The problem Jon's work on the Trailer and similar ventures in the past have are they want to have it both ways. They want to be editorial writers giving their opinions and sensationalizing things (tabloid journalism) to gain bigger readerships and they also want to be treated as real journalists who can get interviews and report the sport with full access. Rarely if ever does that work, except in sports where there is a dominate league that requires press interaction (and even they press passes must be gained).
That is the main problem sites like the Trailer and LetsRun run into. While providing some good content and doing some good things for the sport, they often are not completely fair or balanced if the subject matter is something the writer/founders has a strong opinion about and then they tend to sensationalize it in order to gain readership.
Mary Cain's interview with a running publication after she turned Pro and how it was portrayed on LetsRun is a good example. Most all of LetsRun's reporting and comments from it's founders centered on the one thing they didn't like that she said. It was their headlines and they started a heated thread on it. But Mary said lots of great things to be happy and excited about in the interview as well and showed an enthusiasm and excitement for the sport. While I didn't expect a rah-rah reporting of it by them I expected far more balance than they gave it. Here is a young runner doing lots of good for the sport and spreading her enthusiasm to many teens, something that is very positive, and LetsRun harps only on the one thing she said they don't like. As even one of the founder's said, their handling of it even made their wife ask if they were anti - Mary Cain.
This sensationalism and lopsided reporting by groups like LetsRun, and formerly the Trailer, is just as much a problem in our sport media than is coaches and athletes like Salazar or Hall who try and be controlling and to some extent justify them being that way. Neither are good and both feed-off and frustrate the other.
I think if these entities did more fair and balanced reporting and less sensationalism they would find more athletes and coaches open to talk. But as it is now sometimes its hard for athletes/coaches to tell if they are talking to TMZ, The National Enquirier, Reuters or AP. So understandably they will be a little guarded.
My advise to Jon and others on the media side of the sport would be to decide what niche you want to operate in and don't expect to be able to freely roam back and forth from tabloidist to reporter. There is room for many niches, but you and the people you deal with will find it much less frustrating if you are consistent in what you do and how you operate.
My advise to athletes and coaches is to be as open and accessible as is reasonable to be. Check the ego and realize by allowing yourself to be human, and admitting to when you are, is not a sign of weakness but of humanity and will make you more relateable to and gain you more fans, as well as draw more people into the sport, which ultimately will help you as well.