Bleacher Report Raises 10.5M, Becomes 5th Largest Sports Website

I'm not insinuating anything is stolen, but there is no original reporting. Nothing ethically wrong with taking a SI quote from some time back and using it, attributed, in a boxing column. That quote, by the way, appears in a story on the front page of BR -- some of the content "found elsewhere."

I'm glad Bleacher Report upped its standards and aims to continue. A step in the right direction, but there's about a mile to walk. It's a neat little niche you've got there, and I'd like to see BR grow to the point that it can actually feature reporting alongside its speculation, lists and opinion columns.

 

@blacktitleist Thanks for your fair and measured response. While that opportunity wasn't the right fit for your friend, I hope that many would realize that there are plenty of out-of-work former/future writers for which that is a good situation--especially working from home. My mind keeps going back to the 20K/year position in small town, MI listed in the Jobs section. Factor in moving costs and those jobs become remarkably similar.

@Mustangj17 Thanks, I appreciate discussion. I don't think any "web guy" would call what we do "blackhat SEO"--that has to do with hidden keyword or entirely irrelevant keywords--crafting content to keywords isn't sneaky in anyway. You may think the headlines look crazy, but it is what drives traffic--just like a witty headline above the fold on page one USED to do.

Also, "shotty" is the place where teenagers want to sit and/or the OC for the Jets and "shoddy" means poorly made.

@jlee You and me both! Its a question of access and clout. From my experience, the NFL is the only entity that, as a whole, is lagging behind on allowing our writers (the NFLPA, however, loves us). NASCAR, MMA, Boxing, NHL and MLB are all very open to allowing B/R writers the access of traditional media outlets. The next step is getting writers in place on a part-time/full-time basis to utilize that access.

It isn't "breaking" news, but B/R has started to get its share of interviews and is (usually) included when PR places/agents are trying to get their client exposure. That is a completely new feature from two years ago and I expect it to grow.

 

The difference is, with a catchy newspaper headline, or even a catchy web header, the person has the choice to click on it or not. With Bleacher Report, they are completely bogarting the search results. So I either have to go to sites directly to see if they have new, quality content, or I have to scroll through numerous pages, or click "more". It takes time I don't like to spend.

Also, thank you for your quick lesson on teenage slang! In my old age I can't really keep up with what people are saying nowadays. I blame it on the rap music.

 

Is that what you call "The 20 Most Boobtastic Athletes Of All Time" or "Check Out Lingerie Football League Players' Real Catfight?"

Or is "committed to raising the bar" merely a euphemism?

 

You say Associated Content like it's a good thing. I have seen my own stories posted on that site without attribution. That place is known far and wide as a bunch of thieves and a journalistic joke.

 

@Mustangj17 See, to me, you're talking about the fundamental way in which content is delivered. It is as if you would yell at the person who wrote catchy headlines on a newsstand rack that you had to look through to find the content you want.

Like I said, with very little effort, I can go to a website and see 5-10 ways they could do what we do without changing their material in anyway. They fact they don't want to isn't noble, it's sad for their employees who won't be getting bonuses. I'm not publishing a primer here, but (for instance) it doesn't ruin a site's integrity to ask writers to refer to people, places, teams by full names in headlines and in the body of text.

Many here won't believe it (don't want to believe it) but b/r is committed to getting quality up to par with our competitors. I don't think it's absurd to think they could work on content delivery to get it on par with ours.


@lono Skin sells and we're not a newspaper. If you would rather no one on the internet who talks about sports also talks about sex/hot females, you have bigger bones to pick than with us. A quick Twitter search shows Darren Rovell (CNBC) and Yahoo! Sports blogs also talking about the lingerie football brawl.

 

I guess my gripe is mostly with whomever thought it was a good idea to include this crap in "news" searches. As for the BR stuff ... I just don't read it.

 

I'm just amused by the fact that someone can simultaneously — and apparently with a straight face — pontificate about quality while pushing "Boobtastic" stories.

Hard to have it both ways.

Especially with the abysmal writing throughout your site.

 

@lono So Matt Taibbi is a bad writer because Rolling Stone features covers and ads with scantily clad women? Do you, of course, stop reading SI for months until you forget the Swimsuit Issue? Same with ESPN and the Body Issue?

 

I never said Matt Taibbi is a bad writer.

I said your writers are bad writers. I stand by that.

Made all the more pitiful by your empty rhetoric about BR's commitment to quality.

 

One quick comment here, relating to the comparison between making $20k as a Bleacher Report writer/editor to making the same at a small-town newspaper. If anyone reading this sees this as a real dilemma, let me correct you: Take the newspaper job every time.

The blog-for-hire world wasn't around when I graduated college and I'm glad it wasn't. The small-town, no-money newspaper world isn't perfect, but it's a lot better preparation for fledgling journalists than most blogging gigs, esp. at B/R and even SB Nation, for obvious reasons.

I've got no problem with B/R and SB Nation raising money and espousing their feelings on the state of the media world, but I do have a problem with the thinking that it trumps real journalism as a steppingstone to better things.