Hangar18's Chicago NewsMedia Watch Thread

[Hangar18]

When have I ever been anything but? It's just frustrating listening to the same s*** year after year with people complaining about media bias when all these papers are doing is running the way they see fit and frankly it's working for them. Can anyone really argue with the number Cubs to Sox fans? Since there's a large discrepency doesn't it seem that there may be a difference in the amount of coverage each team sees in the papers of that city?

 

 

What came first ..........The Chicken or The Egg?

[Steff]

When have I ever been anything but? It's just frustrating listening to the same s*** year after year with people complaining about media bias when all these papers are doing is running the way they see fit and frankly it's working for them. Can anyone really argue with the number Cubs to Sox fans? Since there's a large discrepency doesn't it seem that there may be a difference in the amount of coverage each team sees in the papers of that city?

 

 

 

I agree with you. I was referring to pawning him off on the other board. Even they don't deserve the punishment...

[Hangar18]

To illustrate further, let's suppose a casual baseball fan reads a Cubs related story and it piques their curiousity about baseball in general. Ultimately they pay their way into ...............ballparks.

 

 

this is exactly my point. This casual baseball fan picks up and reads both papers. Both papers have more stories about one team vs. the other. Both papers put more of a positive spin about one team, the other gets a negative spin. Both papers make sure to also tell you how EXCITING one park is, and the other one is bland, boring and dangerous. Casual fan, based on this.........will go to the "fun" park, the one with the most stories about it/them. This person most likely eventually becomes a "fan" of that team

and spends his $$$ there. Ive long accused the Trib of using their paper as a daily informercial for promoting their team ("so what, its their team man") The Trib said in 1981 it wouldnt let its association with that other team, affect the way it covers the SOX, and things would be equal.

 

Since ive been keeping track, things have NEVER been equal.

Was there a big deal about Jose Contreras getting to 6-0 the way Maddux was given the entire back page/headline and all, upon upping his record to 5-0? Nope.

[Guest JimH]

Was there a big deal about Jose Contreras getting to 6-0 the way Maddux was given the entire back page/headline and all, upon upping his record to 5-0? Nope.

 

Maddux is a 300+ game winner and a surefire HOF. Contreras isn't. It's the same situation with Roger Clemens, guys like that get tons and tons of ink. You really need to get over it, and by the looks of this thread, I'm not the only one who thinks that way.

 

Your way of thinking is, the first thing into your brain is, "How is this a slam against the White Sox and a bias toward the Cubs?", instead of looking at it from a broader perspective and deeper understanding of the marketplace, audience, demographics, bigger picture of baseball, etc. Sadly, I think you lack the ability to do that.

 

Now I know you crave these sorts of arguments, in fact I sense this is your primary hobby, and this is fun for you. However, I do not, and it appears others here are tired of it as well.

 

I just gave you a real life example of how a casual baseball fan spends his money, and a lot of it, every year at U.S. Cellular, and even with that you morph it into another rant about media bias.

 

Here's an idea ... walk on over to Nuevo Leon or May St. Cafe or Skylark or one of the other great places in Pilsen. Take a load off, relax, and enjoy yourself. Bombarding this board with your skewed media bias schtick every day is old and tired.

[Hangar18]

Hangar's old obsession - The Sox are cheap and won't win because they get cheap players like Dye instead of spending money for better players.

 

Now that he can't complain about that anymore his new crusade is the media bias.

 

 

Note: Hangar has been doing the Media Watches since 2002.

[southsideirish71]

Note: Hangar has been doing the Media Watches since 2002.

 

We have a good attendance, we are the defending world champions and are .5 games out of first place in June. WTF are we still talking about media bias and crap like this.

 

NO ONE CARES IF THERE ARE 5 STORIES ABOUT THE CUBS AND 4 STORIES ABOUT THE SOX on X day.

 

If you want to read whitesox all the time, I suggest you read the Southtown Economist. Lots of Sox stories. You may want to purchase a sissors to cut out the random cub stories so they dont hurt your eyes.

[NYSox35]

I say it's a free country and he's allowed to do this.

It is somewhat interesting.

 

We all know that the Sox need to keep winning to change this stuff long term.

[Balta1701]

I can't be the only one who just doesn't care.

Then don't click.

[Hangar18]

We have a good attendance, we are the defending world champions and are .5 games out of first place in June. WTF are we still talking about media bias and crap like this.

 

NO ONE CARES IF THERE ARE 5 STORIES ABOUT THE CUBS AND 4 STORIES ABOUT THE SOX on X day.

 

If you want to read whitesox all the time, I suggest you read the Southtown Economist. Lots of Sox stories. You may want to purchase a sissors to cut out the random cub stories so they dont hurt your eyes.

 

 

 

(Misses Big Picture)

[Balta1701]

We have a good attendance, we are the defending world champions and are .5 games out of first place in June. WTF are we still talking about media bias and crap like this.

