Stanaway on radio

 

Top effort Craig!! Well done for getting on the forums and pushing back! this is exactly the kind of interaction between sports public and media that is needed!

 

It's great to see a point-by-point argument put together, whether I agree with it or not. You've done your profession a service by posting this. If I lived in NZ, I'd be happy to buy you that beer.   

 

One point I would add though. Football is among the two or three most popular sports globally. Given that the phoenix are NZ's premier domestic expression in that sport, do you think the local coverage in sports meda is proportionately represenative of their place in the sporting landscape? Is the comparison to the black-socks a bit of a straw-man? Softball is, in all honesty, a pretty minor sport on the international stage. I think your use of the the breakers aris a much more appropriate comparison, given the relative importance of basketball internationally.

 

It was the most important game in 27 years and it had been in the diary for months. Even though you were too cheap to send somebody or hire local crew you have lots of archive footage, there are ex all whites and other experts to interview back home. It would not have been hard to divert your handball reporter to  talk to Summer or Adshead or Fallon or Rufer. Yet nothing, zero, zilch.

 

Craig, every All Blacks test (and there are 20 of them every year, some of them pretty lame as far as marketability) leads the sports news for 3 or 4 days (if not more) in the week prior to the game. Every broken finger nail, every selection question. Its the routine. Its the formula. Its easy. Its what the network is familiar with. Obviously football doesnt provide you with the same amount of product, nowhere near. Obviously lots of people are interested in the rugby. But come on. We cant get one lousy mention the night before our biggest game in 27 years. NOT JUSTIFIABLE. Dont bother trying.

 

Your (or at least your network's) rehabilitation begins with accepting your wrongdoing and past indiscretions.

 

We are here to help you through this.

 

I think you should have started with this

 

Such a report would have generated an outcry from the YF about how biased TVNZ was, yadda yadda, "why didn't they get behindf the AWs when they were winning", "they waited until the AWs lost before bothering to report".

 

Now, I'm no fan fo the NZ media, sports or otherwise. I vented my spleen on a number of occaisions at the idiotic comments and twisted reporting that goes on in many circles. e.g.: http://virtuphill.blogspot.com/2009/10/new-zealand-media-and-football.html and http://virtuphill.blogspot.com/2009/10/sports-journalists.html

 

However, I don't think that carte blanche ad hominem attacks are warranted (espacially against individual reportes), not unless these journos really do F-up. In whcih case, fight the pen with the pen!

 

It's easy, in hindsight, after a good result to blame the media for not being there. Let's think a bout whether we would prefer they remain silent when the results are not ideal. We can't have it both ways. . . .

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sometimes I swear the NZRFU and the media are working to play down any sport that they deem to be in competition with Rugby Union.

 

 

 

I think that this is the key point.  Fair enough that it cost too much to send someone to Bahrain/get pictures from there (and I don't think that the All Whites helped themselves by cutting themselves off from the media before the game) but it is not accepable to have nothing at all.  The story was massive enough to interview an '82 player to get an idea about what it was like to play in that part of the world (they played in Kuwait and Saudi in qualifying), the pressure, what being at the world cup is like, etc.  There was also the option of talking via telephone to Miles or the other journalist that was there (if you could stop him from writing articles - I think he produced one every 68 minutes) just to get an idea of the conditions, the pitch, etc.  Hell, you could even have spoken to me via Skype regarding some of the bars, and what factor sunblock I was using.  There was plently to be done that would have been interesting to a large number of the viewers - I'd bet of interest to a larger number of people than nascar or iron man reports.

 

No Craig, I'm neither an "ignoramus" nor ignorant and if you read what I said you've completely failed to understand what I was suggesting (that there are stories that could be run without having someone on the ground in Manama).  No point going over this again as others have already expanded on it.  You can attempt to justify it how you like but as Marius has said this was the biggest match for 27 years and it wasn't deemed newsworthy.

 

You've said what if Bahrain won 6-0 in the first leg.  They didn't, and your station wasn't there to report on what could well become the sports story of the year.  If NZ do qualify for the World Cup can you honestly say that as a football reporter for the state broadcaster you'd be happy with the attention allocated to this match?

 

I agree, you're not a cheerleader for the sport.  But as a supposedly informed member of the media surely it is expected of you to appreciate the significance of the event and communicate that to the public.  There was interest in the Manama game pre - and post match, ticket sales for the return leg were over 20k before the match in Manama and the print media was saturated with football stories.  I understand that there are limitations to what you were able to dowithout images but this does reflect the consistently poor coverage of football on TV1 news which is generally limited to showing the goals from the premiership on a Sunday evening which are available in a million and one different places on the internet.

 

What is utterly galling is that having completely ignored the event in the week leading up to the match you're claiming that your coverage post the match somehow helped to drive ticket sales for the return leg.  I'm afraid Craig that while I do consider myself both reasonable and intelligent I just don't buy that.  As you say yourself, your reporting only reflects the level of public interest: you're not a cheerleader.  And even if you do believe that, are we supposed to give you credit for reporting what may well become the sports story of the year?  I'm afraid not.

 

I know that you are doing your job within the limitations that are imposed by the higher-ups and I appreciate you giving your side of the story.  But I reserve my right to disagree with the justifications that you've given and hope that in the future matches of this significance (which let's not forget roll around at the most once every 4 years) are given the attention that they deserve.

 

He talks about the cost of travelling to overseas events. Interesting. TVNZ can send Martin Tasker to the Mediterraneanfor a lengthy period to cover some sort of warm-up yachting regatta yet can't stump up to cover a crucial World Cup qualifying match? The biggest game for our national team in 27 years?

 

Sorry Craig - you're not only being disingenuous but your attempted justification is moronic. 

 

I would hazard a guess that Team New Zealand pay for that

 

Can't wait for the next  Amercas cup regatta in 2038 ..and the louis Vuitton, and all the other meaningless  boat races that no-one gives a fat rats about.

 

I can't believe TVNZ  had free flights and still didn't go to Bahrain..and as far as access goes- Miles was behind the goal the whole game!!

 

ball..dropped..TVNZ...again.

 

 

 

It could take a backseat if there is another political scandal or worse. 

 

I did spot Craig at Welly airport today, seems he was on the same flight as Rory Fallon and Ivan Vichlich.  maybe he got an interview on the plane??  Well I can only hope there will be better coverage now.