Des Moines register - Continuing down Spiral

somecyguy

Well-Known Member
Jun 19, 2006
3,523
4,006
113
I think we will see more consolidation like The Athletic, with a subscription that covers nationally, but there are (relatively) local writers covering local teams. I've read a number of articles on ISU football & basketball that I've really enjoyed, even some by Scott Dochterman, who is a big time hawk homer.
 

kingcy

Well-Known Member
SuperFanatic
SuperFanatic T2
Sep 16, 2006
22,806
3,698
113
Menlo, Iowa
The last time I got the paper there was nothing in it. The industry did it to themselves. Hard to fell sorry for them.
 

BoxsterCy

Moderator
Staff member
Sep 14, 2009
48,380
47,298
113
Minnesota
Maybe because it's still locally owned but the Star Tribune has bucked the decline trend. They have done a nice job partnering with papers like the Washington Post and others to have good national coverage while keeping up their Minnesota reporting and investigating. Here's the Tuesday spread from when this thread started:

fcbhBOztF7X-mNSsjO9x940j924-A6MfgejOxpJGjVDD91NSCirgQX9WKIWskl0pb8syvi8SyIhLTll3ecE2_kQ2C1ejVpejrOwdGDTVMyFiPAjVo7w8a1P-P9Nz-lqVF6Y4pqP1r5BB7SzMGVadpGvALI6aDxredqfe2cW2kJys-DHbzHVx3eJvOgRKJewXRTzppz4ydZwFSnO3cNxB5se5LkjUNEsuJRLK_pXNuJscyLwtA_RKNjYm0pGCrRhufL0CuzxIuRzdz9jL0tsMEUMXAfQqC7bUEUuwiJYrGHi4fchQtyeXSM5dBPi-J8-MuNcIgT14gFjK0oaJtXokn5q00fLM3phatjFtSdH2nJmHRTyXav2CeLq7HupfVZzLQ0m6naaYWjabWpcdNCx7SI1iOtWqqtK2L8cdLoL5ehvcMyRtxciEfaWZlt0p8TsO-t93jxpVpFmOhtIKAFTSDD2SnpK9oWiqWmgTV8a3ZrXzePxOw2bYU0LxR2ddSCPHHGTeYEHcdJWoyFcr06nrMayHQyR8-zs5TbXAkVImyfF0TxX8vtq-0KD4J8UraHgyGG5uIjCvTxy8zwoEkmCNt-MxBPZIckyuF4o2YFlZaAkw7KeRW8zp1-u7lqCLc7hUKWAt_lgUNQBXG9rtTVFFXRt8=w470-h626-no
 
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Clonefan32

Well-Known Member
Nov 19, 2008
23,512
25,972
113
My biggest issue with sports coverage is they used to include local high school box scores. I always liked to look at those to see who is had played well.
 

ZZZ

Well-Known Member
SuperFanatic
SuperFanatic T2
Feb 10, 2013
675
574
93
Ames, IA
Not sure if this is the correct thread to ask, but do any of you subscribe to the athletic? And if so, is the subscription worth it? For what it’s worth I follow Clones hoops and football the most followed by packers and cubs. I’ll take any advice I can get!
 

AdRock4Cy

Well-Known Member
Jul 21, 2010
902
654
93
Ankeny
Not sure if this is the correct thread to ask, but do any of you subscribe to the athletic? And if so, is the subscription worth it? For what it’s worth I follow Clones hoops and football the most followed by packers and cubs. I’ll take any advice I can get!
yes, love it.
 

acoustimac

Well-Known Member
Jan 8, 2009
9,253
10,852
113
Lamoni, IA
Nothing on the TTU game either. Over the past ten years, coverage of the Big 12 tournament and ISU in particular is better in the KC papers (even when its not in KC) than in the DSMReg.
 

capitalcityguy

Well-Known Member
Jun 14, 2007
8,339
2,126
113
Des Moines
My wife in her 40s still reads the weekend editions of the paper. It slightly annoys me to get it at the store (I'm not paying extra for delivery), because whenever I thumb through it, I see 3 or 4 articles I already read online.

I'm not sure it costs anymore to be delivered. You're locked in for a period of time, so they don't want to discourage home delivery. It is more sporadic if they have to rely on you buying from a newsstand.

Maybe I'm wrong, but I thought they did away with the price difference a long time ago.
 

CYdTracked

Well-Known Member
Mar 23, 2006
18,628
9,449
113
Grimes, IA
The Rag is barebones operation anymore. I don't know why anyone would pay the newsstand price for the pathetic paper they print now. It's mostly AP newswire stuff you've probably read online somewhere else by now with a few local fluff pieces sprinkled in.
 

capitalcityguy

Well-Known Member
Jun 14, 2007
8,339
2,126
113
Des Moines
Randy Peterson talked about this on the radio awhile back. With the internet, they have a great way to see what articles and topics people want. Men's college sports - Cyclones and Hawkeyes are by far the leader in clicks.

If they lack women's sport coverage, it is because people are not reading those articles.
 
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theshadow

Well-Known Member
Apr 19, 2006
19,983
19,644
113
If they lack women's sport coverage, it is because people are not reading those articles.

Chicken/egg argument. If you don't cover WBB in the first place, there's no article to click.

The truth is that they don't have enough the same amount of people on staff as they used to, and the ones they DO have are now being doubled up on the same game by the editor(s).
 
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capitalcityguy

Well-Known Member
Jun 14, 2007
8,339
2,126
113
Des Moines
Chicken/egg argument. If you don't cover WBB in the first place, there's no article to click.

The truth is that they don't have enough the same amount of people on staff as they used to, and the ones they DO have are now being doubled up on the same game by the editor(s).

I really think they have tried different content but through those trials, it always comes back to Clone and Hawks - FB and BB get the clicks. Others simply don't.
 

mred

Well-Known Member
Oct 19, 2006
9,724
6,939
113
SE WI
bball.notnothing.net
Ideally you cover both the popular stuff (which people are most interested in but can also read about elsewhere) and the more niche stuff (which may not be as popular overall but bring in people who have no other good options). Given the financial state of newspaper journalism right now, it's hard to do both.