How about an NDSU Newspaper for the Region?

[CaBisonFan]

I realize that the Fargo Forum wants to appeal to a broad base of people in the region...but the coverage of the big show in town...namely the DI Bison...is dismal. *It's an old topic, but Mike Feeliness isn't up to it. *Kolpack could do a decent job with Bison coverage. *He's a good writer with a head on his shoulders...but it's really obvious that the editor and the ownership doesn't want to develop a true allegiance to NDSU. *They'd rather spread it around. *

I have no problem with seeing coverage of Moorhead State and Concordia. *They deserve some press too. *But UND?! *My God...what is that all about? *

If you go to places like Lincoln, Nebraska and Norman, Oklahoma the front page headlines are smeared with coverage of the Cornhuskers and the Sooners. *Sure, there are more important stories than sports...but UND doesn't deserve more than box scores in the Forum. *Feeliness is really confused. *

Isn't the paper called the "Fargo" Forum? *Is the UND campus in Fargo? *You'd think that is was. *And isn't NDSU "in" Fargo? *Aren't Concordia and Moorhead State in Fargo-Moorhead? *

I was in Mayville for 5 weeks visiting family this summer, and I had to work at finding Bison news. *That's simply not acceptable.

Tell Kolpack to set up camp at NDSU and pump out the stories. *Hire a real writer to take the place of Feeliness. *Maybe put him in the community current events section to write about craft shows....or ship him off to Grand Forks. *They're the same company anyway.

And if the Forum won't screw their heads on straight...how about a regionally published NDSU Newspaper about all aspects of the university?

[sambini]

Like BISON ILLUSTRATED+++++++++++++

[IowaBison]

I think what you're missing, CaBisonFan is that there has to be news.

[CaBisonFan]

I think what you're missing, CaBisonFan is that there has to be news.

It's called sports coverage. *It's not all news. *It's promoting the university with interest stories, discussions about upcoming games, matchups, etc. *Yes...I am missing that. *With a new conference just around the corner, there could be a ton of stories about these universities, their programs, the rivalries, etc, etc, etc. *I think that you don't know what you're missing. *Go down to Lincoln, Nebraska sometime or look at their online newspaper to see how rabid the press is about the Cornhuskers. *That's one of the elements of developing Cornhusker mania. *Who are you....who, who....who, who? Mike McFeelinit? *Is that you Mike? The saddest excuse for a sports writer in a university town? * :P

[sambini]

+++++++++++++++++++

[Stubby]

Amen!! But I am afraid you are preaching to the choir!

[Bison13]

Ive lived in Fargo all my life, and am a student at NDSU and I think that the Bison coverage is so-so. The marketing is so-so also. I know they spend a lot of money with ads and all that, but I still think it can be MUCH better. The Fargo-Moorhead area has around 150,000 - 200,000 people, there is no reason why we cant sell out the dome every single game for football, and every single game for basketball. For football, that would only be about 10% of the population, and for basketball it would be 3%. I dont think thats too much to ask!

[IowaBison]

I think what you're missing, CaBisonFan is that there has to be news.

It's called sports coverage. It's not all news. It's promoting the university with interest stories, discussions about upcoming games, matchups, etc. Yes...I am missing that. With a new conference just around the corner, there could be a ton of stories about these universities, their programs, the rivalries, etc, etc, etc. I think that you don't know what you're missing. Go down to Lincoln, Nebraska sometime or look at their online newspaper to see how rabid the press is about the Cornhuskers. That's one of the elements of developing Cornhusker mania. Who are you....who, who....who, who? Mike McFeelinit? Is that you Mike? The saddest excuse for a sports writer in a university town? :P


Whatever.

Good luck finding another mid-major DI school that receives the coverage NDSU does.

[NDSU_grad]

I've been very happy with the coverage Bison athletics (particularly football) has received. Practically a story every day during fall camp and gameday and post gameday coverage has been fantastic. And I will never understand the problem Bison fans have with McFeeley. Once again, he's a columnist. His job is not to cover Bison athletics. Like he said in his own blog (I'm paraphrasing); "... I don't have a problem with 99% of Bison fans. Most of them understand what my job is." And I think he does his job very well.

[bisonaudit]

Nebraska vs. UNO is not the same as SU vs. UND.

The Forum is looking at who their audience is and publishing a newspaper accordingly. UND and NDSU are roughly the same size (historically UND slightly larger) and have roughly the same number of alumni in the Forum's circulation area.

This is absolutely not the case in Lincoln vis a vi Nebraska and UNO.

[CaBisonFan]

[quote author=NorthDakotaBison link=1157578923/0#2 date=1157594526]I think what you're missing, CaBisonFan is that there has to be news.

