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Articles and Media Reports

Mrs. P

Uno, Dos, twizzle!
Record Breaker
Joined
Dec 27, 2009
Thanks for the response earlier. Coverage of skaters like Keegan is also part of the PR point I was trying to make. Skating is increasingly a small fish in the big (and getting bigger) pond of sports, especially in the US. It really has to fight for position and notice any way it can. Listening to many of the teleconferences with the top contenders last week, you could almost tell which of the reporter were ones who cover skating as a sport and understand the technical details, versus the one who cover it as a curiosity among all their other assignments, or worse as piece of fluff entertainment. If the press were to take the time to notice that depth among US men has gotten better and was on display last night, skaters like Keegan and Armin and Dornbush might get a boost in being introduced early to the public. That's always a nice set up for the next cycle

One of the challenges of this is that you're talking about the journalism industry — and in industry that has lost tens of thousands of people among their ranks. Not every paper has the resources for a Brennan, Hirsh or Judd (the Seattle Times' Olympic reporter). And less and less papers have such resources to have someone cover the sport full-time. Most papers have had to pick and choose what they cover...and in some cases they choose to cover figure skating, as you said, as a curiosity or fluff assignment.

That said, I think there's a great opportunity for some bloggers and skating sites (such as GS) to step up and really talk to these skaters and get to know a little more about them. I think Aaron at Loops, Axels and Spins really has that potential, especially since he's friends with them on Twitter on Facebook. And I think there are some other bloggers that do this.

The media for so long has been the ones to cover the news and I really believe that good figure skating reporting and journalism doesn't necessary have to come from the mainstream media.
 

Tonichelle

Idita-Rock-n-Roll
Record Breaker
Joined
Jun 27, 2003
no idea about universal sports... he's getting a fair amount of coverage locally, though...
 

jcoates

Medalist
Joined
Mar 3, 2006
One of the challenges of this is that you're talking about the journalism industry — and in industry that has lost tens of thousands of people among their ranks. Not every paper has the resources for a Brennan, Hirsh or Judd (the Seattle Times' Olympic reporter). And less and less papers have such resources to have someone cover the sport full-time. Most papers have had to pick and choose what they cover...and in some cases they choose to cover figure skating, as you said, as a curiosity or fluff assignment.

That said, I think there's a great opportunity for some bloggers and skating sites (such as GS) to step up and really talk to these skaters and get to know a little more about them. I think Aaron at Loops, Axels and Spins really has that potential, especially since he's friends with them on Twitter on Facebook. And I think there are some other bloggers that do this.

The media for so long has been the ones to cover the news and I really believe that good figure skating reporting and journalism doesn't necessary have to come from the mainstream media.

I agree about the blogs especially since it's obvious many reporters do some of their research using them (or wikipedia).
 

Mrs. P

Uno, Dos, twizzle!
Record Breaker
Joined
Dec 27, 2009
I agree about the blogs especially since it's obvious many reporters do some of their research using them (or wikipedia).

I think at this point it goes in both directions. A lot of bloggers also simply link to pieces from mainstream newspapers as well. And often times a blog is nothing more than that person's opinion.

I think that one advantage of covering skaters early is that you do build a relationship with that skater and even when they're big, they'll give you access because they'll remember that you covered them when they were early in their career and also they'll probably trust you because you've shown a track record of solid, accurate coverage.

And Tonichelle, I do think that local papers do a great job covering skaters in their area and thanks to the Internet, we can read these stories too.
 

childfreegirl

Final Flight
Joined
Jan 6, 2004
Another Keegan article: http://www.adn.com/sports/story/1098226.html

Article on Lukas Kaugars (novice men), also mentions other Colorado Springs area skaters: http://www.gazette.com/sports/springs-92579-short-championships.html

Moore/Gaumond article: http://www.coloradoan.com/article/20100117/SPORTS/1170330/1006/SPORTS

Article about Codero Zuckerman and Baxter Burbank (novice men and junior dance): http://newsminer.com/bookmark/5581189

Article featuring Mark Ladwig: http://www.inforum.com/event/article/id/266136/

Ryan Bradley article: http://www.spokesman.com/stories/2010/jan/18/bradley-drinks-it-all-in-with-sterling-free-skate/
 

Nan

Rinkside
Joined
Aug 27, 2005
Christine Brennan article was interesting, terrible writing. She says Jeremy Abbott doesn't have international experience, hello Christine, he was the first US man to win the Grand Prix with one of the highest scores. Hello Christine, you thinks Evan should have been given first place no matter how many mistakes he makes in him programs over someone who does better than him because he is the world champion. This is why people have stopped watching figure skating with this mind set. Also, hello Christine, have you ever heard of Paul Wiley?? He never won National, etc. but was one of the brighest US skaters at the Olympics and brought home a silver metal.
 
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