Baseball and the Media: How fans lose in Today's Coverage of the Game

In this article, Chicago Cubs baseball beat writer George Castle takes a different side on how fans are beginning to miss out on coverage of baseballs game due to the non-stop flourishing of technology and all of its advancements. Castle believes that "Baseball is the most media-accessible professional sport, but increasingly, fans are receiving far less information about the game for a myriad of reasons, including the shrinking news holes, a re-emphasis on high school sports, the pervasiveness of sports talk radio, the 24-hour news cycle and the neogig." With this being said, he emphasizes on how less and less people are going to games and can just check the statistics and scores on their different techonology devices. I chose this article because it shows the argumentative side of my groups webisode but also gives more resources and details that we used in our project. As the future comes closer and technology progresses, many fear that fans will lose the vast information that they would normally recieve about the game due to relying on the technology that is here now and what's to come in the future. As far as a real world example goes, this is similar to online shopping now adays. Because shopping online is now offered, employees working in stores fear the loss of their jobs and the decrease in sales at malls and stores due to competition. In our class textbook, Media Programming, they mention that megasports events such as NBS, NHL, and MLB games are all covered by ESPN, which has talk shows on highlights and such that can appear live a dozen times a day or be cut back so that fans don't even have to watch the game. This idea is very similar to Castles article and shows the more defensive side of the effects of media on fans and everyday people.
http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=aph&AN=25413623&site=ehost-live

MLB's Real Competitve Advantage

The questions of when and how major league baseball will use cutting-edge technology to rake in millions of dollars by cellular devices, live streaming via internet, and other technological media over time has finally been answered. Nowadays, with technology being as vast and ubiquitous as it is, game content streaming on cellular devices has taken off and been a huge success for the MLB industry. According to MLBAM chief executive Bob Bowman, "Somehow the strategy of putting baseball games on every device that has a plug or a battery has worked for the business partners. Even more important, it's worked for our fans." While at first many were uneasy about the streaming of live game videos online, (due to the fear of ratings being hurt) MLB has proved that right fees, attendance, and viewership is up making it a win-win situation for both parties. People love going to baseball games and living and seeing the action for themselves, however for those who can't always make the games, technology has been made portable and convenient for them too, pleasing all parties. As of now mobile devices revenue don't bring anywhere near as much as television does, but thats all in the future. While the fear of television ratings possibly suffering is controversial and still in the air, Bowman sticks with his strategy and motto of "If you serve the fans, you take care of your business." I chose this article because it related to my groups baseball in the media webisode perfectly. Throughout our webisode we tried to show how baseball in the media is on the rise and how technology has made it so convenient and portable for its fans. The article touches on what is to come in the future of media as far as technology and MLB which is an important insight to fans, coaches, and players everywhere. The fact of the matter is that technology is only progressing and now is starting to show how it can be applied to everyday things such as entertainment and sports (in this specific case baseball). In our text, Media Programming, it was said that "As connection speeds improve, future attempts may meet greater audience acceptance. Major League Baseball began offering on its site mlb.com, live streaming video pregame shows before every postseason game (including the world series)" (332). This goes to show you just how baseball has made its impact in the technology world and how the future may be unpredictable but in the end can only progress and continue upwards.
http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/aug2008/tc20080828

Interview with Media Professional Linton Weeks

For my second interview wth a media professional, I interviewed Linton Weeks who works as an national correspondent for NPRs digital news. I attended high school with his son and he spoke to us one year about careers and the future. Mr. Weeks graduated from college as an English major and took his first job as a writer for a small weekly newspaper in Arkansas making a hundred dollars a week. When asked the sole purpose of his job was he replied that "Someone once said that journalism was storytelling with a purpose." After nearly 20 years at the Washington Mr.Weeks decided to leave the paper with some money in his pocket and interview at NPR and got the job the same day. There are many components that go into being a national correspondent and the thing that Mr.Weeks both likes and dislikes about his job are the certain people that are involved with his work. Although Mr.Weeks is intrigued by the never ending techno-evolution, he believes that the most important thing is being able to tell a story in both a concise and compelling way. As far as students getting started somewhere, Mr. Weeks states that you should "decide what you want and do everything you possibly do-legally and ethically--to pursue your dreams. He also believes that its not about money, it's about meaning, and that people should try everything and embrace change. He says to read as much as you can and recommends that students do what they enjoy, and enjoy what they do. Experience is everything, and to become indispensable by working for free at a place that you love at first then go after that job.

Interview with Media Professional Gonzalo Accame

For my first interview with a media professional, I interviewed

Gonzalo Accame. Mr. Accame is not only a national and international award winning bilingual producer, but also juggles production as well as being a cameraman and the co-owner of Visual Edge Productions. He started at the lowest position in his business and worked as hard as he honestly could to work his way up from there. In addition, he began his broadcasting career in 1978 in Boston as the associate producer of a Spanish program. From there he was promoted to story producer and was fortunate to have produced or been apart of productions for many major tv networks such as the Discovery, TLC, Animal Planet, and the History and Learning Channels. Later on he joined forces and became co-producer of his own production company. I came into contact with Mr. Accame seven years ago when I became good friends with his daughter in high school. I knew that he did media work, however I wasn't aware of the extent of his work and what exactly went along with it until I did this interview. When asking Mr.Accame of what his many jobs consisted of he replied "the fun stuff like getting to wear many different hats, as well as producing, managing, and marketing and public relations." This was a lot to take in because I quickly understood that it was a huge responsibility and a large workload trying to balance everything and keeping it stable. When asking Mr.Accame what he disliked most about his job he responded that dealing with the day to day management of owning a business and having to deal with everything that comes into the mix. However, he counteracted this by stating that he loved working in unison with his crew, great actors whether pro or not, and the famous personalities that come with his line of work. I was intrigued by the fact that he has worked with many of our Presidents dating from the Carter and Reagan Administration to Obama today, and traveled all over the world in maing documentaries and filming stories. As far as the future goes, Mr. Accame stressed that the web was the place to be, and that with all of the technological changes that have taken place that it's really had to keep up with. In the past we were satisfied by the print media and tv, however now we don't need them becuase we can put all types of information and videos on the web. When I asked of advice for students wishing to pursue the same type of line of work, Mr. Accame stressed students to work hard, not get discouraged, and to put as much time into learning as much as you possibly can, whether it be by volunteering or getting an internship with a smile on your face at all times. Last but not least, he told me to give it my all and work super hard as well as to not rely on luck and that opportunity and preparedness were the most important tools to success. When doing this interview, I learned so much more valuable information I had never known or even thought about. This summer I was invited to go on a couple of shoots with Mr. Accame to see him at work, which I am really excited for and can't wait for the experience.