Thursday's Frosty Mug

The easy argument against the MSM is that the MSM requires access. Tom H.’s livelihood depends on being able to get a quote from Doug Melvin on, say, sending Rickie down and recalling Joe Dillon. Melvin’s not going to give him that quote if Tom questions any organizational move too harshly. I have to believe it’s part of the reason why Neddy Ballgame is still managing - not because he has any discernible management skills per se, but because Jim Powell and Tom Haudricourt still want to be employed. That’s a steep price to pay for the “inside scoop.”

Another nice thing about a journalistic-ish blog is that you can immediately source your material with a link, and anyone can look it up and judge for themselves. Any idiot can make up a rumor, and you can follow the link and judge for yourself if the source is legitimate. It’s all laid out for the interested reader. It makes for a great way to present an argument, and just one of the reasons why newspaper readership is down down down.

The issue that the main stream media is missing is that access and reporting don’t matter any more. The facts are easily obtainable from a myriad of sources. Players and teams have control over how they disseminate their messages. They don’t depend on the MSM to be their conduit to the fans. And quotes are so watered down and generic that there is very rarely any interesting “inside information.”

What consumers want is analysis and commentary. Everybody’s got the facts; let’s find out what they mean. That’s what’s interesting. That’s what’s entertaining.

I, too, have a journalism degree. I got it just two years ago, and I can say with confidence that both journalists and journalism professors have their heads in the sand. They are elitists convinced that they alone are capable of determining what the public needs to know. They have no understanding of why blogs appeal to people. They’d rather eliminate blogs than learn how to symbiotically coexist with them.

I swear I didn’t see your post before I wrote my subject heading…

Wow, that is ugly.

Though you’ve got to hand it to Turnbow: He gave up 6 in 2/3 of an inning and his WPA was .000.

Meekly raises hand

Yes, Anthony, let’s make sure we realize which are written by fans and which ones are written by journalists like Anthony Witrado.

My favorite Witrado line:

I’m going to talk to major league baseball players now. Continue amongst yourselves…

WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO, you go Tony!

This is a great point, and I think it’s the one sentence that gets to the heart of the Blogs VS Journalism debate.

It reminds of a radio interview I heard the other afternoon on 1250 WSSP. Don’t get me wrong, I hate that station other than the Brewer pre & post games that they do, but that’s not the point. They were interviewing Brian Anderson pregame before the start of Tuesday’s Crew/Cubs game, and the question posed to BA was something to the effect of, “With the team struggling lately, who do you feel needs to pick up their performance a little bit?”

BA’s answer: “Ummm….well…..I can’t really answer that right now because I’m on the bus with these guys…...”

I don’t have a journalism degree, but man that sure does seem like a problem. How many times have you wanted to be in the post game presser after a depressing Brewer loss, where you wanted to ask Ned or someone a difficult question? For me it’s constantly, and I’m sure many other people here feel the same. However, it’s difficult for guys like BA or Tom H or Witrado or McCalvy to ask those questions b/c they got to see the guy they just crucified everyday. Basically the newspaper/Blog choice ends up being a “pick your poison” argument. Do you want the guy with unlimited access lobbing softball questions, or do you want a guy who’s got almost no access to the team to speculate wildly about the more difficult questions? I suppose it’s a difficult choice for some, though for me it’s easy. If I wanted the fluff pieces every week I would subscribe to our newspaper.

Regardless of our (mostly my) occasional jack-assery, ass-clownery, and numb-nuttery, I really would prefer the type of inteligent discussion on this site and others like it as opposed to the vapid entries by the MSM. The old guard’s attitude towards blogging and the internet seems to me like ranting and raving about automobiles replacing horses as the preferred mode of transportation. 10 years from now people will revisit this debate and wonder how anyone could’ve actually been on the other side of the argument.

Lastly KL Snow, you do an absolutely fantastic job on the mug. I haven’t formerly posted how much I appreciate the work you, and of course everyone else here, do on a daily basis. Keep it up…..Thanks.

glad to see he has a reasonable opinion on the bloggers v. journalists debate. I do have one small problem however.

A: Anthony Witrado – Not so much, but those people are also not in the clubhouse gathering inside info like Tom and I. Blogs are all good as long as you know which ones are informed and which ones are just fans.

what’s so wrong with giving the fans a forum to talk and discuss our team? I realize i’m probably reading too much into it, but that’s the underlying point i’ve never understood in this whole debate. when i got to brew crew ball, deadspin or anything else, i’m there thinking these are credentialled journalist and i should be taking them for their word on every thing i read. i basically view them as fans expressing and discusing their view with other fans nothing wrong with that. when i go to a game, should i not talk with other fans because their not journalists? of course not, nobody would thing that? so, why does that exchange being online make it any different? it doesn’t. i really don’t see how this is a threat to journalists. In fact, i think it helps thm in some instances and they should embrace that when it does.

The internet is for porn, not sports.

The humor is lowbrow on some blogs, but everybody has their own niche. Brew Crew Ball certainly isn’t a circus of scantily clad women, F bombs, and dirty jokes. Deadspin and The Big Lead are. On my blog, I tend to write more feature style stuff.

Everybody determines their own niche. If nobody reads my blog, but I get a sense of satisfaction and catharsis from writing it, then it’s a worthwhile endeavor.

Just hit his second shot of the game!!

I am amused at the idea that sports blogs somehow created the mean spirited fan. As if fans in the 1920’s weren’t calling each other names or making disparaging remarks about opposing players.

I think the MSM has a bit of complex about their own viewpoints somehow being “true.” Outside of the box score everything comes down to opinion of some type. Ned Yost’s opinion is probably more pertinent to the situation then “DarthVader79”’s opinion. It just comes down to the MSM’s fear that fans can’t figure out the value of different information sources.

That fear goes into why the MSM’s coverage sucks at times…they write for an “Audience” who they think can’t think for themselves.

I don’t’ understand the problem that journalists have with bloggers at all. I understand they think they are the guardians of truth and grammar, but it’s akin to informational communism. Journalists have the knowledge, the people don’t, and only the wise scribes can dispense it at the appropriate times to the appropriate people.

The converse is a completely free and capitalistic blogosphere where everyone has the freedom to write what they will, but not without consequence.  First, communities tend to police their own.  Baseless rumors are dispelled and the collective knowledge is probably as close to truth as we can get.  It’s not really surprising to me that Wikipedia is considered as accurate as Encyclopedia Britannica.

Further there is the success of a blog or community that is at stake. No one will spend money to advertise on a blog without value. And poorly written or inaccurate blogs will lose traffic.

Lastly a community like BCB offers a far more diverse knowledge base. There are niches that exist here that MSM will not cover, mostly sabermeterics, because the mainstream aims for the lowest common denominator.

The Brewers fans ranked #10 for Fan IQ
And the Cubs fans shudder ranked #8

very good: here.

Amongst the primary offenses “us” bloggers commit when writing is writing without that super special “insider” access that the Media has and which, from their perspective, makes their information the only accurate information out there.

I believe they are selling themselves short but not also reminding us they are the only ones provided with the very rare and secretive reading instrument that allows them to “read between the lines”, a RBL Orb. Obviously Tom H. has a coveted RBL Orb as he provided the following information on the JS Blog which the amateurs on the BCB surely was unable to observe on there own.

If you read between the lines, it’s obvious that Melvin is considering what to do with Turnbow.