It's a tough field to be in over the last 5-10 years because of the changes that social media brought to journalism. I feel bad for professionals like Dan who have done this their whole professional lives and now have to constantly look for the next place to make their living.
Teams have also changed how they deal with the press as well, and that has not helped the local journalist. They now have their own corporate media to push out the message they want so you get through places like MASN.com and baltimoreravens.com along with their tweets, Instagram, and Facebook posts.
Obviously you can see that they cut press passes away from people they could not control or knew their "livelihood" would be at stake if they pushed out any narrative they did not like. It's just the way things are done now. Dan pushed a major league owner to "open his books" and now he's one of the 20 writers let go by the The Athletic? Coincidence? I don't believe in a lot of coincidence.
I don't make my livelihood from the Hangout, so I was not "controllable." At the same time, I've written several pieces on previous front offices due to my contacts at the time in the organization that ultimately saw changes with the FO's shortly after being published. Perhaps I was viewed as a threat? I don't know. Mike Elias has always been accommodating and cordial when we had met or texted prior to my press passes being revoked by Jennifer Grondahl's new press policy that clearly ensured I would not be eligible.
But even prior to that I would be sent to the PR department by Ciolek for simple questions on minor league players that I typically would be able to get a text reply from the Farm Director. What does that mean to you? It means we all stay in the dark about prospects' injuries and the approximate length of the IL stint. For some reason, that's close hold information to Ciolek and the Elias front office.
But I think all of this is just a changing of the times of how sports teams want their message delivered. They don't need to rely on the local papers to push out the game scores, recaps and box scores to inform their fans because fans have that information instantaneously now. In the past, local reporters had more access to players, coaches, and scouts as well as front office folks, but now it's very organized into very controllable media segments.
I don't even know if it really matters to most fans anymore? At a click on their phones or computers, fans can get a lot of information about the game and I think fans care less about a quote from a player or manager after a game because most fans know they are 98% clichés that really give them no additional insights. Managers nowadays understand this corporate structure and are not going to say anything that would rock the boat. That's not a knock on Hyde or any other manager, it's just the way things are now. They are playing within the rules of the game now.
Thankfully for all of us, we have a great news and opinion aggregator with the Hangout community here where nary a bit of Orioles information is not posted and analyzed by all.
We have become the place where news and opinion are aggregating and a place where it allows you to have your say. Gone are the days of going out to the front lawn to get the Morning Sun to read the game recap by the local beat writer so I knew what happened. Now if I missed the game, there are 10 different sites where I can get a quick recap, I can go on YouTube and see the actual highlights in less then 10 minutes, or I can come here and read the game thread or quick game recap by Chuck.
It's just a changed world and it's hard world to make it as a true journalist covering a sports team at a local level.
Eh, hit it hard and almost beat it out. I just wish he'd keep his composure a little more. The helmet slam after the play is a bit immature.
