Triathlon Magazines

Triathlon Forum
1

Has anyone ever noticed the striking similarity in the articles written by Inside Triathlon and Triathlete Magazine? I know that there are a limited number of races to cover - but in the last publication of the magazines, they both have feature stories on Susan Dell.

I don’t doubt that Dell deserves an article about her - but aren’t there other stories out there instead of just recycling them?

Are they using the same leads for contacts for stories or are there really just that few stories to cover?

2

And let’s wait to see what one of the “special interest” stories on the NBC broadcast is. Cynical? Who, me?

clm, leaving tomorrow for some Hawaiian sun and fun

3

$$$ gets you good PR? no need to have the same badly written pr piece in two mags. I hope she finishes for her friend, but one paragraph would have been fine.

4

I posted on this last week, but nobody took the bait. The mags were practically identical.

They had the same bike review, similar articles on whether/why you should do an Ironman, Kona buildup, etc.

As for Susan, the articles are the same right down to the premise, that she’s amazing for all the stuff she does, not because she’s married to Michael Dell. However, this is a false premise. If her husband wasn’t worth several BILLION dollars, she probably wouldn’t be able to make the choices she has, and almost certainly wouldn’t score a 4-6 page article in two magazines.

I don’t mean this as a hit against her, because she certainly seems like she is using her advantage to try to build a better world, but consider for a moment: Many triathletes have children, hectic jobs, support charities(T’nT, JCC, etc) and still find time to train, so it would seem that the attention-getter is exactly that she is Michael Dell’s wife.

The fact that both magazines covered the same person the same month just shows that neither has any journalistic creativity. They went for the easy money instead of finding a ‘regular’ person with a compelling story.

Ah, well. I have my rant on now, so let me finish. The big problem I have with this sort of story is that, in my view, a person for whom money is no issue has a HUGE advantage over the regular AG’er. They can bring in Joe Friel, Paul Huddle, the Dalai Lama, or whomever they want for personal training. They can have custom-made bikes built, they can rent villas and have their gear sent ahead and prepped for them when they race.

The regular AG’er has to do so much themselves, may not have expert coaching available, and has to choose between the new TiPhoon and siding for the house. That’s why I think it is more compelling to profile regular folks.

5

I’m glad someone brought this up. After reading both articles I told my wife, “I wonder who Dell knows, that his wife gets written about in both magazines.” I just figured I was being cynical. The article talks about her telling her friend she made her qualifying time for Kona when all she had to do was have her husband write a big check and then simply finish a half-ironman distance race. The way I understand it all you have to do is finish the half. I’m sure she is a wonderful person but I just don’t understand why both magazines feel the need to write an article about her.

On a side note: as an age-grouper who will never qualify for Kona, I feel they should eliminate the lottery and the ability to buy your way in. If it’s truly a world championship the only way to get in should be to qualify. There are plenty of races for amateurs to race with the pros. Kona should be a test of the world’s best, not a test of the world’s best, the lucky, and the rich. I would feel silly standing at the starting line in Kona with the best in the world by winning or buying a spot. Could you imagine winning a lottery spot in the Tour De France?

6

nice to see some others with the same opinion as my wife and i. i haven’t read the dell story myself, (any won’t waste my time) but my wife read me exerpts during the car ride to watch the world cycling championships in hamilton. we both thought it was a complete waste of paper and agree 100% with the comments made be you people. this isn’t even your typical ironman hawaii human interest story, but more like “i bought a slot for the race, now i’ll buy a write up in these triathlon magazines” (and yes, i know no one actually said that in so many words).

pitiful really.

7

Kind of makes you miss Triathlon Today magazine. “Back in the day”, Lew had himself a pretty good magazine that balanced news from the big races and players with regional reports from across the U.S. and Canada. Too bad that there is nothing in print these days to match it.

It would be interesting to get Lew’s perspective on the state of current tri mags if he is following this thread.

8

Hey Everyone,

I saw this on and just had to chime in. I completely agree with you all on this one. I am sure that she has put the training in and I hope she does well but come on… There are so many other good stories out there of the typical age grouper busting there tail to raise family and work and try to get in the necessary training. Heck, I have 4 daughters and I am doing my first Ironman in two weeks BTW: nervous as all get out but I am going to toe the line and give it the best shot I can. Someone said in this thread the World Championship should be just that I totally agree. I know I will probably get flamed on this one but I have said if I cannot qualify I will never go. That is my personal opinion because I believe Hawaii is the top dog race and if I cannot get there by my albility I do not belong there. I do not want to put anyone down for making through the lottery and I wish everyone the best of luck. But, like I stated that is my opinion and it is nice to see others share that same opinion. To me this article reminds me of many of the lame stories that NBC puts together for the race. Please just show the race and tell John Tesch to be quiet!!! Sorry for the rant but needed to get that off my chest. To all racing Ironman good luck and God speed.

Craig

9

i agree that both magazines are shockingly similiar right down to the same articles year after year with different authors or titles. still i can’t wait to get them both in the mail every month.

one a different note. i actually enjoy the human interest stories in the nbc telecast. i find it quite inspiring. but i know i’m in the minority on this site.

10

“John Tesch”?? All this time I thought it was Al Trautwig. Please don’t let it be John Tesch!!! Please!!!

