BV reporting

[player]

We would all agree that it is has been a positive step for Baseball Victoria and Baseball Australia to appoint staff to fill important roles in media and communications. To its credit, Baseball Australia has done some outstanding work over the past few weeks.

Yes, we need to give people a chance, and give it time, but just about all the entries I ever see on the Baseball Victoria website are administrative notices (things like Come and Try dates, coaching vacancies, upcoming meetings, Hall of Fame criteria etc etc).

Whoever is webmaster in there stooped to a whole new low today by copying and pasting an article from a Leader newspaper, with recognition for the story given to the BV staffer! Good story on another terrific young player, by the way, but no mention even given of the source and the writer.

That is simply lazy, unethical and totally unprofessional.

Come on now, BV. Lift your game! If you are employing full-time people and spending our money in media and communications, surely it is not unreasonable to expect them to produce regular (IE more than one a week) original articles and feature stories. Detailed stuff. Interesting stuff.

I count only three of the past ten entries on the BV website as other than administrative notices that any office staff member could post.

And when including quotes, surely we can do a bit better than just asking the same old easily-accessed personnel in Foreman, Blair and Huber.

It is real world outside the office. There are baseball stories everywhere and every day that deserve and demand attention.

Surely we can do better. Mediocrity just doesn't cut it.

[perfeckt]

Whilst I whole heartedly agree with your sentiment over-all 'player', I must point out that the writer of the article in the Leader newspaper was in fact credited to Joel Mackenzie.
I did a quick dig around the internet and found that Joel Mackenzie is the "Digital Marketing and Communications Manager at Baseball Victoria".

[player]

Didn't know that, perfeckt. Thanks. I humbly withdraw my comments relating to publication of that particular story, which it seems was not quite as it seems.

However I also note, today, a feature story on a female player from Geelong. Great story that appeared in Geelong Advertiser several days ago and is properly credited to the writer and the photographer.

But is this really what we are paying a full-time employee for? Copying and pasting, digest-style? Posting that story would have taken two minutes. There is nothing at all wrong with linking to material elsewhere, but it should never be used as a replacement for an organisation (like BV) producing its own original articles whenever possible.

[doubleplay]

So far I haven't seen anything original in the reporting of games come out of BV house. All and if any reporting has been done via the Clubs or the Leader Sports Pages. So now it is obvious that to find out how games went is to either get some snippets on the forum or to wait until the Leader papers are delivered and BV can the post them onto their relative website. Obviously more of the Club's money is still being wasted. At least the scores are in. Good to see Moorabbin making a good fist of their foray into DIV 1 in the early stages. And also get to see Bonbeach in Div 2 making a good challenge by moving up the ladder in the last couple of weeks.

[stuartcapel]

Has the situation of 'cut and paste' content been raised at a P&S meeting this season? If so, what was the response?

If not, maybe someone could raise the issue through the appropriate channel?

[wyatt33]

We're nearly ready to pull the pin on the reports because they just edit the f*#k out of it! There's someone there to do that! Anyway I look forward to seeing the div report....he's mates with the stkilda club. I'd like to see them polish that!

[player]

Don’t want to keep banging on about this, but I do wonder what other BV paid-up members and member clubs think about it.

So we now have a league web page dedicated to media stories written by newspaper journos:

baseballvictoria.com.au/News-Events/Baseball-Victoria-in-the-Media

And this is apparently meant to be a good thing!

Well, it is probably good for the journos, the photographers and the newspaper outlets who get a regular mention. Will not do any harm at all for their CVs and their online promotion.

For our battling little sporting community I find it cringeworthy that we are relying on non-baseball people to do our work for us.

Does any other sports governing body play lap-dog to community media through placing such reliance on its external coverage? Don’t think so. They expect their own paid employees to do the work that is required. Not to spend heaps of time on creating nice-looking computer-generated graphics (which is all very well of itself), but to research stories, track down information, speak to people and actually WRITE original, timely material.

Apart from anything else, the problem with relying on Leader, or on Star, is that some clubs and some Baseball Victoria competitions (such as Masters and Women’s) might get no coverage at all over the course of a season. Some community outlets follow baseball diligently. Others don’t.

I believe that Baseball Victoria has interns working for it in media and communications. Well, I suggest that they are going to learn bugger-all – and will go nowhere - if they are being mentored under the current lazy system.

Get them - and the appropriate BV staff - out there at games, meeting people, talking to people, taking notes, taking photos, making contacts, creating networks, developing a passion for the game, setting themselves deadlines and above all else writing their own material.

Making mistakes, even, but learning - not just going through the motions, like the governing body seems to be doing with its coverage at the moment.

[farnt]

Here's a match report from Monday nights Melbourne A v Blackburn game - thought it might lighten the mood:

How do you score eight runs whilst the other team scores none...then you go on to lose 12-5?

