
HIYA said | January 28th 2009 @ 11:20am | Report comment
Unfortuantely guys you will find that sporting organisations have turned into control freaks and do place a fairly hefty limit on who journos can and can’t talk to. This is done for obvious reasons so that players don’t say something they’re not supposed to – whether it’s about contracts or about an opposition team or whatever.
Clubs all have media managers now who are paid to tell the players what to expect from journos. Most clubs wheel out a player after training who is only avaible to all the media all at the same time – that’s why you see all the TV guys with the same story. It’s all contrived. No excuse for ripping-off press-releases mind you.
And If you think about a season goes about 10-months a year with most journos working weekends/nights and travelling so they probably deserve time-off over the off-season – that’s also why you have people re-hashing press releases.
During this period there’s obviously not as much demand for Rugby stories because it’s out-of-season. I think you would actually find there’s more Footy stories in this day and age than ever before anyway. And did you ever stop to think that at this time there’s just no news to report other than the obvious. there’s only so many profile pieces that can be done on individual players.. take out the ones that have already been done in years past and there’s not much else for these blokes to write about.
January 28th 2009 @ 12:00pm
Ben said | January 28th 2009 @ 12:00pm | Report comment
Rickety Knees, I expect if Spiro does comment it will be to defend his Fairfax stablemate Growden to the hilt. He’s got form in this regard, having gone into bat on here previously when the CRC was copping an entirely justified spray for his inane muckracking articles.
Gatesy, while the articles at the moment are basically press releases or AAP/Reuters summaries to be honest I prefer them to the sort of agenda driven crap, full of ‘quotes’ from disgruntled, unnamed, high ranking, ARU/NSWRU/QRU etc sources, that Growden and co usually deliver. If the main rugby ‘journalists’ could actually string together an interesting article it would be great, but I’m not sure many of them are capable of doing it more than once or twice a year.
January 28th 2009 @ 12:09pm
Greg Russell said | January 28th 2009 @ 12:09pm | Report comment
Since two people have expressed surprise, I just wanted to clarify my words about the Fox sport commentary team. Granted, they are not the greatest. But my point is this: I would rather them, deliberately being stupid in a self-mocking way, than Murray Mexted, thinking he is clever but actually being stupid (and believe me, in NZ we have to suffer a lot of Mex).
It was not for nothing that I likened Clark, Kearns and Martin to The Goon Show. The point is that if you just accept that you aren’t going to get serious commentary from them, they actually are not too bad.
January 28th 2009 @ 12:14pm
LeftArmSpinner said | January 28th 2009 @ 12:14pm | Report comment
hiya, they may not have access, but they can still write opinion pieces. we all do. Then, this will draw the teams and players back into the debate. For example, what are the players views on the bench, the yellow cards, the Wallabies performances and areas for improvement?
January 28th 2009 @ 12:17pm
True Tah said | January 28th 2009 @ 12:17pm | Report comment
Greg
the problem with Kearnsy is that he seems to treat the rugby viewing public as idiots and tries to appeals to their perceived intellectual level…I actually thought he was quite smart himself, then I got foxtel and started watching his commentary.
As for Greg Martin, apart from his obvious Reds bias, his interviewing technique revolves around him asking a series of loaded questions to which the interviewee looks like a stunned mullet.
Its would be ok if Kearns and Martin were your mates and you were down at the pub and they were commentating after five schooners…however I pay $60 a month to Foxtel and for that I expect professional serious rugby commentators, which is what Martin and Kearns are clearly not!
Mexted is bloody awful, which cave did they drag that Neanderthral out from?
Dont mind Hugh Blayden and Kobus Wiese though.
January 28th 2009 @ 12:42pm
Gatesy said | January 28th 2009 @ 12:42pm | Report comment
While we are on the subject of TV journalism – whatever happened to Buddha and Gordon Bray? They were a good team.
My favourite Buddha-ism was when he was describing a Bok prop (it might have even been Kobus Wiese) when he said: “he was born when meat was cheap!”
HIYA – I don’t agree that the Summer Break is out of season .. the Heineken cup has been in full swing and there is plenty of stuff that could be found
Isaac – I was trying to avoid giving any site a plug on here – even mine “Scrumtime” (click the link on my name above) but I just set up a Google Alert. You go to iGoogle – look for “Alerts” and you can specify any criteria that you want and the frequency that you want the alerts. They finish up in your inbox as an email containing links to stories from anywhere in the world.
You can also go to the rugby directory sites for directories (again just Google “Rugby Directories”). Thirdly, just about any tragic like me will have a series of other links on their blog/ site. Good luck with it – feel free to email me at joliga.aust@gmail.com if you want more.
January 28th 2009 @ 1:46pm
HIYA said | January 28th 2009 @ 1:46pm | Report comment
Gatesy – Heinekin Cup is on – How do Growden and co cover that from here? because I don’t reckon the papers would pay for them to live in the UK and do the stories from there so that the rugby fans can read about it during Cricket/Tennis season
Maybe they could cover it by taking a generic report from one of news providers like reuters or maybe from a press release provided by one of the clubs – the very thing we’re all complaining about..
LAS.. Opinion pieces could fill the void and they do do this.. during the season – but then you also run the risk of being accused of bias.. e.g. “Growden’s pushing the Waratahs barrow, Morton’s towing the Reds bandwagon”.. Although News ltd is big on it.. particular lately during the Cricket – hammering Mat Hayden and Symonds.
I’m not trying to defend them I agree I’d love to see more Rugby news wherever I can find it.. too be honest I think we’ve got it pretty good in this day and age. We can see the press releases now at virtually the same time the journos can on team websites.. the problem is that when we read their article’s the next day we’re hoping they can give us something more.. but more often than not they don’t. – like with what Gatesy said about Mortlock not being captain of the Brumbies anymore. I thought the best part of the story was why Hoiles was made captain over George Smith – yet no-one asked Smith what he thought about that. Again that may be because he was prevented from commenting on it by the club I dunno.
January 28th 2009 @ 2:45pm
Central North said | January 28th 2009 @ 2:45pm | Report comment
Sorry to nitpick but as far as I can see Growden’s not back from holidays – haven’t seen his byline anywhere at least – so don’t see how he’s pushing the Tahs barrow as Brett says. And Jim Morton in my opinion is fairly straight down the line, as AAP journos generally have to be. He’s a Queenslander though so by nature he’s a little Red in both eyes.
As Greg Russell mentioned, I think a lot of the lowest common denominator stuff is the result of editors wanting a populist line. Populist pap sells papers – why else would the Telegraph have the highest circulation? In an attempt to compete – and perhaps because of their ongoing malaise – the SMH dumbs down and in essence you’ve got similar coverage across the board.
I too hope for a time where critical thinking and more opinion is in favour at the Ed’s desk. But in this time of cost cutting and a tendency towards younger, less experienced journos at the major metro papers, I’m afraid newspapers will just keen getting more and more similar.
January 28th 2009 @ 2:55pm
Central North said | January 28th 2009 @ 2:55pm | Report comment
Another thing – Gatesy, the Heinekin Cup might be big news to those of us on here and a few more but to the greater populace in Australia it’s a non event. Walk up to an average joe on the street and ask him about the strength of Bath’s pack and he’ll look at you like you’ve just taken a dump on his shoe. As entertaining as it is to the faithful, it’s nowhere near popular enough amongst your average newspaper purchaser to warrant column inches in a paper half a world away.