It's called sports coverage. *It's not all news. *It's promoting the university with interest stories, discussions about upcoming games, matchups, etc. *Yes...I am missing that. *With a new conference just around the corner, there could be a ton of stories about these universities, their programs, the rivalries, etc, etc, etc. *I think that you don't know what you're missing. *Go down to Lincoln, Nebraska sometime or look at their online newspaper to see how rabid the press is about the Cornhuskers. *That's one of the elements of developing Cornhusker mania. *Who are you....who, who....who, who? *Mike McFeelinit? *Is that you Mike? *The saddest excuse for a sports writer in a university town? * :P
[/quot

Whatever.

Good luck finding another mid-major DI school that receives the coverage NDSU does.



I'm not interested in "another" mid-major. *I'm interested in seeing the dynasty return...and by dynasty I don't mean a championship every year. *It has to do with the attitude, the swagger, and the intangibles that create an aura of greatness. *We had it. *We can get it back. *The media plays a part in this. *In terms of this, Fargo can equal a Lincoln, Nebraska or a Norman, Oklahoma. *Think domination of the new conference and how it's going to get done. *Think of "every" year as a playoff and potential championship year. *Think extreme quality, even in a mid-major program. *Think the NCAA tournament in basketball...etc, etc. *It may be a "whatever" to you...but not to me. *Some of the pure fluff and BS that the Forum pumps out isn't worth the paper it's printed on. *UND deserves NO SPACE in the Forum. *Small box scores on page 4 of the sports section is their place in Fargo.

[SDbison]

I think the Forum does an OK job for Bison sports, but they could do better. I don't see any improvements from when NDSU was DII to when they moved to DI. Yes, there have been many articles about the transition and conference hunt, but I have not seen more stories on the players, pre game and post game as compared to several years ago. The Forum needs to step up their coverage to a DI level.

[kchats]

UMKC rarely is covered in the Kansas City Star. Kansas, Kanas State and Missouri take care of that for them.

[CaBisonFan]

Like BISON ILLUSTRATED+++++++++++++

BINGO !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[CaBisonFan]

Amen!! *But I am afraid you are preaching to the choir!

You're probably right...but I think that the choir needs some preachin' to. There's real power in this forum, if it is channeled correctly.

[CaBisonFan]

Ive lived in Fargo all my life, and am a student at NDSU and I think that the Bison coverage is so-so. The marketing is so-so also. I know they spend a lot of money with ads and all that, but I still think it can be MUCH better. The Fargo-Moorhead area has around 150,000 - 200,000 people, there is no reason why we cant sell out the dome every single game for football, and every single game for basketball. *For football, that would only be about 10% of the population, and for basketball it would be 3%. I dont think thats too much to ask!

Good points. *People need to understand that places like Ann Arbor, Michigan...Lincoln, NE....Norman, OK...are hotbeds for collegiate sports. *Places like Minnesota, Washington, Northwestern, and other big city schools have a much harder time developing a consistent fan base. *It can be done...but it ain't easy. *

Fargo-Moorhead is the perfect size for a DI athletic program. *NDSU is the perfect type of institution for creating a huge fan base. *I think that having the conference will help a lot. *The rivalries will need time to develop...but it's a start. *

Frankly, I think that the Mid-Con is a better long-term solution for the Bison. *It's out of the box. *The Big Sky would have been a lot of fun...but there's nothing stopping the development of a home & home lineup with Montana State or Montana in the coming years. *Having one of those teams in Fargo would create a frenzy. *Old Bison fans would come out of the woodworks to see that. Media exposure, in time, could end up being better in the Mid-Con. *

The Forum, and other media, just don't get it. *They're thinking "small." *Their TV broadcasts look like they're from the 50s or 60s. *Boring. * They don't understand that they're sitting on a gold mine in NDSU. *

[IowaBison]

The Forum, and other media, just don't get it. They're thinking "small." Their TV broadcasts look like they're from the 50s or 60s. Boring. They don't understand that they're sitting on a gold mine in NDSU.


They don't get huh?

And you, a fan do?


There's nothing wrong with being a fan(atic) about a team, but don't attack others who don't have the same level of fervor that you do, especially a business!

[99Bison]

I tend to agree with CaBisonFan on most of these points...

I do believe that this regions generally personality is what's holding ndsu (along with the rest of the huge potential of the area) back from the potential "gr**tness" Ca is talking about.

Similarly this is how someone from outside the area like Chapman can come in with vision, show leadership, truely believe in it themselves and look so revolutionary. People generally around here don't take risks, don't dream big, are not confident enough to step on on their own. However, they are solid, take pride types, which when given leadership to follow respond really well.

So one example applied to this topic... The Forum is what the Forum is, there is no one new there to run the show with the Vision and confidence to see through how building upon NDSU will make the Forum better. Rather, it's safer not to stray from the center stripe.

So yes, someone needs to come up with a commericalized NDSU newspaper or magazine and make a real business out of it (NDSU doing themselves would look like over self promotion). Once that becomes successful guess what, Forum and others will take heed and slowly morph themselves.

