Part two
I have talked to a number of fathers who have daughters who race at the pro level and they all say the same thing. They say it's very unfair and a disgrace that pro women's cycling isn't given a fair slice of the pie in big media sites like this and others, especially TV. Their daughters often give up and just go on to college careers and see cycling as often nothing more then a social gathering cause the media doesn't take the pro women seriously. They like to ride and race at the top levels but the prizes, the salaries, the lack of media coverage makes them see pro cycling as nothing more then either a social event or perhaps a stepping stone if they are lucky, but nothing remotely compared to the serious money that is on the line in men's pro cycling. A lot of pro women at races sometimes act like why bother to cover us, nobody cares. That's very sad they feel that way and big media is at fault for that.
Greg, I notice the old trick of asking people to email you, very cleaver. What that does is take the argument out of the public forum so people cannot get onboard and speak facts to truth here where everyone can read it and have a say. If more people are not afraid to speak out, then we will get more of what Fred said because Freddy the Frog was dead on the money. What I notice is sad is true about what he said, and that is women are usually afraid to rock the boat. You won't see a lot women speaking out here or in any forum cause too often they are afraid to fight for what is rightfully theirs.
I'm not sure why that is, but I do know most forums are male dominated and even the earliest usenet cycling forums were a spin off from CN, and those forums are strictly dominated by male cycling threads. It's become a very twisted culture and it needs to be made right. Out of all the big forums in the world today, there is not one single forum anywhere for pro women road racing that I know of. Most women cycling forums are about dress, clothes, and other personal accouterments, but nothing about the riders and road racing like everywhere else for men. This tells me nothing has changed in the last two decades. Women are still nibbling around the edges of the men, and haven't gained much ground yet.
On Laura's last post if CN is the center of Cycling and touted as the biggest best in the world, then they don't need to rely on third parties to get their reports and photos, IMO. They should be able to send out their own photographers, get both video and photos, plus solid race reports like Lyne does, although I think Bart also does a pretty good job. While I know you can't go to every race, neither does Lyne or Bart, you could at least send a couple of people to cover the biggest race of the year for women, and try to do a really good job of it. Make a statement, set a standard, and show the world you really care, instead of this hodge podge journalism. You can't rely on CJ forever and you could start building your own model starting today if you wanted.
On covering both races, that's fine as long as the women get as much attention as the men, but they don't. Nowhere near the same attention overall on CN. That's the problem. Froggy was right, the attitude of if you don't like it, here's the door is prevalent in big media and that needs to change.
I don't see WCN as moving women's cycling forward much, IMO. It's seems more like a business to sell photos then to make women's cycling very exciting. She gets paid to go to the races, so it's not like she's doing it out of pocket completely and she is selling photos for profit. Her website design is less then compelling, IMO, looking more like a children's site then a pro women cycling website and her photos are so tiny and plastered with watermarks and copyrights, I doubt anyone is really that interested to look at them. If she suppose to be on the cutting edge for women's cycling, then I am not impressed. Remember though, I said, IMO. It's my opinion.
On the races, you could send someone to the Giro for probably less then two hundred Euros. It's possible, although a bit extreme. You can drive by car through the Chunnel, and with toll roads and bridges that does add up a little, so I am not entirely sure how much gas and tolls would be, but if you could travel with the organization they would put you up in lodging and you can eat with them too. You can save a lot of money, I know because they friends have been offered to be the official press agents at many of these big races for women in Europe. The reasons CN have given for not covering the biggest women's race in the world are very thin, IMO.
On the last person comment, this edition was historic because I believe it contained more climbing then any previous edition. There hasn't been a climbing edition in any race like this since the 2003 Grande Boucle, that's why it has special historic significance. It's clearly a climbers edition, and you have the two best climbers in the world for women in it. This could of be a huge media spectacle if big media decided to pick it up. Races are generally shorter and faster as the new format for women's cycling, so this was like a one time special event, and CN missed it totally, completely, IMO. Getting a few 2nd hand photos from CJ posted with a bit of dribble about the race is not the solid journalism this race deserved. I feel bad for Mara, cause she really deserves better press.
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