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Dan Connolly Out At The Athletic


cboemmeljr

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6 minutes ago, AnythingO's said:

Honestly, I would think JA had something to do with this :change on format". Remember PA's fights with the Sun. Apple, Tree, rotten core.

Writers are being let go throughout all sports around the country. Has zero to do with JA.

Not like Rosenthal is a fan of the Angelos family.

Edited by Sports Guy
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Just now, Sports Guy said:

Writers are being let go throughout all sports around the country. Has zero to do with JA.

C'mom, don't ruin a perfectly good opportunity to rant/vent at the ........ lol

Yes, I am aware of that trend but I try to NEVER miss the chance to take a shot. 😜

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8 hours ago, AnythingO's said:

C'mom, don't ruin a perfectly good opportunity to rant/vent at the ........ lol

Yes, I am aware of that trend but I try to NEVER miss the chance to take a shot. 😜

"Never let a crisis go to waste"  Legendary piece of garbage....Saul Alinsky

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I cancelled the Athletic a few months ago when they made the same decision with Andy Bitter, who was covering Virginia Tech football and basketball for them for the past 4 years.   My subscription was already paid through next week, so have still been reading Connolly and some of their Ravens coverage.   But that is due to end next week because I turned off the annual autorenewal several months ago.

Yes, they had some very good writing and very good national coverage.   But that isn't enough to warrant paying for, at least for most people.   It was the ability to get the day to day coverage of all your teams (in my case Ravens, Orioles, Virginia Tech sports) by quality beat writers.   90% of what I read on the Athletic was those teams.   The other 10% was often very well written articles from a non local perspective, and I got a lot out of them.   But what I was paying for, the in depth coverage of the teams I care about, is what they are going away from.

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That’s too bad.  I was close to not renewing last year but when I went to cancel, they gave a deal for like a dollar per month or something ridiculous. 
 

Connolly was someone who I read a lot though. It’s too bad The Athletic is trending in the wrong direction. 
 

I’m sure the Yankees and Dodgers beat writers are safe, though. 

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From The Washington Post two days ago:

The Athletic, the subscription sports website owned by the New York Times, announced Monday that it was laying off nearly 20 reporters, or about 4 percent of its journalistic staff. The news was delivered in an email to staffers from publisher David Perpich and executive editor Steven Ginsberg.

The note said an additional 20 reporters would be moved from their current team beats to new ones, including regional coverage or general assignment roles.

* * *
“The Athletic has generally viewed every league in a similar manner, with similar beats and offerings. But our growing body of research and our own understanding of the sports we cover compel a more nuanced approach,” the note said. “There is no perfect formula for determining which teams to cover, but we are committing dedicated beat reporters to the ones that most consistently produce stories that appeal to both large and news-hungry fan bases, as well as leaguewide audiences.”

===

Translation: not enough people were following Orioles coverage on The Athletic.

Count me in that group.  I did a trial subscription of The Athletic last season, but did not find Dan Connolly’s coverage of the team very compelling.  Simply put, I could get better and more interesting coverage of the team elsewhere.  So when the trial period expired, I cancelled my subscription. 

The best journalistic coverage of the Orioles now is in the Baltimore Banner.  I’m doing a trial subscription with them and their coverage of both the O’s (Peter Kostka) and their farm system (Jon Meoli) is excellent.  But, when my trial expires after 6 months, I doubt I’ll renew, because their non-promo price point is too high.  If I was local to Baltimore, I’d consider it, because they cover local issues extremely thoroughly.   

Journalism is a tough business these days. 


 

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