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12/8/01-
UMGoBlue.COM versus Traditional Media
Occasionally,
I've had the pleasure of interacting with 'big time' media people.
Most of the time these people are supportive and helpful.
Occasionally, I get an attitude from some of these people.
Their comments usually are delivered with a derisive tone and
followed by a condescending dismissal of what we do on this site.
Rather than
feel the sting of criticism from the UM Sports Information
Department when denied a press credential because "...UMGoBlue.COM
is not a 'traditional' media outlet..." or let the comments from
'real' media get me down I've decided to just take it with a grain
of salt.
We are a
different animal. And I'm alright with that.
It's a
strength- not a weakness.
Here's my top 10 list
of reasons why our perspective is different (and better) the
Traditional Media
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We're biased
and we admit it
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We pay to get
in
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Personal
relationships with coaches and players don't cloud our perspective
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The athletic
department has no influence on what we say
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We are not
accountable to advertisers
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We get to
criticize traditional media outlets
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We can provide
updates in near real time
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Our
'publication' is not dependant on a large group of people or
machinery for delivery
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Our entire
history of articles is available online.
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We say what we
think...
We're biased and we admit it-
We're Michigan fans here. We're not here because we're getting
paid. Rather than try to deny our allegiance we're up front with
it. Generally speaking we're supportive of UM athletics but
that doesn't mean that we won't question certain decisions or agree
with everything a UM coach or player does. Traditional media
outlets claim to be unbiased- yeah right. Have you read
Drew Sharp or
Jemile Hill lately?
We pay to get in-
In addition to being Wolverine fans we're also customers of the
athletic department which makes us more qualified than traditional
media to comment on the services provided to fans. If I read
one more article from a professional columnist complaining about
their 'free' seat in the press box or 'free food' I'm going to
scream. Try going to a game in 100 degree weather only to have
the concession stands run out of
water or go to freezing a game and have them run out of hot
chocolate you pansies!
Personal relationships with coaches and
players don't cloud our perspective-
We don't have to worry about a coach or player being angry with us
for what we write.
The athletic department has no influence on
what we say- We don't have to worry
about our calls not being returned or our press pass being pulled.
The athletic department has already pulled our passes and it hasn't
stopped us yet.
We are not accountable to advertisers-
Don't like what we say? Too bad. We don't need to change
our message to please anyone but ourselves. We're open to
criticize advertisers who sponsor the athletic department (like
Bank 1) when they fail Michigan fans.
We get to criticize traditional media
outlets- We take traditional media
outlets to task when they take everything that the athletic
department says as gospel or 'ignore' athletic department mistakes.
For example, look at how the Ann Arbor News 'covered' most recent
renovation of Yost Arena. The article specifically
mentions that the new balcony is lower than the press box on other
side of the arena. It's a natural question to wonder how the
new balcony affects the view of the seats beneath it.
UMGoBlue.COM did an article detailing the
site line
problems caused by the new balcony. We're still waiting
for any of traditional media to even mention that there
'might' be a problem.
We can provide updates in near real time-
Did a game just end? We'll post the score within minutes.
If a major story breaks we can send out an alert to our thousands of
mailing list subscribers in seconds.
Our 'publication' is not dependant on a large
group of people or machinery for delivery-
Bad weather? Who cares. Printing press problems?
Not here. UMGoBlue.COM has 99.9% percent availability over the
three years since we've gone online.
We say what we think-
We write from the heart.
Go Blue!
Phil Callihan
UMGoBlue.COM- By Fans...For Fans
phil@umgoblue.com
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