fullcountpitch.com

By Gary Armida

Ray Ratto has been a sports writer/columnist for 30 years. In that time, Mr. Ratto has worked in the San Francisco area for most of his career after spending time with the short-lived sports newspaper, The National, and San Francisco Examiner. In his career he has written for ESPN.com. Currently, he writes for the San Francisco Chronicle as well as for CBS Sportsline. He has seen the evolution of the sports media coverage from a strictly newspaper business to a millions of websites business. With that in mind, let’s ask Mr. Ratto to give us some background on the sports media.

FCP: In your career, what story/person was a pleasure to cover?

 Ratto: Dave Stewart. Phil Francis, the old Stanford running back who once said he wished after graduation to be a stray dog. Dusty Baker. Ellis Burks. Lots, really.

FCP: The National was my favorite newspaper during the brief 18 month run. Why would that paper fail in a sports crazed society? With so many sports blog sites out there today, it seems as if it would be a “can’t miss”.

Ratto: Because it blew through $100 million in those 18 months. Because it thought that selling a lot of papers in a few towns without a distribution network like the one USA Today had was a smart way to get your product out. Because while the product was largely excellent, the nuts and bolts that get a newspaper to your doorstep or coffee shop were pretty well considered an afterthought. And now, as people are being convinced to their detriment that newspapers don’t have a place, nobody is going to try such a thing again, especially when ESPN is trying to fill some of those niches now. That and it hired mopes like me.  

FCP:  You’ve been in the business of covering sports for over 20 years. What has changed about the way you cover sports today from when you started?

Ratto: The baseline stuff — interviews, research, source cultivation, sitting down and actually typing the words — hasn’t changed at all. What has changed is the method of delivery, which is self-explanatory. The 24.7 cycle and the reactions of the people we cover to that cycle is a new development, carried to its illogical extreme in the Favre story that lasted as long as it did because both the Packers and Favre’s people leaked like crazy throughout the story to give it a life far beyond its importance or shelf life. The idea that we as news consumers are too stupid to absorb anything but short takes on subjects that often require some detailed analysis; less is never more, it’s less. And finally, the idea that loud argument is the best way to learn something. The popular screaming head format has replaced actual discourse and convinced consumers to doubt the media’s expertise and concomitantly hate all sides of a discussion.

 FCP: I could not agree more about the screaming head format. For the most part, fans are intelligent and want more than the 1 minute sound bite.  Finally, Do you think an athlete’s personal life is “newsworthy” in a sports column?

Ratto: It depends on whether (a) what they do is illegal or unjust; (b) whether it impacts their ability to perform. A player with a drug problem is news. An official with a gambling problem is news. An owner with a history of mistreating his workers in his other companies is relevant when a work stoppage happens is news. Matt Leinart drinking beer at a party and not driving home is not news.

FCP: Any advice for covering sports today?

Ratto:  I think the only thing that makes a site worthwhile is the content of the ideas presented within. Then again, I’m not a design guy. Your ideas are what will carry you. Go with your brain, and your gut.