Comments on Dan Shanoff: What Is Mainstream Sports Media?

Dan,I would argue that a small market newspaper wo...

2008-05-10T23:54:00.000-04:00

Dan,

I would argue that a small market newspaper would not meet both the definitions you state here. Sure it probably has local influence, but hardly has reach beyond their market. Yet we still consider them to be "mainstream" media, even though the publish content not originated locally.

Chris

i guess I am not breaking it down by the individua...

2008-05-09T18:16:00.000-04:00

i guess I am not breaking it down by the individuals, but rather by the institution that hosts the individual.

let's look at Kornheiser and Wilbon on PTI. outside of "5 good minutes" there is almost nothing "primary" about what they do. In fact, is there really anything different between PTI and Deadspin, other than the fact one is on TV and watches their language?

If Wilbon and Kornheiser did nothing but PTI, would they be mainstream journalists? perhaps that could be argued either way...BUT, ESPN is still a primary source, and hence mainstream, no matter what occurs on one half-hour show.

On the other hand, while Deadspin may send somebody to Super Bowl parties and take pictures or even do a ragtag interview every once in a while. those few pieces are primary, but rare. most of what Deadspin does is secondary and constitutes what makes Deadspin what it is.

Fair point. How would you classify "mainstream" co...

2008-05-09T18:00:00.000-04:00

Fair point. How would you classify "mainstream" columnists - newspaper, magazine, Web, whatever.

These guys regularly do just about as much "primary" research as bloggers (ie, not much) -- and it's even worse if you factor in their TV work, which is the most "mainstream" of all.

I see your point and it makes sense, but the scien...

2008-05-09T17:31:00.000-04:00

I see your point and it makes sense, but the scientist in me says "how do you test it?" In other words, there is a lot of grey area.

my personal definition says that the difference between mainstream media and "alternative" media or "new age" media (whatever the flavor of the week is) is the difference between primary and secondary sources of information.

Most "journalists" provide a primary source of the news. they do the interviews, provide the boxscores, break down what happened.

on the other hand, "altermative" media are *usually* reliant on the primary sources.

now again, there is grey area here also, but i think less of it.

for example. Deadspin gets 99% of their stories from other sources. BUT, they might take from obscure sources, and then bigger Fish (ie. ESPN) might pick up on the story from Deadspin. Still, in this case, I would consider Deadspin the secondary source, because they did not generate the story. They just gave the story life.