JC / Railbird

Media/TV/Film Archive

The Best Surrogates

Writes Vic Zast, in praise of the noble turf scribe:

These writers have access and research capabilities that bloggers and fans don’t…. The NTWA member has been conscientious in serving the sport. It’s the turf writer that takes the lead position on most crucial issues and expresses the opinions of fans in his writing…. They are the best surrogates of the fans, if the fans themselves are not represented …

Funny Zast should post those words today. This morning, turf writer Steve Haskin’s inaugural 2009 Derby Trail column, on the subject of Sheikh Mohammed purchasing promising Kentucky Derby prospects Midshipman and Vineyard Haven, disappeared for several hours after it was initially posted on Blood-Horse, with the only trace of the original text this snippet on Google:

Briefly, the missing column looked like a repeat of a 2006 incident in which a Haskin article on Bernardini’s retirement was pulled, raising questions about whether Blood-Horse had acted in response to advertiser pressure, but according to regular commenter EJXD2, “a well-placed BH insider told me that it had been posted w/out being edited” (via tweet). And Indeed, the column reappeared online, with edits throughout, starting in the first line (the text preserved on Google above):

Everyone knows by now that Sheikh Mohammed wants to win the Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (gr. I), as evidenced by the amounts of money he’s spending for ready-made Derby horses.

Notice the missing word? It’s one you often hear in reference to the marvelous sums the noted sportsman deploys to procure elite equine talent; it’s one you might expect a conscientious surrogate to use in a column full of observations and insights — not a piece of straight reportage — on the Sheikh’s renewed pursuit of his Dubai-to-Derby dream. And the questions suggested by that adjective — well, you might expect such a respected turf writer to take a lead position on the issues raised by the actions and plans of such a prominent owner and breeder, and you might expect that his editor and publisher would allow him to express that position.

I guess the fans will have to represent themselves.

Posted in Media/TV/Film on November 10, 2008

What’s Lost

… when newspaper reporters on the racing beat are laid off or retired, then replaced by general sports writers, who might be fine journalists but have little understanding of the sport or the industry and its ongoing stories, is exemplified in this dull bit of LA Times reporting on SoCal synthetic surface tracks, which rehashes every point every racing fan or even vaguely interested reader has already come across elsewhere, padded out by press release quality quotes.

Posted in Media/TV/Film, Synthetic Surfaces on September 4, 2008

An Expansion

So often, when the subject of mainstream media and racing comes up, it’s because coverage is being cut at yet another newspaper. The Wall Street Journal is going in a different direction, at least for the Breeders’ Cup, reports AdAge:

(The Breeders’ Cup has been advertising in the WSJ online.) It is an ad section; the focus is advertising the Breeders’ Cup and interested marketers, but expanded sports editorial gets a mention, so I think we can expect some actual Breeders’ Cup coverage alongside the display ads …

Posted in Media/TV/Film on August 12, 2008

Upcoming

Along with Teresa Genaro of Brooklyn Backstretch, I’ve been invited to appear on Call to the Post with Seth Merrow of Equidaily on the Capital OTB channel at 9:45 a.m. Monday (the show is streamed live online; Albany-Saratoga region viewers can watch on cable channel 12) to talk about how the web has changed the relationship between racing and its fans. Should be a fun discussion …
And on Thursday, sometime during the 4:30-5:30 p.m. hour, Dana Byerly of Green but Game and I will be on the Sirius radio show At the Races with Steve Byk (archived for listening online) to talk about Self Appointed Fan Committee, which should also be an interesting conversation, as the committee’s first reports will be issued the same day.

Posted in Media/TV/Film on August 3, 2008