Lazy coverage of sports Emmys: Everybody drops the ball
Have you ever noticed that reportage of the sports and news Emmys is so very different from, say, the prime-time or daytime kudos? Announcing the latter champs, the headlines are "'General Hospital' Sweeps Daytime Emmys" or "James Spader Pulls Off Another Upset at Primetime Emmys!"
But now check out Variety's coverage of last night's sports Emmys — CLICK HERE. Headline: "HBO Nabs Eight Sports Emmys." Mediaweek's headline is slightly different. It substitutes "Nabs" for "Wins." Otherwise the same. CLICK HERE. In short, the reports focus on how many Emmys each network wins.
Quite frankly, that's because the network tallies are the only newsy info easily accessible in the news release. Journalists are too lazy to investigate what the TV shows were about so they just report which network wins the most. They can't be bothered giving you any context about the actual winners. Are any of these victories an upset? Or otherwise significant? But that's not really the journalists' fault. You can't find a searchable database of past winners at the TV academy's website.
So, bottom line: The lazy media and lazy TV academy are both to blame for the superficial coverage of these other Emmys that people might care about if only they received a bit of guidance. Don't look to me for that. I used to cover the news and sports Emmys in depth. Attended every ceremony for more than a decade, chatted with every winner backstage to get more info about their shows. But a few years ago, during a turbulent time when NATAS went through several PR chiefs in a row, I fell off the media list and haven't been re-instated. I keep begging folks there to put me back on the e-mail list so I can know when these events are coming up, but my cries go unheeded. Then a new PR chief comes and goes and I make a new plea that goes unanswered. Apparently, they're too lazy to bother with that either. So, in protest, I stay away.
But, ah, they may have been progress today. The newest PR chief on the scene, Paul Pillitteri, emailed me the winners' list and promises that I'm now on the master email contact roll. We'll see!
