As you boys and girls and TBC's will have seen on social media.. a lot of the decent sports writers seem to be gravitating towards a new player on the block this season... The Athletic. Rafa himself does a regular column and even my fellow SBR foundation runner George Caulkin has now signed for them. Are any of you a subscriber yet or are any of you planning to do so? Here's some info on them as they claim to want to reset how sports journalism is done. https://www.irishtimes.com/sport/so...ugh-british-football-media-1.3974420?mode=amp British football journalism has been jolted by the arrival of a US upstart which has signed up some of its highest profile reporters and is looking to disrupt the industry like Spotify and Netflix ruptured the music and broadcast industries. The three-year challenger website and app, called The Athletic, has sent shockwaves through Fleet Street, tearing up the rule book by luring top journalists with blockbuster salaries, signing-on fees and equity stakes. “This is the biggest thing to happen to the sports newspaper industry since the launch of Today, the UK’s first colour newspaper, 35 years ago,” said one national newspaper reporter. “It is all anyone in the industry is talking about.” The London Times sports desk has been plundered of key personnel while an award-winning Guardian journalist and correspondents from the BBC and the Daily Mail are among a slew of high-profile national and regional football writers who have been lured across to The Athletic. The Athletic’s bold proposition is to dominate football coverage of Premier League football The raid on the newspaper industry, which is backed by the riches of US venture capitalists, has led to a merry-go-round of job transfers and given sports editors a headache as journalists demand pay increases or threaten to quit for the upstart. Critics are already questioning whether The Athletic’s subscription model will fly in the UK, saying it will be “very difficult”. But should The Athletic prove a success, and move beyond football into other sports, it will be a fresh blow to a newspaper industry already suffering from an exodus of reader eyeballs. The Athletic’s bold proposition is to dominate football coverage of Premier League football – and big clubs in lower leagues – by employing top beat writers for clubs like Liverpool, Manchester United, Chelsea and Leeds United as well a number of star big beast names. Key to its success in the US has been its ability to poach well-regarded journalists amid a local journalism industry riven by financial woes and stagnating wages. Some writers were financially incentivised based on them acquiring new subscribers through their articles, but a spokesperson for The Athletic said such a rewards scheme would not be used in the UK. Mather is unequivocal about The Athletic’s ambition to revolutionise the sports journalism industry. He told the New York Times: “We will wait every local paper out and let them continuously bleed until we are the last ones standing. We will suck them dry of their best talent at every moment. We will make business extremely difficult for them.” please log in to view this image Manchester City players celebrate with the Premier League trophy. “If you are a football fan, you want to read the best coverage of your club. And if we can provide the best coverage of your club, then you will subscribe,” said one senior insider at The Athletic. Photograph: Mike Hewitt/Getty Images Regional newspapers who have lost star reporters to The Athletic, publicly at least, say they are not aggrieved by losing star reporters to the challenger brand and wish it success. Yorkshire Evening Post sports editor Nick Westby said: “I think The Athletic will be a breath of fresh air. It was a big blow for us at the time. We thought Phil [Hay] might get poached by one of the nationals. “Ten years ago you only saw these writers’ names in the newspaper. But they have become brands themselves. Phil’s cachet was as great as the title he worked for.” The Sun, which has not lost any journalists to The Athletic, believes the US title is not a direct competitor, pointing to The Athletic’s preference for longer form content. “I think it’s a boost for sports journalism. It is a brave and bold move. We are all ready for the challenge,” said Sun head of sport Shaun Custis. Free content But Custis argues it will be “very difficult” for The Athletic to get enough subscribers on board to make it successful. Sources at The Telegraph, meanwhile, said it had “resisted” approaches for its senior journalists while a correspondent at the Daily Mail stable of newspapers said “the arrival of of the Athletic is a good thing. It is a serious investment in sports journalism. Why would anyone see it negatively?” But a number of experts question if The Athletic will be a success in the UK, given the welter of competition, particularly free content available to football fans. Simon Chadwick, professor of Sports Enterprise, Salford Business School, is unconvinced the UK market will be as receptive as the US market. He said: “I think the UK is arguably less dynamic and progressive a market place compared to the US. There is a big question whether you can easily transplant from one market to another. “Traditional football fans have been brought up on diet of sports pages and have shown some reluctance to embrace new forms of content when free, let alone pay for it. “When there is much free content, it’s going to have to be something pretty special for people to be actually induced into buying it. “Is, for instance, Daniel Taylor head and shoulders above everyone else around? He’s a great writer. But I am not sure Daniel Taylor alone is sufficient alone to get all those Manchester United fans.” Observers also point out the UK football coverage is so well served from regional, national newspapers, broadcasters and digital pure plays it has squeezed out a dedicated sports newspaper like Gazzetta dello Sport in Italy, L’Equipe in France and Marca in Spain.
If I have to pay for it then no, if it's free then no. They are probably still jurno scum and make up **** with no proof but quote unnamed sources.
Football journalism is literally some of the worst stuff put on paper or typed on the internet so, I will certainly not be reading any of it.
Caulkin is one of those rare journalists who sit back when so called facts are being spouted and slowly and dilligently gathers the facts. He's the only one I fully believe.
I agree. He's always worth listening to, a proper journo. Chris Waugh's trying to catch up, too. Not sure Ryder's going to be offered a position anytime soon.....
Apparently they have already approached Pouchy to write for them, but only if he can produce articles that are 10x shorter than the ones he puts on here.
I get all my information from your posts on here. Currently I know that we are fooked, the Mackems were relegated by a guy in a bra and you are screwing Pouchy’s Missus.
I'm not going to pay a subscription but if as they claim to be they are going to be a very credible source of information and quality writing they will probably do well.
