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  • A call to national print media to cover CSA Reform


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    By: Richard Whittall

    It’s become a cliché in the media circles to write that digital or “new” media is in a perpetual death struggle with print or “old” media over an apparently limited number of consumer eyeballs. The antagonistic attitude between both pyjama bloggers and entrenched newspaper reporters—often in evidence on Twitter, ironically—reflect this. Old media suspects new media’s journalistic credentials; new media accuses a financially-saddled old media of not doing its job in missing the important, hidden stories. Most now contend “new” media will naturally emerge the victor; for the old guard, that will mean the death of journalism—for the new, its rebirth.

    That’s why it would be easy for me to write that digital media tore print media a new one over the past couple of months with Ben Knight’s unceasing coverage of the the on-going Shakespearean saga at the Alberta Soccer Association between Chris Billings and Mario Charpentier and the subsequent, likely politically-motivated interference by the Canadian Soccer Association. While local papers like the Edmonton Journal did cover the story, national newspapers like the Globe and Mail continue to remain silent. So far the only major nationwide news source to offer any serious comment is cbc.ca, by way of Jason de Vos.

    But the reality is the pro CSA reform crowd needs big media to get on board with this story to help pressure the board to vote on crucial changes to the governance structure, which, although watered down, would finally see at least a reduction in the influence of the provincial associations at the national level. Canadian Soccer News and Ben Knight have done the nitty-gritty work of exposing the mess; now its big media’s job to bring it to a national audience, many of whom are completely unaware of what the CSA does, and why there is an intense grassroots effort to reform it.

    [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]

    This should be a dream story or series of stories for any bored reporter at a major newspaper. Why? Let me count the angles. At a moment when football’s largest governing body, FIFA, is under intense scrutiny following the controversial World Cup bids of Russia and Qatar, we have our very own soccer governance controversy exploding in Alberta. And this isn’t of course really just about the ASA—this is the final stand of an old guard wanting to preserve the status quo in Canadian soccer, a status quo that has seen the men's national team fail to qualify for every World Cup since 1986. This is a story of a crucial moment in Canadian soccer history, a moment that will affect each and every parent who pays registration fees for the kids to play the sport that this country loves, a moment that could forever alter this country’s future World Cup fortunes ahead of two more Canadian franchises entering MLS.

    Beyond that, this is also the story of how "new" media has fundamentally altered the sporting landscape in this country. Gone are the days when the CSA could operate in a total media vacuum on Metcalfe street; now legal documents and internal memos end up on the internet for all to see. One day, the CSA could face the same media scrutiny as Hockey Canada, and we’d have the dedication of new media sources like CSN to thank for it.

    If our national print media do decide to cover this story in the way it deserves, there may be some understandable resentment among Canada’s soccer hardcore for getting on board so late. That’s fine. It’s more important that ordinary Canadians—many of whom with children playing soccer in provincial clubs—finally read about the CSA, what it does, and why it’s under pressure to change, and why its actions in response to Chris Billings suspension are so extraordinary in light of global calls for more transparency in soccer governance at the national and international levels. That’s the next and vital step in this saga, and if reformers want real accountability from the CSA, new media needs big media to go ahead and take it.

    Richard Whittall writes on football from his hovel in Toronto, Canada. In addition to A More Splendid Life, he also writes the Canadian Soccer history blog, The Spirit of Forsyth. He is the associate editor of Tom Dunmore's award-winning Pitch Invasion. And his writing has appeared in Toronto Life, the Globe and Mail, and he was a contributor for Brooks Peck's Yahoo! blog Dirty Tackle for the 2010 World Cup. His columns on media and football will appear weekly on Canadian Soccer News. Follow him on Twitter @RWhittall



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