The hype surrounding the NFL just keeps getting worse. At least I'm no longer a small part of the machine that is churning it out.
The best part of working daytime hours and no longer copy editing in a sports department of a newspaper has been being able to spend much more time with my family (I just wish it was like this long before my older son started college!)
The second-best part is being able to lower significantly the amount of information I consume about sports such as pro football and auto racing.
I care nothing about NASCAR and rarely if ever read any stories about that sport. With that sport, luckily there isn't a hype machine that bombards me with information. I know very little about NASCAR season other than Danica Patrick's struggles, and I'm absolutely fine with that.
The difference between NASCAR and the NFL is that I actually enjoy watching NFL games even though I'm not a huge fan and don't have a favorite team. But I never watch the pregame NFL shows on Sundays and only give preview stories cursory looks. It really has increased my enjoyment of the football season.
Considering the attention that the NFL draft receives, many may not believe me. But I didn't watch even a second of the NFL draft last year and won't watch a second of the draft later this month, either.
When the sports viewing choices are Major League Baseball, the Stanley Cup playoffs and watching Mel Kiper Jr. yap about the upside of an offensive lineman, the choice is easy.
I will keep up with how it goes on Twitter or in the newspaper the next day. But watch it? Are you kidding me?
Judging from what the NFL hype machine produces every April, I'm obviously in the minority. If people didn't devour all of the information, it wouldn't be out there.
While I might care mildly about the results of the draft, I really have no interest in how anybody predicts it will go. Mock drafts? I have no use for them, but there are numerous ones thrown out there.
The two all-sports stations (WCMC-FM 99.9 The Fan and WDNC-AM 620 The Buzz) in the Triangle have some sort of draft challenge. Some hosts are drafting listeners to make picks for teams in a mock draft. One host's team will win the challenge. I believe they did this last year as well.
There's obviously no chance I'll be listening when this "draft challenge" airs. It's irritating to hear how much air time is being wasted promoting this contest. But I do have to thank them for the steady warnings so that I don't accidentally listen.
Hearing anybody predict how the draft is going isn't interesting to me when it comes from Kiper or others deemed "draft experts." But when it's a random listener? Even worse.
A Saturday morning ESPN Radio show, Dari and Mel did something similar this weekend. Once I realized that during my run, I was off to other stations.
To me, that's like having a sports radio show have people call in to talk about how their fantasy baseball team is doing. And just as compelling.
Long-winded draft analysis stories, previews of the prospects for area players, NFL draft capsules and other copy leading up to the draft will be of interest to many NFL fans. I'm just glad I don't have to copy edit any of it!
Opinions and perspectives on Carolina athletics, running, newspapers and more
Saturday, April 14, 2012
Monday, April 9, 2012
Another newspaper puts up a paywall
While nearly every newspaper was giving away stories for free in the late 1990s, one of my former newspapers -- The Herald-Sun of Durham -- stubbornly refused. The H-S was going against a strong tide and criticized in many circles.
But there was some excellent logic: Why give away your product online while you're still trying to sell the same content in a print edition that brings in money?
The H-S was one of the last holdouts before it finally started making stories available free on its website. Since then, they've probably joined the rest of the newspaper industry regretting it to some degree considering how revenue just kept dropping.
One of my other former newspapers -- the Daily Press of Newport News, Va. -- just joined the growing number of publications that is trying to find some of that lost revenue. On Monday, the Daily Press put up a paywall for much of its content, even blog posts.
In this announcement, publisher Digby Solomon outlines the way it will work:
So not all of the content will be behind the paywall, but the best content will be. It's probably smart to offer a low introductory rate of 99 cents. But there will be some frustrated readers when they try to call up a story and this pops up on their screen:
As a reader, I hate this. But as a former newspaper person who hates the financial problems facing the industry even more, I hope it works.
I remember when news broke that insidecarolina.com was reporting that Kendall Marshall, John Henson and Harrison Barnes were leaving UNC for the the NBA. I jumped over to the site only to find out that the story was behind a paywall. It was frustrating, but I didn't pull out my credit card and buy a subscription. I already knew the news and I'd probably later learn whatever further insights the story may have included.
I'm skeptical about whether this is a good decision by the Daily Press, and wonder what the rate will be after the 99-cent charge for the first five weeks.
