If I'm shelling out $50-$100 bucks per year (annual vs. month-month subscription) for a sports site, when I can get plenty of content for free (even if it isn't quite as good), why is it worth it? I've heard the Athletic is a great site, but I also don't want to spend money to read very limited content on the Dawgs.
I mean, I think you answered your own question here. I'm paying for quality. Personal preference. I like to read about *all* college basketball, as well as some other sports as well, and the stable of writers they've hired is second to none. The reading and browsing experience is elegant on all screens. It's a refreshing break from everything else. (The Gannett / IndyStar experience is so bad - and I'm a digital subscriber!) That said, if you're *only* reading college basketball news for Butler stuff, then yeah, the Indy Star, some boozy tweets from idiots like me, and whatever drivel Tom Davis is typing up is going to be the best bet.
I’m sure the content of The Athletic is top notch. They are poaching all of the best writers in the biz and waiting for traditional news media to implode. But I refuse to support them based solely on the ick factor of the owners. They are smarmy and cocky and I will not support their venture. Sent from my iPhone using Butler Hoops mobile app
Here’s the long read. https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/23/sports/the-athletic-newspapers.html The takeaway is this: “We will wait every local paper out and let them continuously bleed until we are the last ones standing,” Alex Mather, a co-founder of The Athletic, said in an interview in San Francisco. “We will suck them dry of their best talent at every moment. We will make business extremely difficult for them.” Sent from my iPhone using Butler Hoops mobile app
Wow Thanks for the insight. Now I plan to sign up. I enjoy the sports section of the Star but that’s it. I’m about finished with the Star.
y and Primarily, the slippery slope that it could usher in over the entire news industry. Sure, it's just sports now, but what happens when they decide to expand and use the same model to regular news. They create a monopoly and then they start dictating the news. Ultimately, it leads to a state-run news outlet (think FoxNews and only FoxNews). When the local presses are eliminated there are no dissenting voices and that's when the real atrocities begin. Someone mentioned Amazon and that's a great example. Once they knock off Wal-mart, they will have a near monopoly on consumer goods and when that happens prices will skyrocket. Competition is good. The fact that the ones steering the ship of The Athletic are so flippant about their motives should be a red flag. You may not like the Indy Star coverage, but I, for one, enjoy the various viewpoints that David Woods and the guy from Ft. Wayne (his name escapes me right now). Case in point, people loved Comcast in the 1980s and 90s, but now that they have little competition, their prices have gone nuts. We should always be wary of people whose sole agenda is to build through the destruction of something else. And I haven't even touched on the potential compromise with such an obvious profit motive. There will be more click-bait articles and the quality of the news is bound to suffer. But hey, to each their own. Spend your money as you see fit. I'll save mine and order the sports pack on DirecTV, so that I don't miss a single Butler game. Capitalism is good, but unchecked greed is catastrophic.
Butler Basketball Head Coach LaVall Jordan Looks to Continue Winning Tradition http://www.townepost.com/indiana/br...vall-jordan-looks-continue-winning-tradition/
IIRC, Tom Davis of the News Sentinel said he is now covering the IU beat and will do sporadic BU coverage. Therefore I will be dropping him from my twitter. Why consume (or pay) for what doesn’t interest me?
Thanks. To be honest this is just Silicon Valley bro speak. It’s more of a problem in other areas since this mindset leads to the way they demean women, but that’s another topic. It’s hard starting a company when no one cares about you (until they do), so you don’t get points for subtlety. About 50% of the entrepreneurs I meet act like this. I’m not a fan, and they generally aren’t the best entrepreneurs, but it’s rampant in the industry. Most of these guys fail anyway and never “crush it” like they claim. If they effectively monetize media, however, there will be MANY copycats, and the incumbents will adapt, so I doubt there will ever be a monopoly. Fox News is a giant problem, however. Those people should be embarrassed.
Yeah I sort doubt an outlet who hires Seth Davis as their face of college basketball is ever going to monopolize anything, especially the internet where the barriers of entry are virtually nonexistent.
Dude, I feel you, but you're about 21 years late on this one. The reality of this specific situation is that "traditional media outlets" like ESPN and Gannett and CBS and SI either a) laid off a bunch of good writers and The Athletic hired them, or b) weren't willing to match the money that The Athletic was offering. At the end of the day, I'm happy that good writers get paid a decent wage. Nobody's getting rich on journalism these days. Also, re: "There will be more click-bait articles and the quality of the news is bound to suffer." For there to be clickbait, there must be ads to surface. There are no ads. It's a subscription service. I'll assume you feel that'll change in the future, but I'm gonna wait and see. For now, it's a good product. And I liked that article on LaVall.
LaVall is about to be do his weekly spot on Dakich's show. I know most on here aren't big Dakich fans, but he did just give Butler some props. "Make no mistake about it, Butler has been the bellcow in this state when it comes to basketball."
Did he say that with LaVall on the phone or after the interview? Sent from my iPhone using Butler Hoops mobile app
