Main Stream Coverage of the UWI SPEC international Half Marathon
UWI SPEC International Half Marathon in the main stream Press
I tried tracking the UWI SPEC International Half Marathon via the internet basically to see what kind of reporting was done in the main stream news paper via the net. We will like to think that an event like UWI SPEC International Half Marathon with a budget probably over 1,000,000 will gain a lot of attention via main stream reporting online.
But let us see.
The Trinidad Express had a good story with photos of the winners. This is how they introduced their story, “New champions were crowned in the fifth annual UWI Sport and Physical Education Centre (SPEC) International Half-Marathon presented by First Citizens yesterday morning.
Nicholas Kiprono of Uganda and Guyana's Alika Morgan were the male and female winners, respectively, of the 2008 event. The course started from the North UWI entrance in St Augustine; proceeded east along the Priority Bus Route up to La Resource, D'Abadie, and hooked back west for a distance of 13.1 miles. Read full story
The Trinidad Guardian had a rather short account of the event actually with no pictures. Search as I did in the Newsday I did see any reports concerning UWI SPEC International Half Marathon after the event. But fortunately for CariFin there was our UWI SPEC International Half Marathon participation information therein. Check it here.
The Stabroek newspaper, of Guyana gave coverage of the event. This is how they broke the news: Guyana’s top female distance Athlete Alika Morgan is continuing her superb year in athletics. On Saturday Morgan claimed one of the Caribbean’s most prestigious races, the UWI half marathon which was contested in Trinidad and Tobago. It was Morgan’s third UWI half marathon and she won the event by running 1:27:03s which is much slower than her previous attempt of 1:25:36 which earned her third place. Second place went to Sharmain Lasaldo who ran 1:27:56s while Panice Burnette also of Trinidad finished third with a time of 1:28:51s. Read the full report
Turner finishes 10th in UWI half marathon was how the Tobago News broke it. They continued, Falcon's roadrunner Elvis Turner was the most successful of the five Tobago roadrunners that competed in the UWI half marathon in Trinidad last Saturday.
He finished 10th overall clocking 1:17:06.2, was second in his Age Group, 20-29 years and also won the prize for being the second National Amateur Athletic Association (NAAA) athlete to cross the line. Full report.
The question has to be asked: Do you think that main stream media is giving the sport of running similar coverage as those events that have comparative budgets.
Let me hear from you, what do you think? Do you think main stream media is giving the sport the kind of in depth coverage it needs to grow and strive, attract sponsors and spectators. Is there on site coverage, with interviews and color commentary.
I think better could certainly be done based on the size of budget re; the value to the sport in the region and its importance to getting more people running and staying active.
Am I being unfair here, am I showing balance in my views…. What do you think?
Comments
Well said!