Halloween night was in full effect at Blackburn. Melb scored one in the first following hits to Murray and Jason Bulger and a Lardio ground ball FC6, then David White smoked one to centre left and trotted off thinking he went long. Lardio and Michael Hill crossed the plate as Whitey cruised into second. Problem was he didn't touch first so third out and side away and the runs don't score so 3 runs becomes 1!

Bottom two and Bumpy gets a hit to regulation RF, however as we only had eight it was a double - he was tagged out at second as he cruised in however the umpires weren't watching the ball and had to call him safe! He ended up scoring.

Top second and singles to Jason Webster and Ben Neave got us of to a good start. Aaron Hines moved them over, then Murray hit a ball to centre left and Webby and Ben both rounded third to score... however Webby got hit by the sniper hiding behind the grassy knoll and his hammy went twang half way down the line! Hobbling to the plate with Ben pushing him along, the ball was relayed home with both guys a metre from the plate! Randall half tagged Ben who was hopping, and Ben decided to slide...forgetting he was actually stationery, so like an old dog with an itchy bum he just sat on the ground and dragged his bum along to touch the plate - unfortunately he was tagged out on a double bang-bang double play - a two RBI double turned into an innings closing double play! What should have been 5-0 was back to 1-1!

Three up three down bottom of two as Lardio was on track on the hill. Top three and our fun continued - Bulge got on with a wild throw, Whitey got on with a miss-fielded comebacker, then Webby on one leg smoked a ball to centre right field. Bulge and sub runner Mick Hill rounded third and scored...however Webby was still hopping up the line so a two RBI potential double turned into a 9-3! Score should have been 7-0 but stayed 1-1!!!!

Bottom three and Lardio once again held Blackburn scoreless, so top four we scored an actual run (to keep), with singles to Aaron Hines, Murray and Bulge. 8-0 was now 2-1...you following?

Blackburn batting bottom four and we got the lead off with a Bulge 4-3. Mick unfortunately threw a 6 to 3 groundball a metre wide of Webby so the runner got all the way around to third! He scored off another error (sorry, to Mick), then a double straight to our non-existent CF, a walk, another error as Lardio threw a comebacker one metre to Webby's left. A catcher's interference and the ball hit first base and travelled down the right field line. Ben threw it to Jason who threw it home but Whitey thought Lard had it but no...then a couple more hits led to a compulsory close at seven runs. 'Actual' score 8-2.

Melb scored three in the last with two HPB's to Webby and Ben, then an error and a past ball. Unfortunately Murray walked a couple and gave up a couple of hits to get runners on base, then Whitey (catching) decided to try and throw a runner out at first and as it was a perfect ball at Webby's feet he couldn't actually reach it so the ball travelled out to RF scoring a couple more runs. Game over...

[perfeckt]

That's Gold farnt!

[Deleted]

Ah, mature-aged baseball, farnt....

Don't you love it?

I wonder if Summer League is looking for a Masters correspondent.

[The Puma]

So no div 2 or 3 weekly wrap posted at all this week.It's getting worse.

[Deleted]

While this Forum has quite a large number of people still paying visits as guests (aside from our regular posters), it is clear that the service has pretty much out-lived its usefulness after several very active years in discussing Australian baseball issues – sometimes sensibly, sometimes not so sensibly. That is the nature of social media.

The service has provided a voice for the grassroots baseball community through its eight and something years. Its achievements have been considerable, although debatable to some.

While we encourage people to stay involved, to post news and to discuss items of baseball interest, the Forum will be closing down sometime towards the middle of 2017 – when its paid-up tenure expires.

Not with a bang, but probably a whimper, we regret to say.

I have been reluctant to comment on this matter of BV coverage of club baseball, for reasons known to those who were aware of the circumstances – and the personnel - surrounding my departure from the organisation a couple of years back.

However, I now feel constrained to comment.

Some months ago, Baseball Victoria made an appointment to its media and communications role, a full-time, paid position that was welcomed by all and sundry in the grassroots baseball community. It was an appointment that finally met a priority identified and addressed by Brett Hidson and others of us at Baseball Victoria several years ago.

My understanding – and I gather that of many others – was that the position would focus on quality, timely and detailed reporting and promotion of club baseball.

Is that what we are getting? Seriously?

I understand the intense interest in the Melbourne Aces and I fully appreciate the magnitude of the task in helping try to make the Australian Baseball League a success. Something that all rusted-on baseball people have dreamed of since the demise of the old league some seventeen years ago.

Former United States President Gerald Ford may indeed not have been able to fart and chew gum at the same time. However, believe me, it is possible for the ABL and club baseball to both receive timely, quality and appropriate coverage at the same time. The two do not have to be mutually exclusive, as they appear to be at the moment.

Current Summer League reporting is ordinary, by any reasonable measure. Reliance on community newspapers, on interns – who should be mentored, and learning their trade properly - and on basic reports from clubs just does not cut it. Neither do nice computer-generated graphics in themselves. Posting garbled reports on Summer League games (even then, just some Summer League games) by the Wednesday, Thursday or Friday of any week is just not good enough. It is lazy, sloppy and a very poor reflection upon the professionalism of our state sporting governing body.

