The Redskin Report

The simmering battle between local media outlets and the Redskins reached another apex this week when Daniel Snyder’s Red Zebra Communications launched Triple X ESPN radio on the 3 local stations in the DC Area. The feud between the Redskins and local media outlets has become quite a story over the past year. Talk continues about how the Redskins are revolutionizing media relations and changing how sports news will be covered in the future. But has anything really changed for most Redskins fans?

The day and age of the local newspaper beat reporter breaking the news is long gone. When free agency comes around, most fans spend the day reloading ESPN.com in order to get the latest news. Between the Internet, radio and TV, every big Redskins story has been reported and discussed in length by the time the newspaper hits your front porch every morning. Video feeds on Redskins.com don’t change anything for the local newspapers, so why are they bent of shape over these changes?

The one major advantage local reporters have over their national competition is the ability to get into the locker room and press conferences and get reaction and quotes from all the major players in the story. Of course we all know that 99% of the time, the players and coaches just spew cliches and basically say as little as possible, but every now and then a beat reporter will get a juicy quote or scoop from a player (for a current example see the Shea Hillenbrand explosion last night in baseball). Of course those scoops are coming less often all the time, as player agents are more likely to get the word out via ESPN’s “experts” and get national exposure. By broadcasting press conferences live on the web as they happen, the tiny competitive advantage the local media once had is now even smaller.

Think of a game recap that comes in Monday’s newspaper, there is almost no need to go down to the stadium to write one up anymore. I could sit on my couch and watch the game (which gives me the additional benefit of seeing multiple replays), log onto to the Redskins web-page to get a few quotes from players and coaches and write a recap that covers every detail that the beat reporter could get from the stadium. With their exclusive access being threatened, you can see why local media has reacted in the way they have.

But as of today, this supposed revolution really hasn’t materialized. Redskins.com has improved, but it is far from a must visit site for the Redskin fan. The site doesn’t break news, they may be able to give you additional access once a moved is announced but I can’t think of a single time where Redskins.com has been the first to report a big signing. Seeing a press conference or two is cool, but overall they are boring to watch. The rest of the videos on the site are pure fluff that might appeal to young girls following a boy band, but for the football fan they leave a lot to desire.

For all the talk of the Redskins are revolutionizing the way sports are covered in North America, its amazing how little has changed.