Hearst papers to use Bleacher Report stories

OK, so maybe there are some good dudes working for this website. And maybe you don't need locker room access to break down a trade, a la Bill Simmons, but if you're touting yourself as an "ally of the media" you've got to understand that sportswriting is more than just analysis, insight and acumen. It's also reporting, and to be any ole halfway-decent reporter you need sources.

On another note, if BR reporters are going to call themselves "fan-writers", then I have a problem with them getting credentialed to sporting events.

 

Bleacher Report fan boys can also write whatever they want about a player, coach, etc., without dealing with any back
lash.


At a journalism seminar, Frank Deford said he had an immense amount of respect for beat writers simply due to the fact that they had to walk into that locker room after every game.

 

I've always wondered what would happen when all the real sportswriters and reporters finally go extinct. What will the bloggers write about since they won't have anything to regurgitate (badly)? And how will they write it?

 

They'll just regurgitate ESPNSF.com content instead of San Francisco Chronicle content.

 

Stop the stereotype. There *are* plenty of bloggers out there who do good jobs (just as there are plenty of reporters who suck). I just find BR passing fan opinion as unbiased reporting.

 

Hey Everyone,

I'm continuing to enjoy reading everyone's reactions to Bleacher Report.

Rather than address every point, I want to pose a question to you guys. What would be your reaction to an article like this one here:

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/353600

When I ask about your 'reaction', what I mean is that I'd like to get your thoughts on (1) is this journalism as you would define 'journalism'? (2) if not, what would you call content like this? (3) does content of this nature have a purpose? (4) where else would one find content like this?

Let me begin by saying that this was a totally random article on Bleacher Report that I found this evening, by coincidence. I am not claiming that it is the best or the worst article in Bleacher Report's history. The reason I found it was because I googled the term "best combine performances ever". I wasn't looking for a Bleacher Report article specifically, but this was the top result.

Unless I am mistaken (or couldn't find it), nobody else has ever put together a comprehensive list of the best-ever combine performances. That would appear to be problematic in the eyes of the 3,000+ people who read this article, since they presumably were curious about this topic, just as I was.

It appears that for some reason, in the long, esteemed history of newspapers... nobody ever thought to put together a list of the finest combine performances of this century. And there are probably many other examples just like this one.

Sometimes the fans have ideas, opinions, or thoughts that are *different* from what a professional reporter would choose to write about. This is one such example.

And so for the thousands of fans who wanted to know about this topic... they got their fill from Bleacher Report.

This article certainly wasn't a manifestation of perfection, but it succeeded where every other outlet of "professional journalism" failed — in providing a piece of valued information that would have otherwise never existed.

And, yes, this article is rooted in opinion based on public information. But the opinion/debate side of sports is what some of us love most about it, and Bleacher Report embodies that to its fullest... heck, aren't the bleachers a place for opinion and debate?

 

Susan: Thank you for providing the real insight on this topic. Your observation that the thief was banned from BR pretty much says it all. The thief wasn't fired from BR because, well, you can't really be *fired* from something that doesn't pay you. And if you're a total volunteer, you don't have anything to lose. You have no real incentive to abide by professional standards. This is why the presence of BR on sites practicing responsible journalism is disturbing.

I do admire the BR representative who has taken the time to post his thoughts and subject himself to the slings and arrows inherent on this dart board/message board. I must disagree with his assertion of an alliance between the site and responsible, professional journalism. If I do something for a full-time wage and you come along purporting to do something similar but for free, you're undercutting my work and livelihood.

 

And now I present an actual snippet from an actual BR story:

"Judging by the silence in Vancouver . . . (you can here a rat piss on cotton) . . . everything is peachy-keen n' swell in the minds of the winter Olympic athletes."

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/351501-1968-olympics-2010-olympicsnothing-to-be-angry-about

If you're not offended by the reference to excretory activities, you should at least be bugged by the writer's inability to distinguish "hear" from "here."

One of the problems with the site is its sheer volume of copy; this volume is apparently so immense that it precludes even cursory editing.

 

Actually, I was bothered more by the supposition of what was in the mind of someone. That's not something you guess at. You either ask them or you are silent on the subject.

 

I only go there to check out the scantily clad chicks they love to highlight;

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/354441-mlb-wags-to-watch-for-during-spring-training

Which proves a point about BR and other models like it..all they care about is the pageviews boys and girls...hence the reason they let anyone 'volunteer'.... flood Google with a particular subject and start counting the clicks....after I caught a certain writer ripping off stuff from my site and others, they went silent, but returned soon after...I used to check the site on a regular basis to catch/report all the ripping off of others on there, but it now takes p too much time and more often then not I don't get an answer anyway...and of course I can never make it past the chicks....

 

Bd,

I would consider that a chart converted to a slideshow for print.

To me it would be a nice to accompany an in-depth story about the combine. Otherwise, it's like hundreds of other slideshows you see on websites.