I’m not convinced on this one, but it bears discussion as a thought out of the box. Mark Cuban has posted on his blog about Why Pro Sports Need Newspapers and it’s a considered read, but for those short on time, he suggests:
- Sport teams buy reporters
- Team pays reporter(s)
- In return papers guarantee X amount of coverage
Now, in theory it sounds good. After all, say a reporter was providing copy to a bunch of papers and getting a full page of coverage. That’s thousands of pounds of ad space a day. It’s being filled by copy, it’s sport (always a driver for people) and yet there’s no wage bill for the reporter.
But, here’s the downsides: even if the paper(s) accepted and went along with this, would the readers accept it? After all, they’ll know that it’s coming from an in-house reporter and as such assume inhouse biases.
Secondly, what if the reporter came across a great story that showed the club/player/owner in a negative light? Will he sit on it? Will he print it?
I don’t think the public would accept it – they are already hard enough on sports’ reporters for their perceived biases. Or would it be that they would expect to be getting the actual truth, instead of rumours and spin, and as such be more welcoming of this?
The full article’s worth a read. Certainly gets you thinking. And if it worked for sport, could it work in other departments?