June 13, 20232 yr 6 hours ago, Texsox said: I hope he lines up something. I enjoy his writing. Beat writers seem like a really old school approach from newspaper days. I have a NYT and Athletic sub and read more than just his stuff so I'll keep my subscription. The Athletic was pretty much founded on the notion of a local touch that you couldn't get... 3 hours ago, Texsox said: Of course this is print media which is destined to fail. It's just a matter of how fast. If enough people cancel it will just help speed up the process. But video media will be the only survivor in this business. ...from print media. Which The Athletic distinctly isn't. And The New York Times is far from just a print business - they're all encompassing multimedia. Video won't be standing alone at the end of this either. People like being able to read on their phones. Podcasts dominate. The first newsroom I worked in out of college was founded on social media video and they've since expanded to written articles, newsletters and podcasts, because without that, you're relying on a lot of revenue sources that can dry up in an instant due to outside forces (such as algorithm changes).
June 13, 20232 yr The interesting thing is they're cutting back on their "business of sports" guys... which is seemingly no more relevant than today. Guess the NY Times already feels they have that area locked down, along with the WSJ.
June 13, 20232 yr Bruce Levine - Employed Rick Hahn - Employed Gordon Beckham - Employed James Fegan - Unemployed And I think to myself, what a fucked up world.
June 13, 20232 yr 9 hours ago, South Side Hit Men said: Well the horseshit owners of MLB don’t give a s%*# about the game. MLB used to be a big deal. 20-30% watched the World Series. Now just 3% watch the quest for what their drunk ass clown commissioner deems a piece of metal. That's a pretty neat, concise post. I would agree with you. Baseball is no longer special. It's still boring despite the changes this season. Not sure why pitchers' arms have become so brittle but I can almost feel the pain when they whiff our Sox on cutters.
June 13, 20232 yr Were any other MLB beat writers laid off or are we so much of a joke that we can’t be afforded one despite being in the third largest market?
June 13, 20232 yr 3 hours ago, Chicago White Sox said: Were any other MLB beat writers laid off or are we so much of a joke that we can’t be afforded one despite being in the third largest market? Looks like the Pirates and DBacks...
June 13, 20232 yr 4 hours ago, Chicago White Sox said: Were any other MLB beat writers laid off or are we so much of a joke that we can’t be afforded one despite being in the third largest market? They laid off a bunch. Times trying to make it profitable. https://nypost.com/2023/06/12/new-york-times-reorganizes-the-athletic-with-layoffs/
June 13, 20232 yr 8 hours ago, Quin said: The Athletic was pretty much founded on the notion of a local touch that you couldn't get... ...from print media. Which The Athletic distinctly isn't. And The New York Times is far from just a print business - they're all encompassing multimedia. Video won't be standing alone at the end of this either. People like being able to read on their phones. Podcasts dominate. The first newsroom I worked in out of college was founded on social media video and they've since expanded to written articles, newsletters and podcasts, because without that, you're relying on a lot of revenue sources that can dry up in an instant due to outside forces (such as algorithm changes). I hope you're "write". I have a MA in Lit and teach people to appreciated the written word. Editor of my high school and college newspapers. Worked part time at an afternoon newspaper, a weekly, and a monthly outdoor publication. I've watched printed media decline in popularity. Everyone wants to make this about the Sox. This was a business of media decision. Does MLB baseball need thirty writers? Can it be done with 25? 10? When writers aren't chained to one team will coverage improve?
June 13, 20232 yr Fegan didn't get let go because he was bad at his job. He got let go because the team he covers has turned everyone off. RH,KW and JR strike again.
June 13, 20232 yr 1 hour ago, Dick Allen said: Fegan didn't get let go because he was bad at his job. He got let go because the team he covers has turned everyone off. RH,KW and JR strike again. He actually got fired because the athletic laid off a ton a writers. I don't think the Sox have anything to do with it. Still an absolutely brutal decision, and I snap cancelled my sub.
June 13, 20232 yr I think the surprising thing to me is the athletic not realizing the situation and just bumping fegan up to cover national or moving him to a better market. SBNation did that with Bill Connelly when he was originally just a mizzou site guy. But here's a pitch to subscribe to BP, which is writer-owned and where Fegan started. If he moves back there, especially.
