Braves Coverage

The Atlanta Braves are 11-6 so far in pre-season. Their first game of the regular season will be on April 5th versus the Cubs. With the season starting up soon, MLB coverage across the nation has picked up quite a bit. (still shadowed by March Madness of course)

Most of the local coverage I found on the Braves was in a paper based in Georgia called the Ledger-Enquirer, part of the Atlanta Journal Constitution.  

On March 16th, former Braves pitcher John Smoltz declared that he will be working on TBS and Braves’ games on Peachtree TV in Atlanta as an announcer. Also, he’ll announce games on the MLB Network starting on April 5.

I came across two stories about the same thing, one on a national level, published by an AP writer, and then on from the AJC Ledger-Enquirer.

The first sentence of the AP story:

John Smoltz is embarking on a career as an analyst for Turner Broadcasting and the MLB Network, although he’s not quite ready to say he’s thrown his final major league pitch.

First sentence of the AJC story:

For his 22nd season in Major League Baseball, John Smoltz is headed to the Braves' broadcast booth -- but that doesn't mean he's retired from the game.

The national article by AP Sports Writer Ronald Blum was more about his career and what he has done to lead him to this point in his life. He was quoted saying, “When I walk from the game, there won’t be a tear, a regret, there won’t be any of that.”

The local story published at AJC focused more on how excited he is to come to the Braves and how it’s a great opportunity for him because he is where he belongs. "It's the best of both worlds," Smoltz told the AJC. "I"m thrilled. I couldn't even mastermind such a great opportunity."

Friday’s game against the Detroit Tigers ended in a tie, 4 – 4. The recap story published on ESPN was long and detailed. It included the stats and play-by-plays, and discussed players from both teams. 

The recap story on AJC was short and not very specific. It lacked quotes and human interest, and if you wanted to know more you would have to go search for more information on a national level!

Then there are some local stories that didn’t even make their way into the national light. On March 17th there was a story in the Ledger-Enquirer titled Atlanta Braves offering plenty of "value" seats this season. 

The article explains to Braves fans all the deals they can snag at the stadium. It tells readers when Ultimate Kid Days are, and what exactly you can get in The Chevron Family Value Plan and how much they cost. And another article on AJV titled Put on your dancing shoes for Salsa Fest Atlanta is about the first annual Salsa Fest at Turner Field coming up on March 28th. 

It seems that the local coverage was more concerned with the small stories, and didn’t try to tackle the bigger game stories. Perhaps the smaller publications just leave that up to the national level coverage, and don’t bother trying. The local papers hook people in with the local flavor. They included small-scale stories that basically only apply to the people in the area, or fans. The local papers also know that sports fans don’t just stick to one outlet for sports, and they aren’t trying to out-shine ESPN. The small publications have a niche and they fill it perfectly by not trying to stretch to thin.

(Photos Courtesy MLB.com)