Another competitor for local sports coverage - CSNNE's new website

[jmt57]

Looks like the changing landscape of local sports coverage is changing again. And it appears to be another shift away from print media and towards online content.

Arthur Martone Leaves As ProJo Sports Editor | Rhode Island's NPR - WRNI

Whether it is by design or an ironic coincidence, the beginning of the article reads like an obituary.

Arthur Martone, the Providence Journal's well-respected longtime sports editor, is leaving the newspaper to take a job at Comcast New England, the cable channel that broadcasts Boston Celtics games and is expanding its sports web site coverage.

Martone's departure is a big blow to the Journal. The Cranston native was the heart and soul of the sports department for many years. He is one of the few Journal editors who has the affection and respect of all of his reporters. Plus, unlike many editors still left on Fountain Street, Art could do it all -- write columns, cover stories, edit, layout pages, assign reporters and massage their egos. Plus, he was fluent with the new web-based world of sports journalism. He listened to his reporters and they listened to him.

Martone was a very hard-worker, always on the job when big sports news was breaking or events were on.

In addition to Martrone, apparently Globe hockey writer Kevin Paul Dupont, Herald writer Sean McAdam and NBC's Tom Curran will also join the csnne.com staff.

Between the financial problems of the Globe in particular and the newspaper industry in general, and then the recent launch of espnboston.com, I was curious to see if other local sites would beef up their commitment to their websites for sports coverage. WEEI.com has obviously made an effort over the last year or two but they've really been the only one that doesn't simply duplicate what is found on their primary business format.

The newspapers have had blogs and weekly chat sessions online, but not much more than that. Most radio websites around the country do nothing more than let you listen online, a schedule with a short bio on who is on the air, and some pictures of girls in bikinis. And most television websites haven't seemed to be able to figure out how to deliver anything more than video clips from last night's newscast and maybe a transcript of yesterday's post-game interview or press conference.

So we have an emerging presence of espnboston.com, weei.com, and now perhaps more from csnne.com. I had figured nesn.com would be the next one to try to make a bigger commitment to their website; I'm guessing they will be next.

For us sports fans, the more the merrier. The way I see it more coverage and more competition is usually a good thing.

 

[Ian]

Re: Another competitor for local sports coverage

It's fascinating. To see where the internet has evolved from the time I started a site in 1997 to where it is now has been incredibly interesting. I could probably spend hours discussing new technologies and innovation that I've watched evolve, and it's just kind of funny to see all the media outlets now in this area hopping on the online medium and trying to establish a real presence. They're a bit late - and it's not exactly happening at the best of times considering the internet ad market. As a result they'll have to subsidize it through TV/Radio money until things turn around - otherwise I don't get how they're going to afford the salaries.

I won't get into it and post my thoughts on why some of them here locally have failed. But there are so many things that I know could be done to them which would allow them an edge over other sites and would make them far more resourceful. But since it's after 2am I think I'd rather head to bed...that's a discussion that could go on for hours - believe me

 

[pats1]

Re: Another competitor for local sports coverage

This was mentioned in Joe Sullivan's email to Globe staff today about all the movement in their sports department.

 

[jmt57]

I wonder if at some point local radio or television stations would try to buy out a newspaper that was in financial difficulty for their online presence and staff - and just sell off the physical print portion of the newspaper.

In other words if Entercom or WCVB for example sees online content as something it wants to invest in, would they buy the Globe just for Boston.com and its writers?

I'm guessing right now boston.com, bostonherald.com, and projo.com get more web traffic for sports coverage than any other local sites, but at some point in the near future I could see espnboston.com, weei.com, csnne.com and nesn.com getting close to their number of readers.

From everything I've read there's not enough money in web advertising to generate enough profit to pay for a large staff, limiting the idea of papers like the Globe becoming a web-only entity. Yet sites such as espn.com seem to do okay. I assume that is because much of their purpose is to direct customers to their more profitable medium (i.e., television.) So if that is the case, would it not make sense for a newspaper to become intertwined with a local tv or radio station - and become primarily, if not solely, an online source of information.

 

[Armchair Quarterback]

Losing the sports editor of the projo is nothing to cry about. Their sports section has always been pretty horrible. Hiring Curran and then SMY were about the only two good things they have ever done. Historically, when it came to the Patriots, their coverage was laugable.They only decided to cover the Pats when they started winning championships. And it was this guy who was the editor.