steeltalk.co.uk

In July I posted this

"I can understand the Steelers spacing out the signing announcements to keep them in the media spotlight over a period of time but the tease of "I know something you don't" seems a bit childish, just announce them on whatever day you choose. Talking of childish... Can we get an adult from The Star and one from The Steelers in a room and sort out this problem between the two organisations please, while I fully understand not wanting Bob W being to be involved after what has happened there is nothing stopping The Star from reporting on one of the major sporting teams in their coverage area, even if that's just repackaging the club's media output, which is all they did the majority of the time anyway. The Star is losing views/clicks/sales and the club is losing a media presence outside of their own captive audience. This is making both sides look like a couple of mardy teenagers."

Now it most likely had zero influence but.... The Star has actually posted a Steelers related article that wasn't connected with a court case or loss of life for the first time since the Johnson tragedy, nor has it been written by Darth BobW. Is this the sign of a new working relationship or has The Star finally grown a pair ?. I guess the new age of information transparency won't reach the Steelers media office which is reputedly hidden so far underground the Iranians have been asking for tips on how they tunnelled so far down but I'll take it as progress, lets see if it goes as far as reporting on actual games.

https://www.thestar.co.uk/sport/ice-hoc ... le-8923438

I suggest everyone clicks on the link if only to show the Star the audience they have been missing out on. Hopefully they will post updates and game reviews throughout the season. Regardless of the fall from grace of 'Darth Bob', both the Star and the club would benefit from the exposure it would generate around Sheffield. One for the oldies here...If Ritchie Blackmore can get up on stage with Deep Purple after the animosity of the past 30+ years, surely The Star and Steelers can find a way to move forward in a mutually beneficial way?

The Star and Bob Westerdale have been good friends to the Steelers over the years, but it was always a two way street

I would always buy The Star when I was working in the city centre, mainly to read the Steelers news.

The fall out was a shame and I don't recall exactly what it was about, but suspect it related to an incident which distressed a good many of us.

As noted above, hopefully this is the start of a thawing of relations and the Steelers/Star can start working together again.

Regards

Doom

The Star, along with most local newspapers, has not faired the internet revolution very well. The advertising and clickbait revenue route which the owners of almost all UK local newpapers have chosen to go down for their websites renders what they do put online to be almost unreadable due to the number of popups, adverts, auto-playing videos and absolute brainless clickbail slop you have to negotiate to read, in the case of Bob W, the same press release you've already read on the Steelers website, or a lazy transcription of Pete Spencer's video interviews.

It would be great if someone could just totally reboot the Steelers' news media coverage and strive for something better instead of just employing someone to do cutesy tiktok style videos for social media and the endless tide of trivial posting to keep the club's head above water in various algorithms. I think to an extent this aught to be inevitable if UK hockey's trajectory to professionalise, be taken more seriously and look more like the north American model (or even more established UK sports) continues. However, for the time being we're not there yet.

Using Adblock prevents most of the excessive advertisements on The Star's web site, doesn't do anything for the rest of the content unfortunately, anything remotely resembling an actual story is hidden behind a paywall. The best Sheffield news is probably from The Tribune at this time, proper reporting. The only advantage to getting match reports etc in The Star is the coverage, it reaches outside our own captive audience and can encourage new spectators to attend, even if we improved our own output the views are from the already converted, and of course there is the perennial problem with most of the Steelers media output, you can't read it without hearing the whining Brummie accent in your head. Phil Harrison at the YP and Peter Spencer do a good job, just not for the local paper. The bottom line is turning out a polished and professional product requires skilled and experienced staff who will not allow interference from others, and to get that you need to pay a decent wage and back their decisions. Having an individual within the club making crass comments on their own social media making the club look like they are still in the 1970's does not make the club look like a professional organisation, it just makes the owner look weak or compliant.