Your Observer questions answered ...

ninermac · January 19, 2006, 3:45pm

Considering the $750 or $1,000 cost that Mike quoted, this brings up an interesting ethical dilemma (potentially).
[Maybe I’ll be the only one thinking this is interesting].

Would it be worth it for the Niners to pay that money and call it advertising, to get whole page spreads in the paper on Game Days (or the day before)?

And, if so, then the question becomes would the Observer do this, or would it pose an ethical problem for them (paying for coverage)?

I assume they would not do it for those ethical reasons, but, I have seen in magazines for instance full-page advertisements ‘disguised’ as news stories that say “Advertisement” at the top in small print.

With 14 home games this year, that proposition would have cost the Niners $10,500 for 14 full-page “spreads” which would presumably reach every household that subscribes to the Observer.

I could be wrong, but I believe NCSU used to buy a page in the News and Observer that had stuff written specifically by the university in the sports section. They may still be doing it, not sure… When they did it, it looked similar to teh other pages, but did have a disclaimer that it was from teh university and not the paper.

Mike_Persinger · January 19, 2006, 3:46pm

[QUOTE=Over40NINER;149544]Another question (and I like to just bypass the bull and get to the heart of the matter): Why does our local newspaper PROMOTE the team in chapel and other teams in their conference?

There’s a major difference in providing “coverage” and “promoting”. Fans of other teams often mention this to me and ask when we are going to get the hometown newspaper on our side. They also think it’s pretty discusting.[/QUOTE]

Over40, I’ve answered this for you before, but you keep asking. We don’t promote anyone, despite your belief to the contrary, because it’s not our job. We reflect interest, for the most part, and there is lots of interest, like it or not, in the ACC, and specifically in the Tar Heels. You know this intuitively, and from the number of threads on this very board that pertain to them. The ACC is like Earnhardt was when he was alive: Love him or hate him, you always wanted to know what he was doing when you were watching a race, because that’s who you measured your guy against. He was both the most popular (despite the Bill Elliott Fan Club’s ballot box stuffing) and the most reviled, so everyone cared in one way or the other.

survivor45 · January 19, 2006, 4:10pm

I kind of follow you, Mike.

Let’s compare IRL/CART to the ACC. That’s a racing league with a lot of interest regionally, but without a “home track” in the Charlotte area.

I guess NASCAR could be compared to the A-10. It might not have a race with the long-held prestige of, say, the Indy 500 - but it does have a motor speedway that bears the ‘Charlotte’ name.

As a regional paper, I suppose the Observer should have covered IRL/CART more extensively and not concern themselves with building any interest in NASCAR.

Oh, wait, that’s not what happened.

Brick_Tamland_Weathe · January 19, 2006, 4:22pm

My problem with a lot of the posters on this board is that they keep harping on the ACC not having a team in Charlotte thing. But let’s be realistic, every paper in America covers the #1 team (Duke, or, Carolina in the past), and there are clearly a ton of Chapel Hill fans in Charlotte. Go to a Bobcats game and see who gets the loudest cheers (clue, it’s Felton and May, when he actually plays).

There is no way ACC coverage, as the marquee league with teams in this state, is going to decrease. So that is a battle that is not worth fighting. There are also FOUR teams in this state in the league, vs. ONE in the A-10 south of Richmond (us).

Now, I agree that Charlotte 49ers coverage can be lacking and definitely pales in comparison to the ACC schools’ coverage. The goal should be achieving more 49ers coverage, since in my opinion bashing the ACC coverage is futile.

The goal of posters on this board should be to question things they see in the paper that don’t seem to have any ties to the region and WOULD be good replacement spots where 49ers arcticles could go. A la my post about the multi-paragraph Mike Mularkey resigns piece in the paper the other day. That has no bearing on the Charlotte area. Now, granted, they may not have had a 49ers piece to plug into that hole on a particular day, but it’s still something that has no relation to Charlotte and people could have found out about it 100 other ways before the paper came out.

Mike_Persinger · January 19, 2006, 4:41pm

[QUOTE=survivor45;149554]I kind of follow you, Mike.

Let’s compare IRL/CART to the ACC. That’s a racing league with a lot of interest regionally, but without a “home track” in the Charlotte area.

