Quick (media) notes
Posted by disappointmentzone on 15 August 2007
1) Terry Pluto has abandoned the sinking ship that is the Akron Beacon-Journal for the slightly greener pastures of the Cleveland Plain Dealer. This is a huge coup for the PD but a far more destructive loss for the ABJ. Pluto was the paper’s flagship writer and one of the few super-talented journalists to work for the ABJ not to leave the paper after having a measure of success.
2) It’s never a positive when the user comments in the blog entry for the Pluto story at the PD are filled with comments like “Great! Now replace [current PD sports writer] with [current ABJ sports writer]!”
3) Though Pluto has the stature and the experience, arguably the most important piece of the ABJ sports team is Brian Windhorst, the Cavs beat writer. Over the last 18 months Windhorst has popped up all over the internet and among basketball fans under the age of 27 his name is probably one of the most recognizable nationally as far as beat writers are concerned. He’s often on ESPN’s Daily Dime and popped up this summer on True Hoop. He’s young, knowledgeable, can write, and has been following LeBron James continuously longer than any other journalist. The point being: Losing Pluto hurts, but losing Windhorst could be the most damaging.
4) Here is another reason why losing Windhorst could cripple the ABJ: He’s the only Cleveland-area sports writer to actually embrace the Internet. In addition to his newspaper/ESPN writing Windhorst maintains a successful sports blog and it is his blogging as much as his reporting that has garnered him as much attention as he’s been receiving.
5) I wouldn’t be surprised that Windhorst leaves the ABJ right around the time of LBJ’s next contract, especially if LBJ re-ups with the Cavs. Any one of the big national media outlets (Fox, ESPN, Yahoo!, SI) would die to hire someone with such close ties to the biggest star in the NBA, someone with name recognition and an internet presence.
6) Speaking of name recognition, Windhorst’s will increase when his new, authoritative book about LBJ is publish (written with Pluto, in fact). Just another reason why the ABJ needs to do whatever it can to hold onto Windhorst.
7) Might Pluto joining the PD portend the departure of one of the two current columnists? (1) Or is the PD thinking of going to a three man rotation?
8) The sports page of PD, internet edition, has this headline: Wright to be tested. How many people, when they saw this, immediately thought that Wright was involved in some performance-enhancing drug problem? I’m one. I’m sure there are others.
9) The Wright story turns out to be about him being tested against the Lions, who will be lining up Roy Williams and Calvin Johnson across from the Browns rookie CB. Wouldn’t a clearer verb be “challenged”? In the current sports vernacular, “tested” is synonymous with drug testing, not athletic competition.
fn 1: Please, please let this be the case.
