SoS in ATFV
# 7 The Perils of Print Deadlines
By Swansea oh Swansea Editor Steve Carroll
For many years ATFV was a print publication but these days we’re online only – but boy does our Editor know exactly where his Swansea Oh Swansea equivalent Steve Carroll is coming from when he describes the perils of printing a football fanzine..
As editor of Swansea Oh Swansea few people can understand Nigel’s predicament like myself. When you have a deadline you have to stick to, there comes a point where you have to make final decisions on content, knowing that things could change after it’s been printed, rendering some articles out of date.
In the early days of my fanzine I remember one of my writers sending over 1,000 words on Paulo Sousa ahead of his return to south Wales with Leicester a couple of weeks after publishing, but of course he ended up being sacked before the Foxes visit to SA1.
That was quite minor compared to what happened in 2017, I finished the fanzine shortly before Christmas, in preparation for the festive fixture list. It was printed on a Wednesday and then at 8pm that evening came the dreaded breaking news on Sky Sports News – Paul Clement had been sacked! I frantically phoned my printer asking if he’d printed yet and if not could he delay so I could react to such a big story.
Sadly it was too late and the fanzine had to go out without the biggest story of the time, leaving me extremely frustrated at such bad timing.
Recent goings on at the Swans also left me with a predicament. We sounded close to appointing Chris Davies as the most recent issue went to press, but as the week dragged on there was no firm news. I held up printing for as long as I could, even writing two sets of editors notes and having two different front covers as I prepared for whether we would have a manager or not for the visit of Middlesbrough. In the end we didn’t, and of course Davies fell out of the running, so I’m relieved I didn’t gamble on that one.
But it’s not just fanzines who have this issue, it’s print media too.
Some of you reading this will remember the Sporting Post; it would be released on a Saturday night, would contain all the football scores from the day, a report on the Swans and the All Whites, plus other local football and rugby. The press was underneath the Evening Post’s old office on Adelaide Street, and would be printed once John Burgum or whoever else was covering us at the time would send their copy over and remarkably newsagents would be stocking it by half past six.
Due to the advance in technology the Sporting was no longer as popular as in it’s heyday and production ceased in 2008.
What didn’t help though was the fact that the press had come to the end of it’s working life and printing for the Evening Post is now in Gloucester and the deadline is the night before.
You may have read newspaper reports of sport in the past where the deadline has been missed. An example would be if a game has gone to extra time, taking it passed printing time and the report would often reveal the state of the game at that time as they couldn’t reveal the final result.
The internet has killed the print media industry and Nige has taken the view “if you can’t beat em, join em” and I certainly can’t blame him. For a start the deadline isn’t as firm and changes can be made even after it’s been published online, and you can delay if you feel necessary. You don’t have to stick to such a strict word count due to it not having to fit onto a page, you don’t have to pray for dry weather every time we’re at home and stand on street corners selling (welcome to my world). You don’t have to plan around the fixtures for release dates.
As I’m writing this I’m thinking “why don’t I do it?” and the truth is I may do at some point. But for now I’m going to stubbornly carry on because as much as there are downsides I still enjoy it when things come together and I’m out on the street meeting the Jack Army.
But having an online fanzine is great and far more accessible to you all…
...just make sure you think of me while having a nice drink in the warm catching up on all the gossip in this mag while I'm freezing my bollocks off on a street corner with sos!