11

"Kind of makes you miss Triathlon Today magazine. ‘Back in the day’, Lew had himself a pretty good magazine that balanced news from the big races and players with regional reports from across the U.S. and Canada. Too bad that there is nothing in print these days to match it.

It would be interesting to get Lew’s perspective on the state of current tri mags if he is following this thread."

Tweedledee, tweedledom. Can’t tell you how frustrating that was to watch happen, though there are reasons why it did. Not to say there were GOOD reasons, but there WERE reasons:

  1. Magazines get most of their revenue from two sources - subscriptions and advertising - and with few exceptions, you can’t make it without both (for Triathlon Today, it was a roughly 50-50 split). On one side, there are 20,000 ordinary athletes, each of whom has a different idea of just what you should be covering. On the other, you have a handful of marketing directors for major advertisers - who control half your income stream and know precisely what they want.

What is it they want? To sell more product? Sorry, that’s too hard to measure (not the increase in product sales, but what in fact may be causing it). What they WANT is coverage of whatever elite athlete they are sponsoring this year. Example? For three years, I tried my best to get an audience with the marketing director of Trek - and for three years, I couldn’t even get an appointment. When I finally got to see the man, I gave him a great presentation on the very select audience reading Triathlon Today and the esteem in which they held the magazine compared to its competitor (Triathlete). His reaction? “Why should I advertise with you? We sponsor Karen Smyers and you’ve never had her on the cover.” Didn’t give a sh*t whether we could help him sell bicycles. Just wanted validation of his “advertising program”.

My point? The marketing director for Trek wasn’t an aberration - which means there is a great temptation to write the magazine for the advertising directors of your target companies. After all, his/her decisions will determine whether your magazine lives or dies.

  1. Significant portions of the original game plan for Triathlon Today have been rendered moot by the internet. For example, we originally set a goal of providing stories and results for every race, no matter how small, and to deliver them to our readers within two to four weeks after the event. Obviously, we never fully reached our goal - but we regularly covered over 1,000 events each year. Now, however, you can find the results of most races on the web within 24 hours - and in some cases (IM Live and the ITU website), you can get coverage as it is happening.

  2. The two most popular sections of TT - the places where the readers went first and spent the most time - were (a) the editorials (we regularly took on some tough subjects) and (b) the Letters to the Editor (we printed everything we received, often devoting two-four newspaper sized pages). Now we have places like the slowtwitch forum - instant 24/7 feedback, unlimited space.

  3. Triathlon Today’s game plan was EXPENSIVE. Counting regional sections (we had three) along with the national portion, we often exceeded 80 pages. And those were 80 newspaper-sized pages, with smallish type. We aimed for 1/3 ad space, 2/3 copy, so we usually had nine times the copy in one of our issues than did Triathlete mag. Fine for the reader, but copy doesn’t grow on trees - someone has to write it (we had nearly 250 race reporters) and rewrite it and proof it and lay it out. Copy is expensive, which is why there is a tendency for magazines to go to smaller sized pages, larger type, more photos, and 50% advertising/50% copy ratios.

  4. Covering age group competition is much harder than covering elite competition. The elites are the first across the line - they are easy to photograph, easy to find for interview, and there aren’t many of them. Age group winners (or leaders of age group races out on the course) are tough to identify, tough to photograph - and there are so damned many of them. It’s just easier to throw up your hands and cover the elite athletes and a few “celebrities” (the Susan Dell, Darryl Haley, Robin Williams syndrome).

  5. Most major advertisers have ad agencies - and those agencies are a major impediment to any format other than the standard 8 x 10 glossy. They sell the client/manufacturer on how much they want to help sell its product - but when push comes to shove, they also want to do as little work as possible. So when Triathlon Today came along in newspaper format, the ad sizes were different - and required different specs. And since ad agencies, for the most part, just wanted to do one piece of artwork, they tended to be very negative to the client about doing business with us.

Is a successful “Triathlon Today” magazine still possible? I think so - but an owner would have to think outside the bun and take some risks. And no, I’m not interested in being that owner - Karen has said, in no uncertain terms, that a magazine is not in OUR future.

12

Thanks Lew,

It’s raining, wind at around 45 km/hr (30 m/hr), and still dark - so it must be time for a long ride!

But before I head out the door just wanted to shoot off a note of thanks for your post. Between Dan on the tri industry and everything else under the sun, Tom Demerly on bike shops, Molina on epic training, and now you on the nuts and bolts of running a magazine - it really does make this place worth hanging around.

Best,

13

I am in total agreement with you. While I like reading the magazines and get good information from them, there is sort of sameness about them. Still better that the two page newspaper you get from USAT. Lew, it’s usually interesting to read your perspective on things. On the subject of equipment, I raced yesterday and took great pleasure in the fact that a guy 13 years younger than me on a Lightspeed Blade, with a Renn disk, couldn’t catch me! He tried - passed in the first mile, when he slowed, I passed him and that’s the last I saw of him!

14

http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/031013/135019_1.html

It’s great that Mr and Mrs Dell are so involved in tri.

I do have a problem that Triathlete couldn’t find somewhere to squeeze in some narrative on IMC for example. Weak.