Larry Merchant, a former newspaper sports writer and editor who now comments on boxing on HBO, recently wrote to Tom Jolly, the sports editor of The Times, to protest the paper’s relative lack of coverage of boxing.
Merchant’s letter and Jolly’s reply provide a fascinating glimpse into issues that transcend the immediate question of whether The Times should devote resources to a sport that even an ardent admirer like Merchant acknowledges is no longer mainstream. In many ways, Merchant and Jolly are discussing the role of a general interest newspaper in a dramatically changed world.
I thought readers would be interested in their exchange. Here it is, Merchant first, then Jolly, then a reply from Merchant:
●
●
I’m writing to protest The Times’s policy on boxing. It virtually ignores the sport.
I do not long for the good old days of boxing. I long for present day coverage that acknowledges that it still exists and occasionally flourishes.
True enough, boxing is no longer mainstream. Yet it has a devoted following that 6 to 10 times a year reaches beyond that. Big fights generate big numbers: crowds, TV ratings, pay-per-view dollars.
In contrast to the Times, even the Wall Street Journal covers major events, and another national newspaper, USA Today, covers those and other significant fights. The Post and the Daily News also follow fighters of local interest.
Horse racing is no longer mainstream either, but The Times routinely provides extensive coverage of high-profile races.
The author Tom Hauser, who writes for an online boxing site, recently examined The Times’s sports pages during July, August and September. He found, among other curiosities, just four bylined articles on boxing — three on women in boxing in the coming Olympics and in India, and an apparent rewrite of a press release announcing a tournament on Showtime.
During that period, the Times ignored the comeback of Floyd Mayweather, Jr., the top American fighter, vs. Juan Manuel Lopez, the lightweight champion regarded as one of the best fighters in the world, which was bought in over a million homes. And it ignored the top American heavyweight prospect, Chris Arreola, attempting to become the first heavyweight of Mexican descent to win a heavyweight title vs. Vitali Klitschko, one of the famous Klitschko brothers who have dominated the division in the 2000s, which pulled the highest rating on HBO this year. READ MORE
***********************************************
The New York Times Building
(Image is from http://nymag.com/daily/intel/2008/06/another_man_is_climbing_the_ne.html)
Custom Search
No comments:
Post a Comment