Belize City Lion wrote:Local media needs a few more guys like Neil McRae who are not afraid to be critical of powerhouse sports franchises. The Canucks have intimidated the Vancouver media into becoming part of their marketing machine. Yes, McRae did come off like a grumpy jerk on air at times, but for what 5 minutes a day on CKNW in between traffic reports and songs from the 60s? It's not like he had a 4 hour sports talk show to complain and criticise endlessly. Ask Tom Larschied how long the Canucks will tolerate criticism before they turn the screws on your boss and get you fired. And it's only going to get worse. As newspapers and broadcasters reduce staff, the teams (especially the teams with deep pockets, such as the Canucks) are going to fill the void by putting out their own "alternative facts" about how great everything is within their organisation. Before long most of the voices you hear and words you read will be coming from people on the payroll of the teams they are supposedly covering.
Love him or hate him, McRae was missed since retiring. He will certainly continue to be missed.
The sports media in Vancouver, for a long time, has had a number of types that I would politely call 'very different' as well as 'colorful'.
But the bigger picture is that most media and writers and columnists who cover sports have usually either reported the facts or functioned almost as if they are part of the marketing department of the team they cover.
News and sports have always been treated differently. If a news reporter writes a critical piece about an elected politician that's ok. But if a sports reporter writes a critical piece about a coach or the team he is considered disloyal by too many.
Sports columnists or reporters who stray from reporting the facts or marketing the team with their articles or reports face all kinds of pressures. Plus its not easy to ride on the same planes as the team or stay at the same hotels and then be critical - sports reporters are much closer to a team than a news reporter usually is to his story.
I wish sports reporters could feel more free to comment critically when situations call for it or would write in more depth and do more investigative type reporting of the team that they cover. But this is usually not encouraged and can also get a reporter fired, when the team boss complains to his boss.
Sports reporters like Lowell Ullrich are gems because they have the courage at times to not just hand out the pablum that they are expected to. Its not easy to be critical in any way of the people who run or coach the organization.
But good news reporting is also in decline. A few major corporations own most media and newspapers and advertising has left both to market their goods on the Internet. Many people also choose to get their information from the Internet these days because they don't trust the traditional media anymore and for good reasons.
We may consider a Neil McCrae off the mark but his types balance the teeter totter a little. Perhaps he is off too much in his criticism but it at least provides a little balance to the types who don't give us anything but the pablum they are expected to give.
Teams have their marketing departments and its not the job of sports writers, and columnists and commentators to play that role. Their job is to report, to investigate, to comment, and to analyze. We may not agree but coaches and team GM's often manipulate information for their benefit. Its the reporters job to cut through that b.s. at times and provide us with a different and more accurate story.
