Discussion: Condescending news story

I've seen videos linked here with on-camera "talent" expressing a similar attitude, but this article has the most "can you believe this sport exists" angle I've seen lately.

Harsh.

Could be funny if it weren't for the final slap:

For more information about the group and the “sport,” visit dvoa.org.

commented appropriately

Got halfway thorough reading that before quitting in disgust. If that's you're attitude why bother writing anything? Isn't the point of writing these kinds of things to entertain your readers... how can that be entertaining to anyone?

I would guess there aren't many readers, except maybe googlebot and us.

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Delaware Valley

Grrr...

It could be worse - he could be writing about the sixers :) Oops! Now I'll feel the wrath of triple-double.

Sixers? Is that a team? Do they play that "sport" where they wear baggy shorts and show off?

(@Canadian, I'm sure there are plenty of people who think the article is hilarious. We haven't lost them because we never had them.)

Yes, Sixers play a sport. What is it that the Red Sox play?

I also posted a response on their page. I wasn't too mad until I got to "sport." I tried to be nice.

And for those who missed the link on my log, here's how you do it properly:

http://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/yorkshire-living/he...

You actually have to try it out, first.

Nice response, Becky, especially the link to a video.

well well well, what do we have here (eddie, cristina--you should know better ;)

I can feel the sideways Dasha-stare and thin grimace from here...

;/

@j-man, you tell me. We're playing a game here. Give it your best shot!

What is it that the Red Sox play?
At the moment nothing I guess. They've already won and are just celebrating...

I would guess there aren't many readers, except maybe googlebot and us.

With 5 comments, it's now the 2nd-most commented on article on the entire site!

(That either means that more readers will now see it, or that not many people really reads the website in the first place.)

The mid-Atlantic states are commonly regarded as the richest areas of the country for regional and national news sources. Publications are aplenty: the New York Times, the Washington Post, the Philadelphia Inquirer, and then of course, there's the occasional noteworthy local news broadcast that's good enough to warrant turning on your television.

Sounds like a pretty full plate, right? Can't see any reason why you'd need to introduce another gratuitous news website, correct?

Well, as if there wasn't enough justification to waste time surfing the internet, browsers, surfers, and general procrastinators can congregate at courierpostonline.com for a crash course in the new banal, snarky, offensive publication sweeping a region of a section of a division of South Jersey: Courier Post Online.

The articles are owned by the Gannett Company - yes, that's right, there seriously is a company that expects to make money off this tripe - and are designed to insult readers from all backgrounds and interests.

Registration is required for large groups (so you don't crash their webservers) and idle browsers are welcome. For more information about the group and the "news publication," visit courierpostonline.com.

The Red Sox were more interesting when they were lovable underdogs.

Just added my comment: Short and not sweet.

(awaiting attempts at humor...)

Most commented article on the website! Woooo!

Woo?

2-0 including a victory over the reigning NBA Champs. Talk about misplaced, or certainly mistimed condescension.

The Sonics are.... oh wait. Yeah.

I haven't read the original article (and from the descriptions above it sounds like I don't want to), but Ian's post was still the funniest thing I've seen this week.

If we're going to compare sports like baseball as in the world series champs Red Sox and orienteering then it should be noted that no special shaggy beard is needed to participate in orienteering.

All you need is pajamas and everybody has those, right?

This is the danger of sending a paper a press announcement and then sitting back to see what happens.
It is not hard to imagine what happened at the paper:
Assignment Editor: "Who has ever heard of this orienteering?"
Rookie Reporter: "I have. We did it in Scouts.
AE: What's it about?
RR: Well they gave us a bunch of compass bearings and we got totally lost. We just hiked aimlessly in the bushes but we earned our badge.
AE: OK write this up but make it light and no more than 250 words.
RR: No problem. I know all about it.

Moral of the story when you send a press release send along the right background material so the reporter is guided to frame the story the way you would like it.

Wow. I feel sorry for that journalist, or lack there of.

Don't know if it is a good thing, but as of Saturday morning, this Courier-Post O story is the second most popular on-line story after the LAX shooter story.

As the PR flacks used to say, some publicity is good, some is bad...but the worst thing is NO publicity.

I think the writer was probably just writing honestly the first thing that came to mind and didn't expect more than a handful of people would even see the article. It's almost written like a parody (which is why Ian's very funny parody of it works so well).

Let's not forget that orienteering is weird and must look ridiculous to people from the outside. We take ourselves *very* seriously and forget that a lot of people honestly just would not enjoy orienteering. At all. It's a hard sport. We dress funny. We use strange vocabulary. We don't mind getting really dirty. When you do poorly you feel stupid, not just unskilled. It's generally boring to spectate. There's no hotdogs and beer in the stands. Do I need to go on?

