Did your hometown news paper have any coverage of what Hall did yesterday? Mine didn't. It (Omaha World Harold) had a short blurb about local runners at the race but nothing about Hall. I was disappointed. This was a very significant milestone for US distance running. If US distance running is going to advance there needs to be better coverage in the press. If your news source didn't publish Hall's accomplishment you should write them (I did) and let them know they need to do a better job.
Is young Mr. Hall on the same track as the Ethiopians or Kenyans ? I think not, that\'s why there is there is no press interest. American sprinters, hurdlers, pole vaulters, shot putters, and high jumpers can compete at a world level. There is wide press interest for those athletes.
Well its the Omaha World Herald. Thats the problem.
Did USATF flood the wires with PR about Hall's run? They need to blanket the media outlets with PR on a consistent basis to keep the attention on our sport.
Oh wait, let's see what the lead story is on the USATF web site.......
"Coward named Athlete of the Week
INDIANAPOLIS - Jacquelyn Coward has been named USA Track & Field's Athlete of the Week after winning the women's 55-meter hurdles at the 28th Ed Temple Classic in Nashville, Tenn."
Hmmmmm.........that tells you all you need to know what the governing body thinks of Hall.....A women's 55-meeter hurdle race tops what Hall accomplished yesterday.....Yup, USATF is on top of things......f'ing losers.
Newspapers receive thousands of press releases every day from USATF public relations and other entities wanting press coverage. They filter the thousands of releases and news stories. Editors decide which releases are significant enough to follow up on. USATF, IAAF, NCAA, etc. are not the press, the releases are handled as appropriate by news staff.
You Only Live Once wrote:
Did USATF flood the wires with PR about Hall's run? They need to blanket the media outlets with PR on a consistent basis to keep the attention on our sport.
Oh wait, let's see what the lead story is on the USATF web site.......
"Coward named Athlete of the Week
INDIANAPOLIS - Jacquelyn Coward has been named USA Track & Field's Athlete of the Week after winning the women's 55-meter hurdles at the 28th Ed Temple Classic in Nashville, Tenn."
Hmmmmm.........that tells you all you need to know what the governing body thinks of Hall.....A women's 55-meeter hurdle race tops what Hall accomplished yesterday.....Yup, USATF is on top of things......f'ing losers.
Notice the date on the page. You can rest assured Ryan Hall will be Athlete of the Week on the next cycle.
Coward named Athlete of the Week
01-09-2007
If USATF doesn't make a big deal about Hall's run then why should the mainstream media???? Old story, same dead horse.....keep making excuses for USATF. Keep having low expectations and you'll never be disappointed.
ESPN? Newspapers? Local nightly news? Who needs mainsteam coverage?
We have the freaking world wide web Jack!!!
Here on the internet, our sport is important because we say it is.
I\'m sure the press was there, A.P. always covers large marathons. Newspapers do not have to pick up the wire story and pictures. If it\'s an insignificant news item, then it remains in the USATF domain. Also thank God there are many amatuer running ethusiasts who contribute stories, video, and pictures, to running brochures, catalogs, monthly flyers, web sites, etc., i.e. the so called \"You Too\" hobbyist media.
Wyco Loco wrote:
Notice the date on the page. You can rest assured Ryan Hall will be Athlete of the Week on the next cycle.
Coward named Athlete of the Week
01-09-2007
that's the problem. the only "pub" is athlete of the week which is not NEARLY as frequent enough to publish the sport. have you seen nba.com and nfl.com sites after a game?
Heck with mainstream media, I doubt that even the running media will give it proper attention. I f he won the Boston Marathon in 2:11 it would be a big deal, but most publications will not appreciate exactly what 59:43 means in relation to other distance events. This is a breakthrough that Letsrun nerds will witness in isolation;when he pops up in bigger arena (i.e. Oly Trials, Olympics) he will finally get his due. Until then it will be an underappreciated benchmark.
Marathons and 1/2 marathons are not perceived by the public as sporting events, and is why you don\'t see much national coverage, only local coverage. Marathons are catagorized by the press as public interest events, along the same lines as walkathons, parades, outdoor festivals, and holiday gatherings.
A common response will be: "Why didn't he run the whole thing?"
Hall did interviews today. You'll see coverage on Tuesday.
Just like the above poster stated, more articles will be coming out Tuesday and Wednesday. Here is the USAToday article on Hall's performance.
http://www.usatoday.com/sports/olympics/2007-01-16-hall-half-marathon_x.htm
USA Today waited 48 hours to do a story. USA Today does stories on Monster Trucks, Nathan\'s Hot Dog Eating, Nintendo Wii tournaments, yet waits 48-72 hours for Hall. What a disgusting state American running is in.
Run WIth Me ! wrote:
USA Today waited 48 hours to do a story.
They don't publish on the weekend.
The race was run on Sunday morning. They do have a Monday morning paper.
USATF could get this story everywhere, they just are not trying.
My company has a good PR firm, and we earn media coverage all the time, front page coverage in the Wall Street Journal, USA Today, NY Times, various websites, etc.
We are not a large company, we just do the work.
The media is not as free as you would think, if you work with the right people, you can get stories published.
And to the guy who mentioned the date of the USATF website being off, and that it would refresh the site with a new HALL story during next weeks cycle... That in itself is a joke.
The internet is a 'real time' media device, that is why it has replaced the Pony Express. USATF needs to update their practices, they are a dinosaur.
NY Times sports section had a maybe 200-word paragraph about it in the miscellaneous all-sort-of-sports "roundup".