I was going to put this in the 'Smell The Fear' thread - but, my intention here is to raise a very real, long-overdue media opportunity for Australian football. And do so outside of the 'old media' frame.
Link:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/australia
The recent launch of a new, national, digital and liberal/democratic oriented ‘print’ daily does not come along very often. Indeed, not since The Australian was launched has there been hope for a newspaper to take on sectoral, provincial interests and speak to a broader, national and international agenda from a moderate Australian perspective.
The launch last week of Guardian Australia is just such an event, and after a rocky start (from football's perspective) with sports nomenclature, the editorial team have gone some way to demonstrating that they understand and are prepared to listen to the perspectives of football people - liberated as they are from provincial thinking and media exclusivity deals with AFL/NRL which, while large corporate players, also represent still largely provincial markets.
The governance of The Guardian (and its Australian venture) are also very different to anything we have experienced in Australia, and this, in turn, with their obvious football smarts mean we have an opportunity here.
I exchanged a few emails last week with a member of their editorial team and their ‘new business’ manager. I took some time to describe as briefly as I could the general thesis that as the world gets smaller - Australian football gets bigger and how, football in particular, represents a very specific ‘brand positioning' opportunity for them in a new market. I felt their response to my email was a thoughtful one and this gave me some hope for media in this country.
Ultimately Guardian Australia will be assessed by each of us as a reporter of football on its merits over time.
I just wanted to share these thoughts and encourage football fans to 'check in' once in a while at their website to see how their football coverage evolves. My understanding is that it we should expect it to evolve significantly - particularly when the next A-League season comes around. They are well aware of the breadth of the game here any, in their current ‘start up’ form are having to carefully utilise their resources. But by way of contrast, in the last week alone 'front page' (i.e. stories on the front page prominently positioned with a photo) stories have included De Vanna's goal, Socceroos in AFC, Moya Dodd, Socceroos v. Japan, Heart/Holt, Football/'Soccer'. Not a bad return since their launch and outside of the A-League season.
Anyway - give it a go. I for one welcome a new, serious, independent, national player in the print market for a lot of reasons. I just also happen to think it presents a unique opportunity for football and Guardian Australia.
