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Journalistic professionalism
By Will 2 years ago, at the end of June, No Comments; be the first!
It quickly became apparent during my two outings to The Oval and Lord’s that there are certain “do’s” and certain “don’ts” in the press box, and at press conferences. I thought there would be; I wasn’t expecting a free-for-all and a punch-up if your question got ignored. Although that’d be fun…
Someone clearly lacking any dignity is Val Thomas, writes Ryan:
After Ganga’s answer, Thomas wasn’t satisfied so he followed up by asking Ganga who his “Godfather†was, an obvious reference to team selector Joey Carew. The idea was to embarrass Ganga because Morton was not selected in the final XI.
As an accredited journalist covering the Test, Thomas has the right to ask any question. But, in his haste to make Ganga uncomfortable, he only served to embarrass himself.
[...]
This is the problem with what passes for journalism in the Caribbean and Thomas is certainly not alone. There’s a Thomas in every country, a so-called journalist who puts on hometown blinkers and refuses to see rhyme or reason.
Thomas is a disgrace to the profession. A parochial, narrow-minded individual who decides to be disruptive because it serves his own insular interest.
Strong words, and he’s not alone either.
No Comments »Why do you read this blog?
By Will 2 years ago, mid-May, 16 Comments »
All sorts of blogging-related things and projects happening at the moment, which leads me to ask an annoyingly ambiguous question: why do you read this blog? Don’t worry, I’m not seeking praise or anything like that. I’m just trying to make head and tail of my readership, and of those who read blogs.
- Are you aware that this is a blog, or did you just think it’s a website?
- Are you a blogger?
- Did you come here because you knew about blogs, and wanted to find a cricket one?
- What makes a blog better, worse or different than - for example - just a fan’s cricket site?
- What other blogs do you read?
- Do you tend to read “personal” blogs (detailing people’s lives) or blogs focussed on a particular subject?
So, if you can answer things like those, that’d be great. It’s totally open-ended, so chat away. I think blogs have a slight identity crisis, and I’m trying to explain this to someone. On the one hand, essentially they offer nothing more than any other format. But on the other, the “instant” publishing means it’s as easy to blog as it is to email (which leads to its own problems, mainly a stream of incomprehensible waffle as Corridor readers are only too well aware).
The recent BBC/Reuters-led discussion was quite interesting. In some ways it was quite damaging to citizen journalism and blogging but, indirectly, it merely emphasised the importance of the new medium. They’re two of the largest and most influential news organisations in the world, and spent rather a long time discussing how they were best able to adapt to the “change” in media reporting. I predicted this (in private; I’m not boasting) shortly before I started blogging, but it took 6 months longer than I anticipated. We’re seeing the first wave of a bridge between established media organisations and bloggers - and I think it’s healthy to see.
In fact, I don’t necessarily do think it’s healthy or unhealthy. But I know it’s here to stay, and any news organisation who doesn’t react to blogs; to Web 2.0; to syndication; to citizen journalism and all that jazz, will perish. Which, on a slightly different topic, is why I’m concerned/fascinated by the future of print media. There have been recent revelations in the decrease of print advertising revenues; where to next for them?
And here endeth the stream of nonsense. Thoughts welcome; I know it’s not strictly cricket related but, nevertheless, you read the blog so you owe me your opinions on the format!o
16 Comments »It’s Sreesanth, not Sreesunth
By Will 2 years ago, mid-March, 14 Comments »
Sreesanth, the India fast bowler, is my latest favourite player. Not because of his cricketing credentials, but for his name. Sreesanth. It’s singular; his first name is too long and complicated (it’s Shanthakumaran if you must know) and I have a curious liking for names and words and things.
I don’t know why…it’s probably because it’s so uncommon in Britain to be known nationally by your last name. Only if you’re a celebrity, and usually not a very good/popular/talented one, are you afforded notoriety by your surname. In the subcontintent, it’s common!
Anyway, I really am talking some rubbish here. The point of all this is highlighted by John Stern who, as I have mentioned before, is writing a diary for us at our Tour Diaries blog. And today’s entry should provide great reading for those of you interested into the world of a cricket journalist (John’s the Editor of The Wisden Cricketer):
14 Comments » Next Entries »But after leaving his seat and made for the exit, he promptly returned to the microphone-laden table. “I want to make an announcement,†he said. Comments like that lead to wild and excitable speculation. Journalists could see their careers flashing before their eyes. Is this the big one?
“I would like everyone to know that my name is Sreesanth. That’s S-R-E-E-S-A-N-T-H. Thank you.â€
You what? We don’t do jokes ten minutes before deadline. Was it a joke? Not a very funny one clearly. Apparently, there had been a misspelling of Mr Sreesanth’s name (there was a U instead of an A, if you must know). And he’s not amused. But the culprits have been apprehended and they will be facing him and Munaf Patel in the nets tomorrow.