Sorry to say it this way, but every big time school needs big time "homers" to help sell it.

Don't be afraid.

[99Bison]

Was talking to a friend about this today... Perhaps we will do it!

[NDSU_grad]

This thread is slowly morphing from stupid to absurd. Maybe now would be a good time to summarize.
1) The Forum should, at a minimum, donate 38 pages daily to nothing but Bison athletics, preferably football.
2) Despite the demographics of the area (i.e. quite a few Sioux fans), the Forum should not provide coverage for any other colleges' athletic teams in the area, save for the extreme lower 1/16 of the page on page 412D of the Lifestyle section. Said coverage should be written in Aramaic so nobody can understand it.
3) The only thing holding NDSU back from being a major I-A football powerhouse is the coverage it gets from the 2,397th largest newspaper in the U.S.
4) The Forum is lacking vision because it recognizes that it's ever so slightly possible that there may be people in the F-M area that like a sports team other than the Bison.
5) A Bison-only magazine would be so unbelievingly popular that Forum Communications would be reduced to selling it's printing equipment for $.08 cents on the dollar to recoup it's losses for brazingly publishing news and sports-related events that didn't pertain to NDSU.

Let me know if I missed anything.

[scbison]

agree with ya NDSU_grad

[NDSUstudent]

In reality Bison fans are spoiled with great coverage, both Kolpack and Hallstrom provide Bison fans with a lot of quality information. WDAY and FOX usually have a story or video footage from a sporting event going on at NDSU and the Forum runs about an article a day on NDSU athletics. Then Hallstrom and Kolpack have their blog giving us Bison fans even more info, usually info that wouldn't be put in the paper or tv. Then there is Bison feedback and other talk about NDSU on WDAY 970 radio. I doubt there is another I-AA school that gets as much content at as high a quality as us Bison fans get. Of course they could always provide more but I would be thankful for what we are getting.

All NDSU is missing is a cable network that broadcasts the big home games and an occasional road game on tv to the region. That is something Bison fans should be working to get not a Bison newspaper.

PS- If you didn't know since Aug 25, 2005 there have been 531 articles/blog enteries about NDSU atheltics between the Forum and Media Blog.

[Mr._Bill]

As someone that lives outside the FM area and looks to get a NDSU fix on a regular basis, the Forum and WDAY do a great job. Whenever I watch Hallstrom on WDAY tv, I wonder why he is not working in a larger city. He is one of the best . . . I love his passion and personality. An although the forum is not completely focused on the bison, they do have a strong bison focus. I like the fact that the forum maintains its objectivity in its bison coverage and is not a complete homer. Certainly a stronger media focus than our brothers to the north and south.

You hear the same things about the Strib regarding the Gophers. The Strib had a Sports front page on the Buckeyes as couple of weeks back and got blasted for not being a Gopher homer. Would the Gopher QB get the front page in Columbus, OH? I think not.

In general, I think the Fargo media coverage of the bison is right on.

[roadwarrior]

The place to find the most up to the minute news about the Bison is right here on Bisonville [smiley=beer.gif] [smiley=beer.gif]

[bisonaudit]

We've got this thread bitching about the Forum covering UND and another encouraging people to lobby the Strib to devote more space to the Bison. WTF

[99Bison]

Case and point.

[CaBisonFan]

Nebraska vs. UNO is not the same as SU vs. UND.

The Forum is looking at who their audience is and publishing a newspaper accordingly. *UND and NDSU are roughly the same size (historically UND slightly larger) and have roughly the same number of alumni in the Forum's circulation area.

This is absolutely not the case in Lincoln vis a vi Nebraska and UNO.

Precisely...which is even more reason for the Forum to cover the Bison. The Lincoln media could care less about UNO. That's how the Fargo media should view UND. They don't exist. The Forum willingly lets the Sioux into the media mix. Grand Forks has a newspaper.

[Tatanka]

Grand Forks has a "newspaper".

Fixed. :D

[bisonaudit]

Nebraska vs. UNO is not the same as SU vs. UND.

The Forum is looking at who their audience is and publishing a newspaper accordingly. *UND and NDSU are roughly the same size (historically UND slightly larger) and have roughly the same number of alumni in the Forum's circulation area.

This is absolutely not the case in Lincoln vis a vi Nebraska and UNO.

Precisely...which is even more reason for the Forum to cover the Bison. *The Lincoln media could care less about UNO. *That's how the Fargo media should view UND. *They don't exist. *The Forum willingly lets the Sioux into the media mix. *Grand Forks has a newspaper.


You miss the point. The Lincoln media don't care about Nebraska or UNO one way or the other, their readership does. It's not about how the media view the universities it's about have the audience view the universities. A significant portion of the Forum's audience cares about UND athletics, so it gets covered. Very few people in Lincoln care about UNO so it doesn't get covered.

When your UND loving neighboors and coworkers move and stop reading the Forum the Forum will stop covering UND.