I guess NASCAR could be compared to the A-10. It might not have a race with the long-held prestige of, say, the Indy 500 - but it does have a motor speedway that bears the ‘Charlotte’ name.

As a regional paper, I suppose the Observer should have covered IRL/CART more extensively and not concern themselves with building any interest in NASCAR.

Oh, wait, that’s not what happened.[/QUOTE]

Since there are 40 Nextel Cup teams within 25 miles of where I’m sitting and no IRL/CART teams that I know of, that’d be a bad analogy. The A-10 would be IRL/CART, and the ACC would be NASCAR in this market. IRL/CART would be trying to build an audience here, but really there’s only one race a year, the Indy 500, that draws any interest. So it needs to do something to create buzz. Maybe Michael Beasley will be your Danica Patrick.

survivor45 · January 19, 2006, 4:42pm

My problem with a lot of the posters on this board is that they keep harping on the ACC not having a team in Charlotte thing. But let's be realistic, every paper in America covers the #1 team

Eh…not really. The Observer tended to cover the Hornets over the Bulls in the '90’s, even though clearly the Bulls were the #1 team. Hey! I hear the Bulls picked up a new player!

The goal should be achieving more 49ers coverage

Not a bad goal at all.

The goal of posters on this board should be to question things they see in the paper that don't seem to have any ties to the region and WOULD be good replacement spots where 49ers arcticles could go.

I have to disagree with you there. That’s the Observer’s argument, and its one I don’t agree with. When we attempt to achieve more 49ers coverage, they ask what should be taken away - Davidson coverage, High School Basketball coverage, NFL coverage, etc…

Imagine a Panthers fan requesting 6 pages of coverage and the Observer responding by asking which 6 pages of the sports section should be taken away.

survivor45 · January 19, 2006, 4:44pm

Since there are 40 Nextel Cup teams within 25 miles of where I'm sitting and no IRL/CART teams that I know of, that'd be a bad analogy. The A-10 would be IRL/CART, and the ACC would be NASCAR in this market. IRL/CART would be trying to build an audience here, but really there's only one race a year, the Indy 500, that draws any interest. So it needs to do something to create buzz. Maybe Michael Beasley will be your Danica Patrick.

The first post of mine that was responded by Mike P.!

BTW…how many ACC schools are within 25 miles of where you’re sitting?

Over40NINER · January 19, 2006, 5:00pm

Mike, why wee you so adamantly against doing an article on Eddie making the Bulls when smearing page after page of the sports section with articles on those chapel hill graduates? To my knowledge, there has still been no article.

BTW, some your answers thus far have been inaccurate, but MOST of us assumed that would happen.

Mike_Persinger · January 19, 2006, 5:11pm

[QUOTE=Over40NINER;149565]Mike, why wee you so adamantly against doing an article on Eddie making the Bulls when smearing page after page of the sports section with articles on those chapel hill graduates? To my knowledge, there has still been no article.

BTW, some your answers thus far have been inaccurate, but MOST of us assumed that would happen.[/QUOTE]

We wrote about Eddie having a great chance to make the Bulls at the end of July, when he signed his contract, then mentioned that he had made the team when he did. I have asked that people mention in the NBA roundup when he does well. We were going to write about him when the Bulls came here, so that contradicts your “adamantly opposed” statement. But he didn’t play because he didn’t come out for extra shooting practice on the early bus. I don’t think you would have wanted the quotes we had in the paper.

If Eddie does something, we’ll write about him. He’s played in two of the Bulls past 14 games. Not much worthy of coverage in that.

If something I have posted is inaccurate, let me know what. I’d be happy to set the record straight for you. Of course, if it’s just my philosophy you disagree with, then it’s not an accuracy issue but a difference of viewpoint.

