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Monday, July 20, 2009
“This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.”
Apparently, it’s true:
This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.
OK, say it with me: Yeah, right.
The former Kansas City Star sports editor who has run the editorial division at MLB Advanced Media since its inception can and will roll out story after story after story, through and including the site’s coverage of Manny Ramirez’s suspension, as evidence that he has built a credible news organization that stands free and clear of its owners. Yet Dinn Mann knows that some in both sports and journalism remain skeptical, even after nearly a decade and in spite of thousands of those not subject to the approval of disclaimers.
Just doesn’t smell right, does it?
But then Mann trots out his examples, all this coverage of the unflattering and the controversial, all the way down to the story on former San Diego Padres owner John Moores’ divorce, and … OK, maybe.
I think most of us think like Mark Cuban:
Cuban doesn’t see the credibility question as an issue, because he doesn’t think a team’s Web site should be the venue for unbiased editorial dialogue. He realizes fans feed off controversy, criticism and the debate over the decisions of a team’s coaches and management. He embraces it elsewhere.
“Not on the Mavs site. That’s not its purpose,” Cuban e-mailed. “A team Web site is stupid if they are objective in what they write. The goal of a team site is to sell the team.”
The LA Kings are hiring their own reporter:
For the Kings, the other way came in the form of the “Royal Road Report,” a Web site feature that runs when the team plays away from home. Starting midway through last season, the team hired freelance writers to attend practices and morning skates, interview players and coaches, cover games and file stories.
When Gauthier was suspended, there was coverage of the announcement that day and a follow-up the next day when the team was in Ottawa.
When the Kings are on the road, the team site offers exponentially more content than either the Times or the Los Angeles Daily News. Now that he’s seen what they can do with editorial content, Altieri said he is warming to the idea of hiring a newspaper pro to cover the team both at home and on the road.
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