For young readers who never have had to pay to read newspaper stories, this is probably something they will refuse to accept. Older readers may be more flexible.
I would expect that longtime Peninsula-area residents who have depended on the Daily Press for local news, sports and features will grudgingly pay to see the exclusive content online. What I'm actually hoping is that they'll pay for a print subscription since that will come with free access to exclusive online content.
Will people who live far away from Hampton Roads keep coming to the site to read award-winning sports columnist David Teel, for example, if they have to pay to see his work? I wonder if they will unless the charge remains low. Missing one of the top columnists in the ACC region, along with plenty of other good reporters, will spur much debate with many readers.
Clicks mean money, and sports stories bring a lot of them.
I'm guessing that the Daily Press will lose lots of clicks from people outside of the Hampton Roads area who routinely visit the site for coverage of Virginia, Virginia Tech, Hampton, CNU and the CAA. People who grew up in the area might be inclined to pay the fee to keep up with all of that as well as the high schools coverage.
If you are a Hokies or Cavaliers fan who enjoys Norm Wood's coverage of the football and men's basketball teams at those schools, will you pay for it? You should because he does an excellent job. But some might figure that they'll instead go to the Richmond Times-Dispatch, the Virginian-Pilot or other papers in western Virginia where they might be able to get coverage free.
These are the unknowns that newspapers can only guess about when they try something new like this.
Will the increase in revenue be worth the risks?
I hope it works because I fear for the future of newspapers and for the careers of talented friends who still are lucky enough to be working in the industry.
But there was some excellent logic: Why give away your product online while you're still trying to sell the same content in a print edition that brings in money?
The H-S was one of the last holdouts before it finally started making stories available free on its website. Since then, they've probably joined the rest of the newspaper industry regretting it to some degree considering how revenue just kept dropping.
One of my other former newspapers -- the Daily Press of Newport News, Va. -- just joined the growing number of publications that is trying to find some of that lost revenue. On Monday, the Daily Press put up a paywall for much of its content, even blog posts.
In this announcement, publisher Digby Solomon outlines the way it will work:
So not all of the content will be behind the paywall, but the best content will be. It's probably smart to offer a low introductory rate of 99 cents. But there will be some frustrated readers when they try to call up a story and this pops up on their screen:
As a reader, I hate this. But as a former newspaper person who hates the financial problems facing the industry even more, I hope it works.
I remember when news broke that insidecarolina.com was reporting that Kendall Marshall, John Henson and Harrison Barnes were leaving UNC for the the NBA. I jumped over to the site only to find out that the story was behind a paywall. It was frustrating, but I didn't pull out my credit card and buy a subscription. I already knew the news and I'd probably later learn whatever further insights the story may have included.
I'm skeptical about whether this is a good decision by the Daily Press, and wonder what the rate will be after the 99-cent charge for the first five weeks.
For young readers who never have had to pay to read newspaper stories, this is probably something they will refuse to accept. Older readers may be more flexible.
I would expect that longtime Peninsula-area residents who have depended on the Daily Press for local news, sports and features will grudgingly pay to see the exclusive content online. What I'm actually hoping is that they'll pay for a print subscription since that will come with free access to exclusive online content.
Will people who live far away from Hampton Roads keep coming to the site to read award-winning sports columnist David Teel, for example, if they have to pay to see his work? I wonder if they will unless the charge remains low. Missing one of the top columnists in the ACC region, along with plenty of other good reporters, will spur much debate with many readers.
Clicks mean money, and sports stories bring a lot of them.
I'm guessing that the Daily Press will lose lots of clicks from people outside of the Hampton Roads area who routinely visit the site for coverage of Virginia, Virginia Tech, Hampton, CNU and the CAA. People who grew up in the area might be inclined to pay the fee to keep up with all of that as well as the high schools coverage.
If you are a Hokies or Cavaliers fan who enjoys Norm Wood's coverage of the football and men's basketball teams at those schools, will you pay for it? You should because he does an excellent job. But some might figure that they'll instead go to the Richmond Times-Dispatch, the Virginian-Pilot or other papers in western Virginia where they might be able to get coverage free.
These are the unknowns that newspapers can only guess about when they try something new like this.
Will the increase in revenue be worth the risks?
I hope it works because I fear for the future of newspapers and for the careers of talented friends who still are lucky enough to be working in the industry.
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