The article comes off as being a bit pissy and bitter, but not everyone is going to like orienteering. Responding with really serious comments about how we ARE a real sport, damnit (don't forget to stamp your feet) and we MUST be taken seriously is playing into their hands. I get annoyed when I see things like calling orienteering a "sport", but then I think of all the horrible things I've said about basketball (which is all true, I might add) and realize that everyone is entitled to have some fun at the expense of other leisure activities every once in a while.

And yeah, maybe DVOA will get some curiosity clicks from the humor and controversy. ;-)

Wow! I'm kind of speechless, which doesn't happen often!

Some years back, when I did publicity for DVOA, courierpostonline was on my regular distribution list for publicity for events. I remember them because they were one of the first outlets for which I could use email instead of snail mail. I don't remember whether they posted our events in their activities section or not, but I know nothing like this ever happened. Given the poor job and lack of byline, I'm tempted to think it's some high school intern who thinks he's a real wit, but the tone is oddly bitter. At any rate, the comments you all made are probably the most intelligent I've ever seen for an online article and may well "backfire" into being really good publicity!

@gordhun, I think you may be making some unfair assumptions. I'm quite sure that anyone who has done any publicity for DVOA sends appropriate background. We're all well aware that orienteering needs explanation and some enticing description. And for most of these local papers, you're just hoping to get listed in the weekend activities section. When a reporter does pick up on it and wants a story, there's plenty of contact at that time to try to "frame" the story. This article is a very unusual and truly puzzling outcome, and not the result of anyone sending a release and sitting back!

@iansmith - love, love, love the parody. Until now, the only things on AP that made me laugh that hard were tRicky's comments!

@blairtrewin - ian's post is even funnier after you read the article.

Like @iansmith.

At least the author seems to have been unaware of rogaines (a word that triggers a red squiggly line even on Attackpoint!)

Ian, move that post over to the comment section of the Courier article, that would be a hoot... will be interesting how long it would survive... before being removed by the author there.

Agree with andreais!

(even though it will completely overshadow my snarky 2-liner...)

Come on! that was a great article! It'll bring out the hipsters by the score!

Let's not forget that orienteering is weird and must look ridiculous to people from the outside.

It is also weird and looks ridiculous to people on the inside. (Just on the outfits -- 90% of the prospective market wouldn't be caught dead in them; forget the other 90% of the market that wouldn't waste time on a sport with interval starts, but we've beaten these horses to death, and they remain dead forevermore; no resurrection is possible; forget the recruiting of volunteers and then abusing them for blood sport).

Anyway, rather than drop into the typical tribalism and claim "we are right", and the "the journalist is wrong", it might be more constructive to look at things from a more balanced and objective perspective. Of course, I'm not expecting such -- if you don't drink the tribe's Kool-Aid 100%, your opinion is worthless.

First, I think the photo, which leads the piece, accurately describes what will go on at the event. Moreover, I think the photo is attractive to trail runners or other outdoor enthusiasts who might want to try something different. What's wrong with that?

Also, if you read the article carefully, you will note that the derision is focused on the obscurity of the sport, not the difficulty of it. In fact, the article states is the name for a form of mental and physical battle that arms participants with a map and compass while seeking out checkpoints on a designated course. How is that not an accurate description of the sport to insiders? Then Running in the Woods as Part of a Glorified Scavenger Hunt. How is that not an accurate description of the sport to outsiders?

But, the comments don't address this. The comments not only miss this fine point, but miss the opportunity to turn lemons into lemonade by acknowledging the obscurity of the sport (and even using that as lemonade to attract people who may like alternative sports), and miss the opportunity to emphasize/follow on on the author's mental and physical battle, running thru the woods, and scavenger hunt imagery, which actually, IMHO, speaks to an audience the organizers should be interested in.

Instead, the comments are whiny and defensive, rather than aggressively turning bad publicity into good publicity. Remember, bad publicity is better than no publicity, but the reaction comes across as simply pissy pissy that someone said something bad about the tribe, while a more objective look at the piece revels that that isn't accurate.

Yes, it could have been less derisive, yet the derision is deserved, given the lack of growth and obscurity (if you don't like it, grow the sport (waiting for Godot on that one)), but there are plenty in the article that is accurate is a good way to seize on. No one did. BTW, where are the supposed "marketing experts" who should be chiming in in the comments and turning lemons into lemonade?

FWIW, I tried to take a less tribalistic and more balanced approach in my comments in the article. I hope they ring true, and I hope the moderator accepts them.

You must be pleased with the catch this time tRicky, I didn't know you did teasers for the Courier Post heh heh.

Weird that I actually read this thread to see you posting about me.

Enjoyed Randy's post.

I enjoyed Randy's post as well. He makes many good points. I am sorry he refers to himself (in his comment on the journal's web page) as an ex-orienteer. At the same time, I am not going to apologize for thinking the reporter is an idiot (or posting a fairly strong comment) for saying things like "yes there's an association for that" and putting the word sport in quotation marks.

Enjoyed Randy's posted comment.

+1 Randy