June 13, 20232 yr 1 hour ago, ChiSox59 said: He actually got fired because the athletic laid off a ton a writers. I don't think the Sox have anything to do with it. Still an absolutely brutal decision, and I snap cancelled my sub. Uh, I mean the writers who were laid off overlapped a lot with teams that could not generate national interest. The yankee beat writer stories get pushed to national feeds a lot. Nobody outside (and inside) chicago could feign interest in the sox when the sox themselves aren't interested in competing with broader baseball.
June 13, 20232 yr I want Fegan to join Chuck and Guff on the Soxtalk Podcast, or Jim and Josh on Sox Machine.
June 13, 20232 yr 14 minutes ago, ScootsMcGoots said: I want Fegan to join Chuck and Guff on the Soxtalk Podcast, or Jim and Josh on Sox Machine. Way too critical to join Chuck and Guff
June 13, 20232 yr 9 minutes ago, Quin said: Way too critical to join Chuck and Guff Come on now man, they work with Ozzie every day
June 13, 20232 yr 7 minutes ago, Kyyle23 said: Come on now man, they work with Ozzie every day Touché
June 13, 20232 yr Just another venture capital business... which are so horrible for America, workers and business in general. The guys who started the athletic were going to "change" sports coverage. They got paid out 550 million for their VC propped up business that never turned a profit. Fast forward a few years, now the business has been sols and the entire premise of its origin went away because it was always a poorly designed business venture that was used to enrich about 20 people with no expectation to ever turn a profit. Now they're a pay to subscribe sports outlet that offers nothing unique and fires top talent to save money. I canceled immediately. No reason to support another mega-corpo-sport PR firm who doesn't even cover the thing I read about the most. Also, the White Sox blogosphere space is so clickish that it takes away some of those views from the larger outlets I think, which is a bummer since most of that space is littered with worthless takes. Edited June 13, 20232 yr by Look at Ray Ray Run
June 13, 20232 yr 2 hours ago, ChiSox59 said: He actually got fired because the athletic laid off a ton a writers. I don't think the Sox have anything to do with it. Still an absolutely brutal decision, and I snap cancelled my sub. If the Sox were the Rockstar team these dopes claimed they would be, they wouldn't be cutting their beat writer.
June 13, 20232 yr 15 minutes ago, Dick Allen said: If the Sox were the Rockstar team these dopes claimed they would be, they wouldn't be cutting their beat writer. This is correct. As you said earlier, Fegan wasn't canned because he isn't talented or bringing good content to The Athletic. These were decisions based on traffic numbers, and not enough people were interested in reading about the White Sox. Shocking...
June 13, 20232 yr 3 hours ago, NCsoxfan said: Did they fire Mark Lazerus too? Let's hope so. Maybe he can get a job at CNN. Hear there are a lot of openings there.
June 13, 20232 yr On 6/12/2023 at 1:42 PM, Quin said: Tweet in question: Absolute horseshit. Steve Stone confirms Moncada's positioning was right. Only a few here agreed with this take real time, including James Fegan. https://www.audacy.com/670thescore/sports/chicago-white-sox/stone-nothing-was-wrong-white-sox-defensive-alignment-late-loss-marlins
June 13, 20232 yr 8 hours ago, Dick Allen said: If the Sox were the Rockstar team these dopes claimed they would be, they wouldn't be cutting their beat writer. Or they cut the most expensive talent while keeping cheaper writers. They could have reassigned him to another team if they appreciated his writing skills. It's not like they will stop writing about all teams. Instead of 30 writers covering MLB there will be less and they will be more spread out. The Pirates, Canadians, and Maple Leafs all lost their beat writers. All were expensive, seasoned, writers.
June 14, 20232 yr 30 minutes ago, Texsox said: Or they cut the most expensive talent while keeping cheaper writers. They could have reassigned him to another team if they appreciated his writing skills. It's not like they will stop writing about all teams. Instead of 30 writers covering MLB there will be less and they will be more spread out. The Pirates, Canadians, and Maple Leafs all lost their beat writers. All were expensive, seasoned, writers. Diamondbacks were probably THE surprise story of the early season, along with the Rangers and Rays. That said, that franchise (along with the Rockies) has never gotten much attention with the Dodgers, Giants and now the Padres gobbling up most of the headlines...and certainly spending the most money. But imagine if Corbin Carroll switched places with Volpe, how much more national attention he'd be getting. It would be Benintendi 5-10X his spotlight with the Red Sox in his first 2-3 years.
June 14, 20232 yr 670 reported that the White Sox reached out to the Athletic on why they fired Fegan. Not really sure what that means for him other than they at least tangently support him or having some beat writer but yeah. Edited June 14, 20232 yr by Buehrle>Wood
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