JC / Railbird

Media/TV/Film Archive

Tipping Point

I’ve been thinking about racing media lately — about Maryjean Wall’s retirement, a certain track publicist’s old media conception of “significant coverage,” John’s keen observation that blogs had the edge over mainstream media when it came to Derby coverage, the apparent success of The Rail — and it occurs to me that this is the year turf coverage tips from print to web, when much of the best reporting, commentary, and analysis appears online first, if not exclusively. Of course, I’m biased, given all the time I’ve been devoting to a little project nearing launch, but I believe we’re on the verge of a revived and vibrant racing media scene, thanks to the web …

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

Blood-Horse Goes Digital

Last month, I wrote about waffling over renewing my Blood-Horse subscription. Too much print, I complained, and wished for an online-only version of the magazine. A few days later, a nice note from Blood-Horse circulation director Marla B. appeared in my inbox. They were working on just such a product, she wrote, and offered access to the beta, which is how I’ve been happily reading the magazine since. The screenshot above gives a sense of what Blood-Horse digital looks like: Basically, the complete contents of the print magazine are loaded into a cool browser-based reader, allowing the viewer to flip through pages, search for text, search archived issues, click on links within articles and ads, and so on. It’s a merger of print and web publishing that works surprisingly well.
Marla emailed last week that the digital edition is launching soon with a special introductory price of $39 for a year (which Railbird readers can get by calling 800-582-5604 and saying they saw it on this site). Blood-Horse readers with an existing subscription can convert to the digital edition with any unused print subscription time applied to the digital.
In case you’re wondering: No, I’m not getting a cut of each subscription or any other payment. This little commercial announcement comes about because I’m a pleased reader who really likes what Blood-Horse is doing online, and this is how I’ll be renewing my subscription …

Posted in Media/TV/Film on April 21, 2008

FSIM Opens Next Friday

Filmmaker Brad Hennegan and the man* who bought the first tickets in New York to the Friday night opening of FSIM.
Don’t forget! “The First Saturday in May,” the feel-good documentary by the Hennegan Brothers that follows six 2006 Kentucky Derby prospects, including Barbaro and Lawyer Ron, from preps to post, opens in theaters across the country beginning April 18. Find a theater near you.
Thumbs up! Both Dana and Teresa have all the details on the New York screening and reviews of the movie. Since I’m an inept critic, I’ll throw you over to Green But Game and Brooklyn Backstretch for much more on this delightful film …

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