A dark day for outdoor enthusiasts as it appears that the Winston Salem Journal is dropping outdoor sports from its sport pages.
we let five members of our newsroom go during the past three days as part of a cost-cutting plan. It is difficult and dreary work.
The five positions were our NFL reporter, our outdoors columnist, our film critic and two people who prepared photographs for publication, known as scanning technicians. Good people all. We didn’t make these decisions lightly.
Newspapers—and other media companies—are in a tough environment. Advertising is moving online, and circulation is struggling. For publicly traded companies, there is pressure from Wall Street to keep profits up. Cost cutting has hit virtually every newspaper I know of, and it forces newsroom managers to make tough choices on what to keep and what to forego.
Ken Otterbourg, the managing editor at the Winston-Salem Journal Otterblog
I had the pleasure of meeting Dan Kibler at last years Dixie Deer Classic. Dan is one of the best known and most respected outdoor writers in North Carolina. I enjoy reading his articles I posted a link to one out here not to long ago about “Tripod”.
Hunting & Fishing have become politically incorrect and I can’t help but wonder if the decision to drop the outdoor section was made because of that. Unlike New York, Los Angles, and the likes the outdoors are a vital part of the culture in North Carolina. With the popularity of outdoor sports in this state I’m surprised that advertisers that cater to us outdoors people are hard to find. Locally for me the News And Observer has a wonderful outdoor section and I frequent many of the advertisers on those pages.
Unlike the other reporters that were cut Dan covered local people and local events that can’t be replaced with national feed. I would agree that the NFL & Movie Critic can easily be replaced but what national reporter is going to tell us about the local guy that kills an unusual buck or the local angler who catches a trophy?
I don’t think we should just idly stand by as our sport is pushed out and marginalized as something that we should be ashamed of. We spend money and support a good chunk of the local economy. I would encourage sportsmen and sportswomen to contact the Winston Salem Journal and let them know what you think about them dropping outdoor sports.