HP49er · January 19, 2006, 11:29pm

[QUOTE=Mike_Persinger;149545]Somebody link the 14 stories and I’ll respond to this. Only two show up in the Nexis archive, which leads me to believe that was all that actually appeared in their paper.[/QUOTE]
[URL=http://www.ninernation.net/forum/showthread.php?t=12043][B]Xavier pre-game press, etc.[/B] [/URL], NinerNation.net

Post: [URL=http://news.cincypost.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060112/SPT0205/601120319/1020][B]Rebounding still high on Miller’s list[/B][/URL], 1/12

Enquirer: [URL=http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060113/SPT0102/601130377/1065][B]Thornton’s the fast-break man[/B][/URL], 1/13

Enquirer: [URL=http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060113/SPT0102/601130384/1065][B]Withers just one obstacle for XU[/B][/URL], 1/13

Post: [URL=http://news.cincypost.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060113/SPT0205/601130323/1020][B]Muskies confident when they hit road[/B][/URL], 1/13

Enquirer: [URL=http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060114/SPT0102/601140357/-1/all][B]XU hopes for new rivalry[/B][/URL], 1/14

Enquirer: [URL=http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060114/SPT0102/601140345/1065][B]Charlotte an opportunity for XU[/B][/URL], 1/14

Enquirer: [URL=http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060114/SPT0102/601140333/1065][B]A-10: Progress made in RPI[/B][/URL], 1/14

Post: [URL=http://news.cincypost.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060114/SPT0205/601140375/1035][B]Xavier vs. Charlotte[/B][/URL], 1/14

Post: [URL=http://news.cincypost.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060114/SPT0205/601140374/-1/all][B]Charlotte turnaround bad news for Muskies[/B][/URL], 1/14

Blog: [URL=http://frontier.cincinnati.com/blogs/ncaa/2006/01/xavier-vs-curtis-withers.asp][B]Xavier vs. Curtis Withers[/B][/URL], 1/12

Blog: [URL=http://frontier.cincinnati.com/blogs/ncaa/2006/01/pick.asp][B]The pick[/B][/URL], 1/14

Blog: [URL=http://frontier.cincinnati.com/blogs/ncaa/2006/01/xavier-postgame-78-65-w-at-charlotte.asp][B]Xavier postgame, 78-65 W at Charlotte[/B][/URL], 1/14

Several blogs not included, and from yesterday a great story in the Cincinnati Post…
[URL=http://news.cincypost.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060118/SPT0205/601180301/-1/all][B]49ers elevate league[/B][/URL].

Max_Power · January 19, 2006, 11:37pm

Checkmate.

Niner89 · January 20, 2006, 12:32am

That’s game I believe. Let’s not do OT. I hope the mods would close this thread. Just because OT is for the bird . . . cage.

CMack124 · January 20, 2006, 2:04am

[QUOTE=Niner89;149659]That’s game I believe. Let’s not do OT. I hope the mods would close this thread. Just because OT is for the bird . . . cage.[/QUOTE]

Does anybody actually believe Mike Persinger will actually conceed to any point made on here? Can’t wait to see his next spin job with this one. He will probably just ignore HP’s post like he ignores half of the questions here on the “questions answered” thread.

LakeNorman49er · January 20, 2006, 2:32am

thanks hp. i believe mike p is busted again. perhaps they don’t make you take any math classes at the chapel hill school of journalism because i count more than 2 articles.

by the way mike. over40 got you too. an occasional sentence about eddie does not qualify as an article. examples of articles are the stories on those tarhole players. we have never seen one on eddie.

mike was correct about one thing. i just checked creative loafing and their niner coverage is not quite as good as the observer’s.

JoeSixPack · January 20, 2006, 3:37pm

[QUOTE=HP49er;149649]
[URL=http://news.cincypost.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060118/SPT0205/601180301/-1/all][B]49ers elevate league[/B][/URL].[/QUOTE]

Thanks for the link. Silly me, this puts to rest an assumption that I was starting to think. Given the coverage in the Charlotte Observer, I was actually wondering if Coach Lutz did not talk with the press or let his players speak to the press.

I guess this story puts that to rest…I SHOULD NOT HAVE TO DEPEND ON THE CINCINNATI POST TO PROVIDE CHARLOTTE 49ERS STORIES LIKE THIS. The 49ers deserve a story like this in the Observer (I could care less who wrote it).

I know I’ll be told I’m wrong…but the bottom line is, the Charlotte 49ers mens basketball deserves as much space as the Charlotte Bobcats.

Mike_Persinger · January 20, 2006, 4:03pm

[QUOTE=HP49er;149649][URL=http://www.ninernation.net/forum/showthread.php?t=12043][B]Xavier pre-game press, etc.[/B] [/URL], NinerNation.net