JC / Railbird

Web Publishing

Online Only

Pull the Pocket points to interesting news on the sulky side: The magazine Harness Edge is going online only beginning in August, a move its publisher is phrasing in positive terms:

“No longer will be there be a subscription charge. And the new format is a major bonus for advertisers because there are no longer limitations. Anyone, anywhere in the world can view the publication which means unlimited exposure,” said publisher Harold Howe.

“Now that there are no printing or mailing costs we are able to dramatically reduce advertising charges. In this embattled economy that is terrific news for the Standardbred horse industry.”

While merely the latest in what’s an ever-growing general list of print publications shifting to web-only models due to cost pressures and declining revenues, Harness Edge is the first publication in racing, thoroughbred or harness, to make the jump.

In other web news: Noticed this a few days ago, but NYRA announced today that house handicapper Andy Serling can be found on Twitter. According to the press release, “Serling’s Twitter entries will use the hashtags #belmont, #saratoga, and #aqueduct depending on to what track the tweet pertains. There will also be messages with hashtags corresponding to other NYRA topics, such as #travers and #alabama.” Savvy! What’s not is that Serling isn’t (yet) following a single tweeter back. Maybe once he settles in …

Speaking of Twitter, DRF makes its first foray onto the service with @DRFInsidePost, the feed for its new blog, Inside Post, which promises “real-time racing information” Wednesday through Sunday. So far, the DRF handicappers and reporters contributing to the site are showing a lot of gusto for the live-blog form. It’ll be interesting to see if they (or their readers) can keep up such an enthusiastic pace five days a week.

In other racing news: Now that Rachel Alexandra is declared for the Haskell, Monmouth has a new goal for its big summer race. “Now that we have Summer Bird and Rachel Alexandra,” said track president Bob Kulina, “we’re going after Mine That Bird again.” A rematch, all three? That would be must-see.

Posted in Media on July 15, 2009 / Tagged Harness Edge, Harness Racing, Magazines, Twitter, Web Publishing