Stark Contrast in Show Jumping Media in Places Where it is Sport

I posted a short time ago about the difference between specialty media and mass-market media. In North America, where show jumping is a niche-market sport, infinitely more coverage of it appears in specialty publications. The stark differences in approaches to journalism between specialty and mass-market media can make it more difficult for athletes, event management, equestrian federations and their specialty publicists to understand the needs of the mass-market media. Therefore, under the North American model, no real education or experience in dealing with the media is in place until an opportunity in the mass-market media come along. Then, the sport develops a reputation for lacking media-savvy.

A recent post on a UK journalism website  illustrates how vastly different show jumping journalism is seen in a country where show jumping is seen a sport with mass-market appeal.

Online Journalism News felt it was newsworthy to announce a new show jumping editor at the popular horse magazine Horse and Hound. This news appears on the site along with news from major British newspapers and wire services. The new show jumping editor comes to Horse and Hound from the BBC. What is even more interesting are her own comments about her new position. “Just enjoying the sport and loving horses is not enough”, the new editor, Jennifer Donald, said. “It is quite a specialized role”, she says, but adds “I think it helps to have experience writing on all sorts of subjects”.

In North America “just enjoying the sport and loving horses” often trumps all other requirements. Not only in journalism, but in publicity management and marketing the sport as well. If the sport is to grow and its fan-base to increase, the management of the sport has to recognize the need for education and experience in any business role connected to the sport. Stronger journalistic practices in the specialty media would give all os the sport’s stakeholders exposure to professional journalism to deal more professionally with mass-market media.

http://www.journalism.co.uk/8/articles/533861.php 

Specialty Equestrian Media vs. Mass Market Media

Whether issuing news releases or doing interviews, dealing with specialty media and mass-market media should be very similar. The specialty media would, presumably, be in a better position to do their own research and connect with appropriate interviews. They should need less detail and explanation about the significance of a particular event, about scoring, and about terminology. And they will use different terminology in their reports. However, unless you have the time and budget to do two different news releases, it does no harm for the specialty media to receive more detailed explanations. I also feel that if “insiders” in the sport are continually exposed to the more user-friendly language of the mass-market media, the “insider lingo” of the sport will eventually change.  

 

However, there are more subtle differences when it comes to dealing with specialty equestrian vs. mass market media. Recently an “equestrian journalist” said to me that it is her job to promote the sport. A journalist’s job is never to “promote”. No matter who their readership is, their job is to report the facts and provide a balanced report. Being “balanced” doesn’t mean you have to find something negative to balance everything that is positive in your story. It just means that you don’t begin with a one-sided view of the subject and feel you have to stick to it. Too often, in niche-market sports and industries, this cross-over between journalist and “promoter” is encouraged. This is often because all, or most of, the advertising in a specialty publication will come from within the industry or sport.

 

Advertising opens up another thorny issue when dealing with specialty media. Equestrian magazines will sometimes convey an expectation that the subject purchase advertising in order to be the subject of an article. Such direct payment in return for coverage would be unethical in most mass-market print editorial. The editor should be seeking good stories that appeal to their readers. Those stories will not always be about subjects that are willing to purchase advertising.

 

If you do happen to have an advertisement in the same issue where editorial content about you (or your business or event) appears, then ask the publisher to place them in separate sections of the publication. This ensures it does not look like paid editorial.

 

Whether or not a subject gets the biggest benefit from mass market or specialty media is a worthy debate that will differ for each individual situation. A rider or event who is in the start-up stages will have a hard time breaking into mass market media. However they will gain recognition with potential customers – such as competitors for an event and horse owners for a rider with a horse business. At the top national or international level, the biggest benefit, undoubtedly, comes from coverage in the mass market media. Daily newspapers and national television will create the kind of name recognition with the general  public that is capable of attracting major benefactors and corporate sponsors. It is also what creates the fan base that makes those benefactors and sponsors want to be a associated with a person or event.