Motorsport and the Print Media

[falcadore]

I'm currently reading Craig Lowndes' new book "The Inside Line". It's a book which essentially explains his life today (or late 2010) as a person and as modern V8 Supercar driver. A large part of the book is a translation to layman's terms of what V8 Supercar racing is. Nuts and bolts stuff, race engineering, race driving, fitness training, diet,

Comments

[dragontail]

A very good question, and one that those of us working within those organisations ask repeatedly and loudly. The only view we can form is that those in charge of said organisations think they know what the public want, and are unwilling to shift from those self-generated beliefs even in the face of evidence. Once example I can give is from an interstate newspaper where friends of mine work... the editor announced a shift in focus so that education and health stories would be given the highest prominence. Said editor believed she was doing the right thing because "that's what is most important to readers". Circulation plummeted, she lost her job and her replacement went back to focusing on crime and sports stories. Circulation recovered somewhat, but the damage was done. Newspaper readers, as a rule, don't tend to come back after being burned.

Now, I work for the one newspaper in the country that does focus on motorsport. Our paper's one of the premier sponsors of the local V8 race, we have a two-man motorsport reporting team all year round, and that number jumps to 10+ during the race itself. I believe that's to do with the economic benefit the race gives our city: it's simply too big to ignore, and so becomes a focal-point of attention. Our circulation always goes up at race time. But that's only the local race... interstate and international events are afforded only normal levels of coverage.

I think newspapers have become intensely parochial in their quest to survive and, as importantly, to maintain their relevance. Internet's different - you can throw anything online, it costs nothing. But financial realities dictate a "safest possible course" mentality, and editors are sadly unwilling to experiment.

[falcadore]

I know the Gold Coast Bulletin is similar, or at least it was in regard to the Indy. Getting a press pass was harder and harder as each year the Bulletin would take up more and more desks.