Wednesday, February 11, 2009

Media Media Everywhere

In today's world of media proliferation, you can find a dozen voices to comment on a single game within a few clicks of a mouse.

Take Saturday's Flyers game against the Bruins. Yes, we're talking about a team that has ascended to the top of the Eastern Conference and the team that competed violently against them last year. But still the different mediums available to find even the most basic information can be staggering.

The Boston Globe's Fluto Shinzawa is considered by many the beat writer de jour for the black and gold. The Associated Press can be found wherever there's a story to tell. And the New England Hockey Journal covers the Boston hockey scene, chiming in on national and intercollegiate stick and puck.

Both the AP and Globe led with the game's final goal, a Randy Jones strike. Jones still has blood on his hands and a target on his back after giving Patrice Bergeron a concussion last season. "Philadelphia's Randy Jones gave Bruins' fans a different reason to boo him," noted the AP, after scoring an overtime goal "that wouldn't have cracked an eggshell," according to Shinzawa.

The AP story dove further into the Jones storyline, committing the first four lines to the defenseman. The two Boston sources looked for Bruins defenseman Andrew Ference, whom the puck had deflected off of. "It's fun to score, but when they happen on your side, it's not so cool," said Ference, quoted as saying such in all three stories, though later in the AP account.

From there, Fluto gives some personal analysis, having earned his credibility in the market. "Tough to come up with a declarative thumb up or down," Fluto writes, but the fact is the direction of his thumb is, in fact, a reliable barometer. The writer has covered nearly every Bruins game since the start of the 2006-07 season.

The NEHJ goes into the concept of fatigue, which was addressed in the lede, and uses quotes from Bruins coach Claude Julien to back up that point, as opposed to writer analysis. Shinzawa discusses the same concept from his eyes, writing "fatigue (physical and mental) brought the Bruins down."

The more prominent sources - the Globe and AP - note that Fernandez declined to talk to the media, but all three mention Byron Bitz's first NHL goal. Shinzawa missed a key point to the game that the AP and NEHJ caught. Bitz and Chuck Kobasew scored 8 seconds apart - the fastest back-to-back Bruins goals in 28 years - a rare miss by Shinzawa.

Maybe fatigue was also a factor for the Bruins beat writer. He only quotes Ference and Julien in the article. The NEHJ was Bruins-centric as well, but also quoted Bitz. The AP story is the only one that encompasses both teams, quoting Jones, Ference, Julien, and Flyers' forward Scott Hartnell.

Antero Niittymaki shut down the Bruins, but wasn't quoted.  Photo Courtesy: Pete Keeling | InsideHockeyInterestingly, none of the articles quote Antero Niittymaki, who replaced struggling Marty Biron after the first period. After the goalie change, the Bruins failed to score, which could mean a permanent shift to Niittymaki as the number one goaltender. Niittymaki is a Finnish-born goaltender, but does speak English. The articles don't mention any reluctance to speak on the part of the goalie, yet none quote him.

Fluto's piece doesn't contain a notes section, but he normally contributes those on off days. The AP and NEHJ notes sections touch upon largely the same stories - Aaron Ward's illness and Michael Ryder's injury.

In all, all three tell the story, but each one gives you a different perspective. Shinzawa, arguably the most knowledgeable team source, gives his opinion to you straight, while also recapping the game. The NEHJ story gives you the details and quote-driven analysis from a Boston perspective. The AP story is meant to appeal to fans of both - or neither - team. It's the only one that includes the Philadelphia perspective.

Perhaps this is why so many media entities are able to survive amongst each other. Proliferation is not necessarily a bad thing, as long as each source has a target readership and definable perspective.

0 comments: