Journalism Really Is Dead!

[knich]

I just bit the bullet and subscribed to the Athletic since it was 50% off. I subscribed because I wanted more insight into Allen's departure and the Arena situation. After reading the articles I feel like I got only 50% of the info. I like Craig Morgan and the AZ Republic guy is fine, but neither one is asking the tough questions or, even better, investigating. These guys are supposed to be journalists but their stories read more like they're Yotes employees. What gives?

The Morgan article on Allen was a joke. I have more questions after reading the article than answers. The explanation (I mean speculation) for Allen's departure is also a joke. Morgan even responded to a comment about his article with a statement that paraphrasing "It's Tochs decision." A real journalist is supposed to find out the real back story.. The article has no back story. The article discusses Maclean taking on new roles. What? Morgan should be questioning why Maclean wasn't fired. He ran the offense and PP but he stays.. What gives? I remember the FOG but Maclean should be no where near a Yotes player IMO. Why doesn't Morgan at least question Toch about these personnel moves?

Same goes for the arena situation. I waited an entire season for news. Morgan interviewed Toch and Cohen a hundred times but no tough questions.. why? We still are left to speculate about Yotes future in AZ without either journalist trying to get real answers.

As the topic reads, journalism is truly dead. I just wasted money on the Athletic.

Click to read more...

 

[XX]

Morgan is not a naturally talented writer and he doesn't put in the work to develop his network or his writing voice, so he reads like a really advanced text generator. He's also scared to death of rocking the boat, despite working for an outlet that should grant him some degree of immunity. Because he has been a lackey for so long, it would now come off weird if he suddenly developed a 'dont bullshit me' approach to interviews and writing. He seems content with staying inside his comfort zone. Expecting change out of him at this point is a lost cause.

The new republic guy actually seems to care about hockey and the organization a few layers deeper than Sara ever did, so he is an upgrade, but that's not saying much. He's young so maybe if he gets pestered enough on twitter he will step up to the plate.

At this point, I expect any meaningful expose style articles on the Coyotes - where you actually learn about things that can't be gleaned from official releases - to come from other writers.

 

[_Del_]

You'll need to move to another market to get good sports coverage. And even more of the bigger markets are falling into the same traps. The teams control the info and access. The team is the gatekeeper to what Morgan needs to get a paycheck these days. He'd have to work hard to get any sort of coverage outside of what they hand him. He's the current high tide mark for "insider". It is what it is.

 

[Mosby]

I’ve sounded off enough about Morgan in recent weeks but I’ll just add this - he covers a team that has had 7 consecutive losing seasons, yet has there been even one critical article in that timeframe? It’s not like there has been a shortage of things to criticize.

What happened with Allen? Why is MacLean still employed? Why wouldn’t Barroway ever speak publically? Why do we not know about moves (Kessel most recently) or firings (Maloney) until it breaks on Sportsnet first? What’s the budget? Why is there an undying love for Tippett despite 5 consecutive losing seasons? What lessons did we learn from Strome’s development and how will Hayton’s be handled differently? Why is Hayton slated to make the team as a 19-year-old? What factors contributed to Max Domi wanting out of Arizona? Why can’t we make a first round pick to save our lives?

The crazy thing is Morgan has virtually no competition in terms of Coyotes reporters and a platform where he can be a little more colourful and yet it’s the same old. May as well employ Dave Vest if we just want press releases and Coyotes pom pom waving.

 

[Bonsai Tree]

That the local hockey, baseball and football writers have chosen to cozy up to the teams is the problem. Perhaps they’re paid too little and need the extra comps afforded them by the teams. Interestingly, the basketball writers are very critical of the Suns.

 

[knich]

That the local hockey, baseball and football writers have chosen to cozy up to the teams is the problem. Perhaps they’re paid too little and need the extra comps afforded them by the teams. Interestingly, the basketball writers are very critical of the Suns.

Kinda hard to sugarcoat that one..lol.

 

[Dirty Old Man]

That the local hockey, baseball and football writers have chosen to cozy up to the teams is the problem. Perhaps they’re paid too little and need the extra comps afforded them by the teams. Interestingly, the basketball writers are very critical of the Suns.