Any club, or any individual paying fees and thereby having a stake in club baseball should in my opinion feel short-changed at the moment. There is just so much of interest happening in club ball at all levels – at all times – that there should never be an absence of material from which to draw for reporting and features.

Any club, or any individual who feels aggrieved over this matter should be asking questions, and should be demanding better from those board members, officials and paid employees entrusted to deliver and develop this sport.

I fully appreciate the pressures, the time constraints and the challenges involved in seeking to keep every interest group happy. However, these are pressures, constraints and challenges that go with the territory of providing news and media services. That is, simply, the nature of media work. In the end, paid personnel should rightly be judged and held accountable to the requirements and the standards to which they signed on.

Heat and kitchen? You know?

Maybe I am way off-line in expressing these concerns. Maybe clubs are happy with the way things are going with coverage of Summer League baseball – and the sport in general.

In that event, then all is well. Nothing to look at here, eh?

Kingsley Collins
Australian Baseball Alumni
www.abpaa.com/

[wyatt33]

And so ends the accurate reporting of results in a timely manner for Victorian baseball!

[wyatt33]

With the demise of the forum, we now will suffer a slow agonising decent into chaos and mayhem. The only place where the Victorian baseball community could discuss( or lament or vent ) this community based game. Now the clubs only have the p and s meetings and they're a joke! So I guess unless someone's willing to open a Facebook page purely to discuss these issues.....

[coyote]

Wyatt - pretty sure a FB page would be against BV's social media policy...

[doubleplay]

Not getting around to many games this summer, I was going to rely on the new Media person to maybe organize some sort of match reports in a timely manner. Obviously it is money not being spent well. The latest report is two weeks old and unless the local papers do a report of some sort, there is no report. Need I say, bring back Cam the Plumberman, at least something got reported. It is rather obvious that the Media Dept of BV is still non existant. Sensational, more wasted bucks. Furthermore, when KC was doing the job for a pittance, the baseball fraternity was at least well informed as to what happened on the weekend. At least Ballarat has got a good spiel.

[wyatt33]

Got an email from said media manager trying to explain what's going on. He's just trying to paper over the cracks. My concern is not that the poor quality of the reports. It's the fact that when we do send a report, it basically edited to become unrecognisable compared to the report we first sent. Why would we bother. And if it's being edited to offer a balanced report, maybe he needs to get away from his mates reports at stkilda. They're embarrassing! We've played them a few times and they've been fairly one sided affairs...but if you read the reports, stkilda should have won them! Again I don't mind putting in a report on our behalf....but unless your editing grammar and maybe the amount of content, then leave it. Otherwise we'll forget to send anything! It's truely disappointing that this is still an issue.
Again merry xmas everyone!

[mackem]

Dec 22, 2016 7:52:51 GMT 10 wyatt33 said:

Got an email from said media manager trying to explain what's going on. He's just trying to paper over the cracks. My concern is not that the poor quality of the reports. It's the fact that when we do send a report, it basically edited to become unrecognisable compared to the report we first sent. Why would we bother. And if it's being edited to offer a balanced report, maybe he needs to get away from his mates reports at stkilda. They're embarrassing! We've played them a few times and they've been fairly one sided affairs...but if you read the reports, stkilda should have won them! Again I don't mind putting in a report on our behalf....but unless your editing grammar and maybe the amount of content, then leave it. Otherwise we'll forget to send anything! It's truely disappointing that this is still an issue.
Again merry xmas everyone!

This is one of the reasons why I never send any reports in. When I did a few years ago they were never use so why should we bother sending them in.

[doubleplay]

I think the question that has to be asked in this situation is, "are match reports relevant reading?" In some circles of our administration, reporting of matches is not a real requirement. For the baseball public, it is a way to find out what is happening and maybe how it is happening. This is a matter for the clubs to raise at the P&S meetings.
Also take into account, the added responsibility of the media officer and the relations between BV/BVSL and the Aces. From what I understand, there is some mighty long hours being put in. After some lengthy discussion last night at the ASG, I now have a better understanding of what the Media Officer has to put up with. There is no longer a roving Plumberman. Just maybe, BV/BVSL could sound out a person to collate various match reports and submit it to whoever and get the match reports up onto the website by midweek. This would take some pressure off the overworked lad and maybe help out us poor unfortunate tragics in finding out how the weekend panned out.
Merry Christmas and have a safe New Year.
Regards
Boofa

[Dan]

Play by plays are certainly not relevant reading, but I think a paragraph or two about the game, heck even a sentence or two would work, is necessary.

I have no idea of the behind the scenes shenanigans going on nor the pressure on the media dude, but it would be very easy to set up a separate email address for clubs to send their reports to. Make it clear that it is only for match reports, no replies will be made to emails and they'll all be deleted after publication. Have a hard deadline of say EOB Tues, check it Weds morning and have the reports online that day.

If it's all too much for the MO, pay someone for half a days work and get it done.