Still, I’ll maintain my original piece identifies a two-pronged problem not solved by amateur or even semi-pro or team-run online coverage. Firstly, we still do not have a replacement for the loss of an independent reporter embedded with the team and travelling around with them — this can’t be done by bloggers unless a much stronger income model is developed and a team-funded replacement is obviously problematic. Newspapers’ near monopoly as an advertising outlet long allowed them to plough over-inflated advertising income to subsidise otherwise unsustainable reporting in all areas, but online media does not have the same luxury.
For my part, I think the base of that income model is out there, but we're just stating to see it applied.
Speaking of advertising revenue, Michael Moore recently rambled in a round about way that a European model where newspapers focus less on advertising revenue and more on subscriber revenue has helped those papers avoid the tight death spiral seen by their American counterparts. I'd also add that they seem to be more creative in the digital space as well (see also Fake Steve Jobs today), and don't yet have to deal with hemorrhaging classified ad revenue because of Craigslist.
Dunmore also notes that soccer still needs to reach the general sports fan, and that ESPN is taking the lead as the monolithic gateway to soccer. Last night on Twitter I commented that we're not going back to monolithic media, but I do think ESPN will be the large, broad gateway to the general fan, along the lines of what I pointed out to Richard Whittall a couple days ago.
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