That just could be because while the Coyotes, Dbacks, and Cards offer comps, Sarver tells them to go do things to themselves, though, couldn't it? It wouldn't be out of character, from what I gather.

 

[LuckyNumber11]

Honestly I kind of like Morgan. He's not perfect, but I've read a lot worse. I purchased the Athletic last month, and I use it all the time. Of course, not all of what I read is Coyotes articles, but I thoroughly enjoy their Royals and Cardinals coverage. Their Suns writers are solid as well, but there are better elsewhere.

I think Morgan's a solid writer, but I definitely agree that he could push for more information oftentimes. But when you're the #1 outlet for the teams news, you don't do that. That's normally the job for people trying to make a name for themselves, and we unfortunately, just don't have anyone covering the team like that for us.

 

[SniperHF]

TBH I don't think sports journalism was ever all that good.

But I don't think it's worth paying a monthly fee for either.

 

[Bonsai Tree]

TBH I don't think sports journalism was ever all that good.

But I don't think it's worth paying a monthly fee for either.

I do. I like the site. There’s a lot of solid journalism there. Just not for the Phoenix market

 

[The Feckless Puck]

Sports journalism is access journalism. Simple as that. In sports these days, you can't afford objectivity, because there's not enough money left to pay people to do a good job.

 

[Bondurant]

Journalism isn't journalism anymore. It's about generating clicks. There's no money in the business. Most "reporters" are kids fresh out of college that would never cut it at a paper 2 decades ago. The local sportswriter just needs to generate a hot take here and there and relay scores.

 

[Canis Latrans]

There are other authors who you should read on the site that provide good information albeit, not Coyotes' centered. Justin Bourne's stuff is always good even if it's more centered around the Maple Leafs. He's a former player and has been a video review analyst for the Marlies, so he'll often breakdown things that apply to every team. During the playoffs he broke down plays and why there were effective or why some one was out of place, so he's not beholden just to the Leafs. He's also got some articles highlighting what he looks for when judging players and provides multiple perspectives on points dependent on who you are in the organization. I'd go look through his archives.

Additionally, I think they are making a more concerted effort this season to cover the leagues more holistically. They were more getting established this past year or so with writers for each team/city, so they've realized that there are certain league-wide things that ought to be covered and not just randomly picked up by a team-author here and there. There are some other portals you can go down, like a future of hockey type one and there have been a number of articles on the draft all consolidated somewhere. They also just started a business of sports focus.

There are other sports covered on there too if you're at all interested in anything else as well, and they look to be expanding rapidly.

 

[SniperHF]

The local sportswriter just needs to generate a hot take here and there and relay scores.

I think the dedicated group of reporters covering the Coyotes does a pretty good job of not being too hot takey, probably a little too good. A little passion in covering the team would be nice once in a while.
Gambo is annoying but when he goes on a rant about something dumb the Diamondbacks or Suns do he's usually getting at a piece of the truth at least. He used to do a bit where he'd tweet out a picture of him in a limo driver's outfit saying he'll provide the drive to the airport to get the guy out of town.


(btw he was right about Smith , who was in the process of an all time level bad start to a season and basically every other media member white washed it and blamed something else)

Sure it goes too far often but it provides a push/pull in the discourse instead of getting only the team's side like we mostly do for the Coyotes.

I'd like to see two things out of the Coyotes beat reporters:
1. More Xs and Os analysis - Silverman does this to a degree but I find her writing less a critique and more trying to explain why the team is doing x and y not what they *should* be doing. And the latter is way more interesting.
2. The previously mentioned passion. Not all beat writers should have a fan's perspective style rooting interest, but it wouldn't kill us to have one or two.

 

[Jormungandr]

I know I feel like I wasted 60 bucks on the Athletic year long subscription. I won’t be renewing.

 

[Matias Maccete]

I like the athletic quite a bit, but if I just subscribed for coyotes coverage I'd cancel. Morgan isn't bad, but he also never seems to dig for info when we make questionable moves. There are worse journalists out there for sure, but most of his coverage is expanded press releases and puff pieces. There's some good stuff from him still, enough that I keep reading. Cat Silverman's goalie stories were pretty great, though I haven't seen one in a while. The football coverage is good too, some really cool play breakdowns with gifs and in depth analysis.