Eyeballs

Over at MinnPost, David Brauer asks and answers a question:

First, the question, prompted by Twittering:

The argument goes something like this: the local sportsfolk haven't broken the biggest Vikings stories this year, including Brett Favre's return, the Randy Moss trade, and now, Chili's firing. Depending on how you parse out credit, the scoops belonged to ESPN, the NFL Network and Fox Sports. So why should, say, the Strib have three guys working the Vikings/NFL beat when they can't bring home the biggest stories — especially when less sexy but more important news beats have one or no reporters?

Brauer's take on the matter of scoops, which I find persuasive:

The locals are getting beat by national outlets that pay the NFL millions for TV rights (ESPN/Fox) or those owned directly by the league (NFL Network). Say all you want about "mainstream" organizations paying for news, but I have to believe this is a factor. There's a substantial business relationship here.

Of course this is true and anyone who thinks otherwise isn't thinking the matter through. Guys like Ed Werder of ESPN and Jay Glazer at Fox have a much larger platform than someone like Judd Zulgad of the Star Tribune. Given the egos involved, it makes sense to talk first to the guy with the bigger blowtorch, as they say in the radio business.

What is even more silly is the notion that somehow devoting more beat writers to sports is a bad thing for a local newspaper to do. Brauer:

If the Strib suddenly got religion on sports and cut the staff, would they shift money over to news? Perhaps, but not as much as you might think.

At least on the newspaper side, sports is a major driver of readership. Brett Favre's '09 return produced the biggest traffic day in Startribune.com history. Most of that may have been "drive-by" traffic that produces tenths of pennies per click. But over time, being the "go-to" local sports platform adds up. How many of you keep your subscription to luxuriate over the sports pages after a big win?

I think this is correct. Almost no one on my street takes the paper anymore, but people still want to have a copy of the paper when there's a big sports story. Newspapers barber a lot about public service, but at bottom they are for-profit corporations and the key thing is to make money. While there may be enough interesting things going on at Minneapolis City Hall to merit an additional reporter, the folks hanging out at Winter Park are the ones who deliver the most eyeballs.