Should this be sent? I don't really read the other regional and interstate papers but think with minor changes, it could apply to others apart from Grumbles Growden.
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Dear Sir/Madam,
There are a number of rugby supporters in this country. I am one of them. Apparently the recent Rugby World Cup semi final broke Australian Pay TV sports watching records.
Rhetorically I am wondering how much you pay your Chief Rugby Correspondent, including airfares, accommodation meals and per diem costs while he is overseas or “on tour”. I do not expect that you will share this information with me, however I have done a fair amount of business travel. Assuming that you are picking up the tab for this for your Chief Rugby Correspondent, then I have a fair idea how much this is. I also assume that he is a full time member of your staff, although he may be a contractor paid by the column inch. Doesn't really matter. There is a cost there for you which is most likely not simple pocket money.
In my humble opinion, I feel that you are probably not getting value for your money from your investment in salaries and allowances in this regard. The average report is little more than tittle tattle “back of the bike sheds” gossip, much of it completely unfounded, unresearched and bordering on libelous. Other reports could be considered as rehashed press releases from ARU or Waratah headquarters. Match reports are frequently simple narratives of parts of the game, with little or no genuine analysis of the game, strategy, tactics, or performances.
I have recently stumbled on a resource that provides everything you would ever need and more from a Chief Rugby Correspondent, and a full department of cadet rugby reporters. What’s more they have almost unlimited coverage across the rugby globe, and can call on intelligent, articulate, witty and objective rugby loving correspondents following the Wallabies on Tour when necessary.
This resource is also not unknown to you as I note you have copied from it in the past, belatedly crediting the source only after one of its number recognised the uncredited plagerism.
This resource is Green and Gold Rugby (Greenandgoldrugby.com). To the best of my knowledge it runs on the smell of an oily rag, with most of work being done by volunteers purely for the love of the game. On this website/blog, there is an absolute cornicopia of rugby analysis, interesting articles and commentary of a quality that far exceeds what is available in not only your fine newspaper, but all conventional mainstream rugby media in this country.
I would recommend that you get your finance department to examine how much you currently spend on your Rugby Correspondents, and then have a discussion with Green and Gold Rugby with a view to subcontracting them to provide the column inches you have set aside for Rugby. I suspect that you would be significantly better off financially and journalistically.
Yours etc
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