 

NO ONE CARES IF THERE ARE 5 STORIES ABOUT THE CUBS AND 4 STORIES ABOUT THE SOX on X day.

No one is making you click on the threads.

[Hangar18]

Maddux is a 300+ game winner and a surefire HOF. Contreras isn't. .

 

...............................instead of looking at it from a broader perspective and deeper understanding of the marketplace, audience, demographics, bigger picture of baseball, etc. Sadly, I think you lack the ability to do that.

 

 

So 2 pitchers go 5-0.

Pitcher A should get the entire Back Page and extra coverage because hes a sure-fire Hall Of Famer, and Pitcher B should just be relegated to a corner blurb? Hmmmmm Ok we'll go with that.

 

What about if ..................

Team A is off and doesnt play a game, and

Team B plays a game against a division rival and wins big.

What should the picture be about? Team B game picture or Team A disabled pitcher warming up in minors? Im sure some may say "Hey, Wood is a sure-fire hall-of-famer-to-be" or "This is a major story"

[Kalapse]

No one is making you click on the threads.

Yes but this does reflect poorly onto all Sox fans.

[Hangar18]

Yes but this does reflect poorly onto all Sox fans.

 

 

Hey, thats what this WEST guy said before!

I disagree. What does reflect POORLY on all SOX fans, is when a fan of that other team runs on the field at our ballpark, and years later SOX fans continue to get "blamed" because of the Irresponsibility of media reporting here. SOX fans complaining about other SOX fans documenting media Mis-representations of SOX fans reflects poorly on SOX fans indeed.

[SleepyWhiteSox]

Yes but this does reflect poorly onto all Sox fans.

 

Turning it into a 3-page argument and bringing up his age (which shouldn't matter) is unnecessary and just keeps pushing this topic to the top of the forum. (Although the banter is a little bit entertaining. )

 

My only suggestion is that it all be in one thread instead of a daily one that clutters up the board...at least until we all get tired of them...

[southsider2k5]

Turning it into a 3-page argument and bringing up his age (which shouldn't matter) is unnecessary and just keeps pushing this topic to the top of the forum. (Although the banter is a little bit entertaining. )

 

My only suggestion is that it all be in one thread instead of a daily one that clutters up the board...at least until we all get tired of them...

 

That is a capital suggest Sleepy. I am glad you said it.

 

I am going to merge all of this stuff into one thread, that way who wants to read it will know where it is at, and at the sametime it won't take away from people who don't want to see it.

 

And for the meantime I will ask for those who just want to say they don't care, please skip this thread. If you have a legitimate argument, question, or comment feel free to add it. Other than that, please have the courtesy to let the people who are interested in this discuss it freely. We are letting Hanger have his say, just like we let everyone else, unless it becomes a big problem.

 

Any questions feel free to PM, post, or email as usual.

[Hangar18]

Wait then your post about there being more Tigers stories than Sox stories doesn't make any sense if it was just the numbers being transposed???

 

 

There were more Tiger stories than SOX stories the day before (tuesday)

[Buehrle>Wood]

YAY for merging!

[Hangar18]

My only suggestion is that it all be in one thread instead of a daily one that clutters up the board...at least until we all get tired of them...

 

If we do that, people wont be able to see that days story topics (some have said they want this documented daily) that might be hard in one Giant Thread, but I like the Attention it will get MERGED. It would be great.

I appreciate being able to have my say about a subject on a democratic fan-friendly website

where Im free to say Whatever I like without worrying about disagreeing with administrators. Were all not going to agree, but I love opinions with substance to them, not just "this sucks".

 

Thanks Again. For a guy with barely 80 Posts here, youve given me MORE already than other places gave me in 4 years. Thanks

[Balta1701]

Ok, now people who don't care...don't click!

[Guest JimH]

So 2 pitchers go 5-0.

Pitcher A should get the entire Back Page and extra coverage because hes a sure-fire Hall Of Famer, and Pitcher B should just be relegated to a corner blurb? Hmmmmm Ok we'll go with that.

 

What about if ..................

Team A is off and doesnt play a game, and

Team B plays a game against a division rival and wins big.

What should the picture be about? Team B game picture or Team A disabled pitcher warming up in minors? Im sure some may say "Hey, Wood is a sure-fire hall-of-famer-to-be" or "This is a major story"

 

To your first point ... yes, it's the way of the media world. Same situation in other two team markets, believe it. If a guy is an established star and he does something really noteworthy, it's a big story. I am not a Maddux fan and God knows I'm not a Cubs fan (can't stand them) but I understand readership and circulation realities. You look at everything seeking your pre disposed conclusion, i.e. that there's a media bias.

