02-11-2009, 11:05 AM
Awhile back we were having a discussion about how much influence the media had in this market and others.
At the time theposterformerly compared talking about sports talk hosts to talking about who had the biggest pumpkin at the fair.
The reason why I bring this up is that I had the opportunity to listen to the "Morning Monster" interview with David Mullins.
It's three days after the big "ETSU wouldn't rent space to the BFFF" article in the BHC.
And what do I hear Bobby Rader and Kenny Hawkins lead off with?
"Boy, tough games the other day . . ."
The interview goes on. Seems Lee Morrow has an involvement in boxing and is part of an exhibition at Brooks Gym on Feb. 14.
ETSU is struggling financially- to the point they must cut back and not print media guides anymore (It'll save us $10,000! Sure- you won't be able to have that book in your hand and know something about the baseball team while you watch them this season at Cardinal Park- but after last season we really don't want you to know that much about us!)- but they have so much more money than they did when they got here. Why, Ed DeChellis' last team at ETSU was playing with 7-year-old uniforms!
And 20 minutes into the hour, there is still NO mention of the article!
Finally, at the end, Rader brings it up- apologetically saying he was requested to by another party.
Mullins says that the decision on the BFFF was out of his hands- it wasn't his department- and he didn't know anything about it.
And that's the end of the interview.
No follow up asking- "Uh, you mean to tell me your wife never mentioned it to you?"
No follow up asking "Would you personally have a problem with the BFFF having their annual meeting on campus?"
Nothing. Just Bobby literally being afraid of Mullins and Kenny keeping his mouth shut- save talk that Tim Smith's uniform did look big on him back in the day.
I realize when I bring this up it will alienate some of the local media. Fine. They need to be alienated if this is their performance.
THE QUESTION I'M ASKING IS
WHAT GOOD IS A PRINT ARTICLE DESIGNED TO START A MOVEMENT IF THE BROADCAST MEDIA DOESN'T PICK UP ON IT?
Look, if ESPN and Co. didn't pick up on Alex Rodriguez using steriods from Sports Illustrated- there's no question that his reputation would be far better than it is now.
It's the rest of the media picking up on the story that forces A-Rod to make an admission of guilt, that makes him fodder for David Letterman jokes, that demands Major League Baseball to do something about steriods.
Here, a writer can do a story on ETSU and that's it. It dies. ETSU carries on as usual. Few in Johnson City or Kingsport (or Greeneville, or Elizabethton, or Erwin, etc.) know of it.
If a tree falls in the forest and nobody's around to hear it, does it make a sound?
It is even more imperative the broadcast media pick up on these stories here because a single newspaper only serves one community. The broadcast media is the local media that covers all of the communities in our region.
And with hours daily to fill on a talk show and TV news often looking for relevance, it would seem picking up on these stories would make sense.
Reasons why they don't?
Either they are
A- Gutless incompetents.
B- Afraid to be martyred (We can't ask Mullins any tough questions! We'd lose our meaningless weekly interview with him! Who else will we get to read off the schedule of events at ETSU?)
C- AC/DC is the greatest rock and roll band of all time. This has nothing to do with the subject at hand, but every now and then I am so mystified by them I must say this to make sure you are still reading and praise them all at once!
D- Here's something that's big. Brian T. Smith is not a popular man in media circles.
From personal meetings, he is a guy that I tried to befriend and he backstabbed me.
Moreso, it is his demeanor- the way he tries to make himself better than everybody else.
I think I'm better than everybody else, too, but at least I throw compliments to other people when justified.
The thing is, things aren't going to change at ETSU in the current media environment.
We need a sportscaster with guts.
At the time theposterformerly compared talking about sports talk hosts to talking about who had the biggest pumpkin at the fair.
The reason why I bring this up is that I had the opportunity to listen to the "Morning Monster" interview with David Mullins.
It's three days after the big "ETSU wouldn't rent space to the BFFF" article in the BHC.
And what do I hear Bobby Rader and Kenny Hawkins lead off with?
"Boy, tough games the other day . . ."
The interview goes on. Seems Lee Morrow has an involvement in boxing and is part of an exhibition at Brooks Gym on Feb. 14.
ETSU is struggling financially- to the point they must cut back and not print media guides anymore (It'll save us $10,000! Sure- you won't be able to have that book in your hand and know something about the baseball team while you watch them this season at Cardinal Park- but after last season we really don't want you to know that much about us!)- but they have so much more money than they did when they got here. Why, Ed DeChellis' last team at ETSU was playing with 7-year-old uniforms!
And 20 minutes into the hour, there is still NO mention of the article!
Finally, at the end, Rader brings it up- apologetically saying he was requested to by another party.
Mullins says that the decision on the BFFF was out of his hands- it wasn't his department- and he didn't know anything about it.
And that's the end of the interview.
No follow up asking- "Uh, you mean to tell me your wife never mentioned it to you?"
No follow up asking "Would you personally have a problem with the BFFF having their annual meeting on campus?"
Nothing. Just Bobby literally being afraid of Mullins and Kenny keeping his mouth shut- save talk that Tim Smith's uniform did look big on him back in the day.
I realize when I bring this up it will alienate some of the local media. Fine. They need to be alienated if this is their performance.
THE QUESTION I'M ASKING IS
WHAT GOOD IS A PRINT ARTICLE DESIGNED TO START A MOVEMENT IF THE BROADCAST MEDIA DOESN'T PICK UP ON IT?
Look, if ESPN and Co. didn't pick up on Alex Rodriguez using steriods from Sports Illustrated- there's no question that his reputation would be far better than it is now.
It's the rest of the media picking up on the story that forces A-Rod to make an admission of guilt, that makes him fodder for David Letterman jokes, that demands Major League Baseball to do something about steriods.
Here, a writer can do a story on ETSU and that's it. It dies. ETSU carries on as usual. Few in Johnson City or Kingsport (or Greeneville, or Elizabethton, or Erwin, etc.) know of it.
If a tree falls in the forest and nobody's around to hear it, does it make a sound?
It is even more imperative the broadcast media pick up on these stories here because a single newspaper only serves one community. The broadcast media is the local media that covers all of the communities in our region.
And with hours daily to fill on a talk show and TV news often looking for relevance, it would seem picking up on these stories would make sense.
Reasons why they don't?
Either they are
A- Gutless incompetents.
B- Afraid to be martyred (We can't ask Mullins any tough questions! We'd lose our meaningless weekly interview with him! Who else will we get to read off the schedule of events at ETSU?)
C- AC/DC is the greatest rock and roll band of all time. This has nothing to do with the subject at hand, but every now and then I am so mystified by them I must say this to make sure you are still reading and praise them all at once!
D- Here's something that's big. Brian T. Smith is not a popular man in media circles.
From personal meetings, he is a guy that I tried to befriend and he backstabbed me.
Moreso, it is his demeanor- the way he tries to make himself better than everybody else.
I think I'm better than everybody else, too, but at least I throw compliments to other people when justified.
The thing is, things aren't going to change at ETSU in the current media environment.
We need a sportscaster with guts.
