A recent phone call was placed to the John Carroll University athletic department that expressed disappointment over the failure of the Cleveland Plain Dealer to report on Mike Moran's recent 300th career victory.The caller wondered why was this story absent from the Plain Dealer?
Good question.
How about another question -- How did a story run in the Lake County News Herald on Thursday morning about coach winning his 300th game ... but the same story did not run in the Cleveland Plain Dealer? Click the link below to see for yourself. http://www.news-herald.com/articles/2009/02/12/sports/nh477507.txt
Was it the sports information department not sending the information out ... or an editorial decision made at the Cleveland Plain Dealer that nixed the story?
The same thing happened in Sunday's paper. No story on John Carroll's school record 14th win ... but there was a three-sentence blurb on John Carroll's women's basketball team winning its 4th in a row. It was the only small college mention in Sunday's paper -- men or women.
While John Carroll appreciates the interest of passionate and loyal supporters who are upset about the lack of media coverage, calling the school to complain will not produce the results you seek.
There is a better way. And it will take more than one person to shoulder the burden.
Our plea? Direct your calls, letters and emails elsewhere ... like the newsrooms of the local media.
Our advice? Call or write regularly ... not just to complain but to praise.
Because up to now, the only people hearing your discontent are people on the campus.
Here's a case in point. Terry Pluto wrote a column (see link below) on coach Moran, and received a grand total of four comments on cleveland.com. Ohio State had a column on analyzing skill positions for the 2009 season, and received five on the first day.
http://www.cleveland.com/pluto/plaindealer/index.ssf?/base/sports-0/123373996061080.xml&coll=2&thispage=3
Your silence is deafening, and that is what is driving newspapers and TV stations to look away from the small colleges. When they don't hear from you, good or bad, the message sent is that there is not enough interest to warrant the space or time.
Cavs stories, Indians stories, Browns stories, Ohio State stories are always going to get their play. There is a very large interest in those organizations and programs.
What hurts the John Carroll's of the world is that there is a perceived notion from the local media that if the fan base is small and uninspired, why should it be covered?
It would be easy to blame the John Carroll sports information department. There is always room for improvement, and the folks there are aware of it. But if one looks at the website, its not as if the information is not out there.
Nor is it a question of effort, because as mentioned before ... on that same Thursday morning that the Plain Dealer did not cover Mike Moran's historic achievement, the Lake County News Herald did run a story on coach winning his 300th game. Seems odd, doesn't it.
In fact, there is more effort being put into the disemination of information now than ever before, with more media produced by the school (SportsTime Ohio broadcasts, webcasting home events, WJCU on the radio and through the internet, live stats, etc) than most small colleges can claim. One can make the argument that the advent of the internet makes schools like John Carroll, Baldwin-Wallace and Case Reserve less dependent on the media than they once were.
This has become all the more important considering newspapers are suffering tremendous drops in readership, which has resulted in lower advertsing revenue and reductions in staffing. The smaller staffs are spread thinner, and there are fewer pages to sill. Therefore, decisions are being made daily on what to and what not to cover.
While the information is getting out, there is still the important part of the equation regarding the decision to do something with it. Just as the saying goes, you can lead a horse to water ...
It becomes imperative that, if you want to see the situation improve and if you are a John Carroll loyalist, make your voice heard. The more interest that they receive from you, than the more interest they will have in us. A resounding reponse from the masses will have more impact than one sports information director could ever have.
The goal of this posting is to make people aware that they can be the voice of change. Just make sure your voice is one that is constructive and complimentary as opposed to critical and vindictive.
Remember ... if you are seeing less and less John Carroll on TV, and reading less and less of the Blue Streaks in the paper, why call the school and preach to the choir?
Preach to those who need to hear your message.
