Press Row

A major treat for everyone today: Press Row’s first interview! We had the honor of spending some time with Matt Maiocco, the 49ers beat reporter for the Santa Rosa Press Democrat and the author of the INSTANT 49ers blog.

Matt is a three-time winner of Pro Football Writers of America awards, and Rotoworld ranked INSTANT 49ers as the No. 2 NFL team blog in the country in 2007.

Press Row: What was your initial reaction to starting the INSTANT 49ers blog?

Matt Maiocco: My initial reaction was: “Great, more work and I’m not going to see another penny for my time invested.” And, yes, it has been more work, but I’ve been compensated in other ways. Due mostly to the success of the blog I was named 2007 Press Democrat Employee of the Year, which was an honor I never could have imagined receiving. But, early on, I got a feel that this is the way things might be heading. I put a lot of time and energy into building up the blog, and I think that was a wise decision. There are still a lot of writers to shy away from blogs. As much as I love doing “newspaper work,” I find the blog to be more rewarding. I love the immediacy of the blog.

PR: Did you ever imagine your blog would reach such cult-like stardom?

MM: No, not at all. First off, I didn’t know how people would find my blog. It wasn’t being promoted or anything. But people found it and they kept coming back for more. It didn’t take long for me to realize that I was onto something unique. Nobody else was blogging anywhere near as regularly on the 49ers. It really was the only place a fan could go to get breaking, up-to-the-minute updates on what was going on with the team – at virtually all hours of the day.

PR: Has your view of sports bloggers changed since you picked up INSTANT 49ers?

MM: I’ll admit to leading a bit of a sheltered life when it comes to the Internet. I really had no concept of what bloggers did. So I made up my own rules as I went along, based primarily on my own preferences and what I would want to read on a blog about my favorite team. My perception of bloggers is skewed in that direction. I believe sports bloggers serve a valuable role in providing news or immediate reaction to news, while also forming rational opinions based on analysis. I’ve heard there are some mean-spirited bloggers out there, but I haven’t ventured into those worlds to read them. Some of the comments I received early on were completely out of line for what I wanted to accomplish with my blog. I tried to establish ground rules for those commenting on my blog, and for the most part there is good give-and-take. For the most part, the readers who respond with comments on my blog do a good job of policing themselves.

PR: The ESPN NFL blog, Hashmarks [ed. Note: ok, NFL Blog Network], has made a habit of plucking former NFL beat writers (Mike Sando, Paul Kuharsky, etc.) and putting them to work at the dot-com. Does this seem like the eventual road for all successful local writers?

MM: That sure looks to be the trend. If newspapers can somehow stabilize and make a comeback, then you will see less turnover with the beat reporters. But, certainly, there is an attraction for newspaper reporters to move over to ESPN or any established online organization. In the case of ESPN, it doesn’t look as if they’re going anywhere for a long, long time.

PR: Sports blogs like Pro Football Talk have exploded in a relatively short period of time. With the rise of online media–and the recent slumping in print media–what does the future hold for the sports media industry?

MM: Oh, I wish I knew. The public’s hunger for information has never been more insatiable. Therefore, it goes to reason that there will also be a demand for reporters to supply content. The online world and bloggers are not held to the same standards of reporting than those who deal with newsprint. There are probably some sites or individuals who throw more stuff against the wall to see what sticks. Ultimately, I trust that the bad sites will be weeded out and the good sites will remain. Pro Football Talk has done an exceptional job of cultivating sources and being quite clear about pointing out when a rumor is a rumor. The future? Who knows? There are fewer accredited reporters assigned to teams than in the past, so we’re hearing from fewer people with inside information to the teams.

PR: You write for one of the smallest newspapers on the 49ers beat, yet most 49ers fans regard you as must-read. Is there any core philosophy or work ethic that you try to stick with in all of your writing?

MM: The Internet has a way of leveling the playing field. The Press Democrat is just as accessible to people surfing the web than any of the big papers. My mantra is that I want to get it first and I want to get it right. Sometimes those edicts work against each other. Before I post an opinion, I want to take a step back and make sure that my points are well-reasoned. I want there to be a clear distinction between what I report is happening as opposed to what I believe is going to happen. For instance, after a brief encounter with 49ers owner John York after the final game of the season, I believed he was going to fire coach Mike Nolan. I made it clear that I had no evidence that Nolan was going to be fired; but I felt based on reading body language that York was prepared to make a change. (Up to that point, I had written that if appeared as if Nolan would be back.) My opinion, based some stuff I was hearing and the body language I was reading, was wrong (though York did not make a decision on Nolan until a full two days after the end of the season). Although my guess was off, I was still able to deliver readers with a perspective of Nolan’s return being anything but a slam dunk.

PR: Who are your “must-reads” in the sports media world?

MM: I like the fact that my colleague, Lowell Cohn, is unafraid to write what he believes. There are few columnists in the Bay Area who stir things up. Lowell is one of those persons. Also, Tim Kawakami will let his feelings be known. Both of those men have blogs that I check in with regularly. Tim puts as much effort into his blog as anyone in the Bay Area, and that makes him especially valuable to readers. As you noted earlier, ESPN has added bloggers for each of the eight divisions. That will be interesting to see how that works out. I really like the work Mike Sando did as a beat reporter for the Tacoma News Tribune. He is now working the NFC West blog, so I’ll definitely be checking daily with his work as my eyes for the rest of the division.

PR: Any future book plans in the works?

MM: No, not until my kids are a little older and I have more free time. They’re 5 and 3 now. Also, the publishing company for which I’ve worked in the past, Sports Publishing out of Champaign, Ill., has fallen on tough times, too. [ed. note: check these links, Roger Craig's Tales from the 49ers Sideline and 49ers: Where Have You Gone for information about his two published books.]

PR: In your honest opinion, what has to happen for the 49ers to make the playoffs this year?

MM: I think it’s quite simple. The defense, while not perfect, is good enough to be a playoff unit. The same goes for special teams. But the offense has been abysmal. If the offensive line holds up and offensive coordinator Mike Martz gets production out of the quarterback position, it’s not beyond the realm of possibility to see the 49ers make a serious playoff run. Granted, those are big “ifs” but stranger things have happened.

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Special thanks to Matt for taking the time to speak with us.