 

To your second point ... controversey is King. In the media, soap opera stories sell newspapers and increase ratings. I realize you don't like it, but it's true. It is exactly why certain columnists have a job, and it's why daytime TV is such big business. People love twist-and-turn stories. This Kerry Wood saga has been going on forever, the Prior saga too. People love to talk about it. It gives Cub fans something to angst about and it gives Sox fans who hate the Cubs something to snicker about. From the perspective of an editor, they tend to think ... "hey I get both factions reading the story".

 

I bet you get all worked up about Mariotti too. To me, he is not worth my time, I long ago saw thru his MO and lots of people on this site have as well.

 

The bottom line here is, you can't make a definitive statement that you've PROVEN a media bias, you have proven it to yourself and probably some others, that's great and it makes you feel good, and good for you, seriously.

 

However, other people have a broader perspective on what the media is doing, what they're trying to accomplish, and the methods they use. The media loves guys like you. By ripping them, you bring them publicity. Contrary to what you think, you are doing them a big favor. You personally get more people to buy their papers, read their stories, tell their friends about it ... and then their friends go and buy papers. I presume you don't buy the papers (maybe you do?), but you apparantly subscribe online. Whether you are a paying customer or not, you still are doing exactly what they want, you bring them PR, even at a small level.

 

Congratulations, you are accomplishing the complete opposite of what you want to accomplish.

 

Lastly, you can not simply use # of stories to "prove" your point about media bias. You have to look at the tone and angle of said stories, which you don't. Even if you did, it'd be subject to your own personal interpretation ... and we are back to where we started, which would mean your own personal bias would come into play.

 

In summary, you have "proven" nothing. The people who believe your conspiracy theory are those who choose to believe it, and great, that's their opinion. Those who don't believe your conspiracy theory realize the media is a fluid and rapidly changing animal, subject to their demographics and interests of their readers.

Edited June 8, 2006 by JimH

[marsh]

In my opinion, the bottom line is this. Take an honest look at the two teams in this city. The fact is one team just overcame an 88 year championship drought, while the other is just going about business as usual. The story, regardless of whether the other team plays in a "shrine" or happens to be owned by a media conglomerate, is the Sox. And those facts are not translating into more coverage of what the true "story" is. I don't think it's asking too much that the bigger story get more coverage.

 

I understand the argument that some don't care now that the sox won the series, but the truth remains that the sox operate on a budget that's determined by projected revenue. Any medium, whether it's t.v., the papers, the radio that attempt to manipulate the general public into supporting one team over the other should be questioned, because in the end it affects the bottom line of the team we support.

 

I don't personally know if the numbers hangar reports are the be all end all of what is actually occurring but to me it's obvious that the north side team at the very least is getting equal coverage when they shouldn't be. The story right now should be the sox and the historic run they are putting together at this moment in time.

[knightni]

If I dropped a box of toothpicks could you tell me how many were spread out on the floor, instantly?

All of them.

 

 

[RME JICO]

Google New Search (06/09)

 

First Page Results:

 

Sox - 770

Cubs - 382

[Hangar18]

Chicago NewsMedia Watch 6/9/06

 

The SOX again are not able to gain any ground on the 5th place and falling Cubs in terms of

media coverage in Chicago.

Despite Winning the World Series in 2005, its first title in 88 years, the White Sox INEXPLICABLY

find themselves lagging far behind in Media Coverage to a team that, is currently in 5th place, last season finished in 4th place, has ZERO 90-win seasons since 1990 (1998 doesnt count-163 games), has only THREE 90-win seasons since 1950, and hasnt won anything of significance since the Roosevelt administration

 

Chicago Tribune:

5 cub stories

4 sox stories

1 tiger story

Chicago SunTimes:

4 cub stories

5 sox stories

Standings as of Friday June 9th, 2006

Priviledged, Undeserving, Media Owned, 5th place currently Cubs 554

Underdog, Unrecognized, Media Ignored, WS Champs 05 SOX 458

Upstart, Off to Good Start and in 1st place in June Tigers 4

Edited June 9, 2006 by Hangar18

[NorthSideSox72]

Chicago NewsMedia Watch 6/9/06

 

The SOX again are not able to gain any ground on the 5th place and falling Cubs in terms of

media coverage in Chicago.

Despite Winning the World Series in 2005, its first title in 88 years, the White Sox INEXPLICABLY

find themselves lagging far behind in Media Coverage to a team that, is currently in 5th place, last season finished in 4th place, has ZERO 90-win seasons since 1990 (1998 doesnt count-163 games), has only THREE 90-win seasons since 1950, and hasnt won anything of significance since the Roosevelt administration

 

Chicago Tribune:

5 cub stories

4 sox stories

Chicago SunTimes:

4 cub stories

5 sox stories

Standings as of Friday June 9th, 2006

Priviledged, Undeserving, Media Owned, 5th place currently Cubs 554

Underdog, Unrecognized, Media Ignored, WS Champs 05 SOX 458

 

By my count, Trib had 5 articles for each team. Dead even.

 

Hangar, no one will take you rants seriously if both your tone AND your data are skewed and lacking in objectivity.