Enjoyed the comments about media coverage
As a 15-year Wave One Birkie skier and a full-time journalist at The Capital Times in Madison, i've watched with interest the lack of coverage here
It all comes down to having a reporter interested in skiing, which is rare given the small percentage of people who are really into the sport
I got my start as a sports writer and we did bang up ski coverage for a couple of years back in the early 90s. When I transferred to the news desk, that was the end of our coverage. It's as simple as that.
The Birkie gets some coverage now but usually as a "you-got-to-be-crazy-to-do-it" kind of event. There was no mention of any top local racers, other than a few paragraphs I managed to sneak into my column that runs on the business page.
Case in point, a rock music writer for the morning paper here did a long column about trying to ski the birkie with her grandmother's old three-pin boots, which came apart halfway during the race, forcing her to drop out. A lot of non-skiers were mentioning it to me and saying what a "great" story it was.
With that said, I think the Internet will become (or already has become) the best source of nordic coverage and race results
It's like bike racing and running. Those who are into it will seek out things they are interested in. The mass media simply doesn't care and likely never will no matter the number of phone calls and press releases.
I have been pushing our sports department all year to do a feature on Ben Cline and they have little interest. He did get a couple of mentions from our prep sports writer. which reflects the level of interest when weighed against basketball and hockey in the winter.
Other fringe sports also moan about the lack of coverage. Such is life. They will never supplant the mainstream sports, especially now that women's sports are competing for tight news space
Have a great spring, one more trip north for me to the ABR season closer
Cheers
-----Original Message-----
From: Greg Fangel [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]]
Sent: 03/13/2002 4:52 AM
To: Joe King - Newslist
Subject: [XC] Ben Cline
I'm awake at 4:30 in the morning and can't get back to sleep. I just got
back from 10 days of skiing in Switzerland and am still on their time.
Congratulations to all involved with the coaching and development of Ben
Cline! And great job to Ben!
I noticed in a previous post that someone was complaining about the lack of
media coverage for Ben's accomplishment in our great sport.
As Chief of Media for the National Masters held in St. Paul in 2000 and
President of our club, I can tell you that you need to spoon feed the media
anything of importance for cross country skiing. They are not going to come
to you and they are not following skiers unless they know what's happening.
That's most likely the reason that there was no coverage. XC skiers need to
be proactive in getting the media the attention our sport deserves. With
extra attention comes money, interest and better trails.
Tips for giving information to the media.
1. Have one person per town be the media spokesperson that sends press
releases to the media. This would work great for Madnorski in Madison.
Papers, TV and radio like to contact only one person.
2. Use standard press release formatting and fax or e-mail the press
release.
3. Give them information all year long or as long as you have information
that you would think would be noteworthy. this includes press releases on
clinics, meetings, accomplishments, etc.
4. Try to target writers or reporters that have shown an interest in our
sport.
Usually when I send press releases to our two major papers in town, they put
something in. This takes time to develop relationships with them, but you
need to start now.
Good luck
For some fun, check out www.north-stars.org. I got to meet and talk to the
greatest XC skier of modern times while I was in Switzerland.
Greg Fangel
North Star Touring Ski Club
_______________________________________________
http://www.MadNorSki.org/
XC mailing list
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
http://www.danenet.org/mailman/listinfo/xc
-----Original Message-----
From: Greg Fangel [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]]
Sent: 03/13/2002 4:52 AM
To: Joe King - Newslist
Subject: [XC] Ben Cline
I'm awake at 4:30 in the morning and can't get back to sleep. I just got
back from 10 days of skiing in Switzerland and am still on their time.
Congratulations to all involved with the coaching and development of Ben
Cline! And great job to Ben!
I noticed in a previous post that someone was complaining about the lack of
media coverage for Ben's accomplishment in our great sport.
As Chief of Media for the National Masters held in St. Paul in 2000 and
President of our club, I can tell you that you need to spoon feed the media
anything of importance for cross country skiing. They are not going to come
to you and they are not following skiers unless they know what's happening.
That's most likely the reason that there was no coverage. XC skiers need to
be proactive in getting the media the attention our sport deserves. With
extra attention comes money, interest and better trails.
Tips for giving information to the media.
1. Have one person per town be the media spokesperson that sends press
releases to the media. This would work great for Madnorski in Madison.
Papers, TV and radio like to contact only one person.
2. Use standard press release formatting and fax or e-mail the press
release.
3. Give them information all year long or as long as you have information
that you would think would be noteworthy. this includes press releases on
clinics, meetings, accomplishments, etc.
4. Try to target writers or reporters that have shown an interest in our
sport.
Usually when I send press releases to our two major papers in town, they put
something in. This takes time to develop relationships with them, but you
need to start now.
Good luck
For some fun, check out www.north-stars.org. I got to meet and talk to the
greatest XC skier of modern times while I was in Switzerland.
Greg Fangel
North Star Touring Ski Club
_______________________________________________
http://www.MadNorSki.org/
XC mailing list
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
http://www.danenet.org/mailman/listinfo/xc
