When was that time frame? Did it happen to occur when the men’s basketball team started to falter? Was that coverage perhaps, not true journalism, but showed the reporter’s opinion on the team and program?
If the O wants to get 49er fans to go to the website, then they need to cover the games. That means every game. Even if the articles don’t get clicks, the write-ups need to be there. You (the paper) need to show us (the fans) that you are committed to covering the school again.
Do you have a plan for a baseball preview? How about a softball preview with the expansion of seats into right field? Is there anything coming up for the lacrosse team? Any discussions on who might cover the 9ers if they make the NCAA tournament, or the NIT?
Sports is just a start. The university’s academics also need coverage. If you cover the university as a whole, you will tap into more of the alumni base.
Article is behind a paywall. That doesn’t help drive clicks as most will just leave the website.
I, on the other hand, was able to read the article via other means.
If the O really wants to increase readership as it relates to Niner articles, it will need to move the articles in front of the payroll to earn back interest, imo.
LangstonW, I did exactually as you asked and I got exactually what I expected. I went to the O online site just a few minutes ago and went to the sports page. Guess what, NO, absolutely, NO article there on Charlotte, but as expected, several articles on UNC Chapel Hill, Duke and NC State. Not one damn Charlotte article to CLICK on to show that we could be interested in reading about our university. Same crap as always.
Unfortunately that’s not how it works on the business end these days. I can’t speak to non-sports coverage. I’m in sports. I’d suggest you guys reach out to our editors about coverage of non-sports and Charlotte.
As for the softball/baseball/lacrosse, I’d say let’s see if we can football/basketball back on the plate and generating some audience for us first.
Most newspapers are using paywalls. It’s a revenue generator. there are a few free clicks and you can give you email I think and get 48 hours access the first time.
And yes, we all know about the “Stream East” method.
I know it probably feels like being ganged up on, but these are literally some of the exact same discussions with Persinger from 20 years ago.
One of those discussions, related to your comment above, if it’s all about clicks, then where do you draw the line? The Panthers stunk and were no where close to the playoffs. Meanwhile the Dallas Cowboys were good and in the playoffs. The Observer would have gotten more clicks if they had front page stories of the Dallas Cowboys.
If it’s all just about clicks, there should never be a Duke football story. The Observer would get more clicks if they had front page articles for VT, FSU, Tenn and even OSU and ND, then they do for Duke football. Or, more SEC football coverage than ACC football coverage in general.
I think you probably get the point. The Observer has set a boundary for coverage on some things (Carolina Panthers over any other NFL team), but not for others (Charlotte 49ers to get more coverage than UNC-CH).
I have very little doubt that some schools MIGHT get more “clicks” than others. However, when it comes to Charlotte 49ers coverage by the CO, I’ m not sure that REALLY matters as much as you pretend. Maybe it does, but in the past, there was no such thing as “clicks” to measure and yet MP used to always claim certain other schools/teams sold papers more than Charlotte. However, when I would ask him to tell me how he knew that (what metrics really proved what he was claiming). Of course, he never could/would provide that data…My point is, as a good friend of mine used to say, “if you’re just looking for an excuse, any old excuse will do.”
The bottom line is that whenever there is news someone will be there to cover it. With the newspapers dropping like flies over the last decade things are going digital. There are more YouTubers covering pro sports than media members. This will trickle down to the college levels and already has. I provide automation for printing and there simply isn’t much money in print. Everyone is going to niche products to keep the presses rolling. As those printing employees retire and the presses age out newsprint will be gone. Then those getting paid subscriptions will compete with social media influencers getting ad deals and followers. It is a win/win for the consumer. With Charlotte in a better conference and doing well, it is only a matter of time.
I think it just comes down to what is the observers charge for the Charlotte market? If it’s just about clicks then many things that have been covered shouldn’t be. If it’s about covering things because they are in and of Charlotte then that’s your answer regardless of clicks.
Totally agree. If you are chasing clicks, who are you trying to compete against?! Everyone? You’re in the charlotte market. Cover the Charlotte Market better than anyone and sell yourselves as The place for local news here. I’d actually be interested in that take. Covering the Charlotte market includes covering the research university here that is one of the largest universities in the state.
If it’s just about some clicks and ad revenue, go full on clickbait.
Call me crazy, but I think there is still a market for quality local news. Be that and market that. I’d pay for that instead of what stories you can get from other news areas you think will get clicks here.
This! I haven’t gone to the CO in five plus years for anything. Why would I? I hope the Observer is now trying what should have been done 20 years ago. Call me crazy but covering the local scene shouldn’t be this hard.
Have to disagree here. I know what the clicks are for things. Yours is speculation, and in this case it’s very wrong. But I appreciate the dialogue. Not sure what y’all got into with Mike, but it’s a different time now with different leadership. Maybe we can try something different.
We will cover stuff. Just saying when we do and I’ll remind y’all or try to, showing the stories a little love can help our little spark turn into a flame.
In the past, we couldn’t be as precise. When digital era brought very very detailed analytics we could see. A lot of things we covered heavy and things we covered lightly we had to reconsider. I’m not Mike. Mike’s a good dude, by the way, but I can’t begin to understand what prompted him — or y’all — to say what was said.
I can’t change the past. Let’s try to make the future bright.