Colorado Rockies Media: The Trouble With Kiz And Paige

May 4, 2015; Denver, CO, USA; A general view during a rain delay before the game between the Colorado Rockies and the Arizona Diamondbacks at Coors Field. Mandatory Credit: Chris Humphreys-USA TODAY Sports

Staff writer Connor Farrell touched a nerve among Colorado Rockies fans yesterday. But everybody missed something important.

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Consider this post somewhat of a follow-up to Connor Farrell’s work yesterday on cynical Rockies fans, but I’m certainly not here to defend his argument. Some of you may disagree with him, and that’s fine; I’m fascinated and happy by the reaction his work has gotten among Rockies fans and our readers.

(Though let’s correct one very important point right now that seemed to come up occasionally: Connor is not paid by this site, and thus does not receive compensation for “click bait,” so let’s at least stop that spurious argument.)

Anyways, I’m not going to defend Connor’s work. He can (and will) do that. But there is one aspect of his piece that was overlooked: the role Mark Kiszla and Woody Paige (and people like them) play when covering the Colorado Rockies.

One day before Connor posted his argument, Woody Paige opined that Tom Brady should be suspended the entire season for Ballghazi.

Then, on the morning Connor’s post went live, Mark Kiszla wrote a screed on how the “fading” Rockies (we’re only 26 f***in’ games into the season!) are making Coors Field the saddest place on earth. The dichotomy of Connor’s piece timed up against Kiszla and Paige’s hot takes should not be lost on you.

I hope more people are now seeing Kiszla and Paige for what they are: performance artists. These guys aren’t journalists, and maybe they haven’t been for quite a while, instead opting to take absolutist, hyperbolic stands on every conceivable issue simply to tap into your outrage.

They can’t possibly believe some of the things they write and say; there is no legitimate argument that Brady should be suspended for a year over deflating footballs, or that Coors Field is the saddest place on Earth because fans didn’t show up for an early May doubleheader on a Wednesday afternoon after two straight days of solid rain and much more rain in the forecast that, miraculously, held off for the games. Come on. (It’s actually ironic that Connor was accused of click-bait for his post; what do you think Kiszla is doing?)

But for some unfathomable reason, both men still hold some sway within Denver media circles. Why? Making over-exaggerated, contrived arguments that are at best specious and at worse an act isn’t good journalism, and it’s not good media etiquette in the land of the Internet. But maybe that’s the issue: the Internet.

Neither Kiz nor Paige are young; both have worked decades in the good ol’ boys club of “traditional” journalism. Now, as they enter the twilight of their careers, the world is changing. Anyone can “publish” anything on the Internet, and there are no gatekeepers to content any more. Who’s Rox Pile? What the hell is a Purple Row? Where’d Rockies Zingers come from? You mean anybody can say almost anything on the Internet?

Well… yes.

But as self-evident as that is to me, and probably most of you who are under 30 years old (and some above 30!), it’s still not quite as evident for many older people in the media, including perhaps Kiszla and Paige themselves. That’s unfortunate. And I mean that genuinely; criticize those two all you want (and believe me, we do), but it must be unnerving for “traditional” journalists to see their decades-long careers usurped by hordes of amateur writers coming in at all angles.

Very broadly speaking there are at least two paths to develop a reputation on the Internet. Some sites, personalities, and media outlets choose to yell louder. Other outlets – it seems many staffed by digital natives, though of course not exclusively – choose to go deeper.

Think of yelling louder as the talk-radio-meets-Buzzfeed model. Here, the site/personality/outlet gives their proverbial hot take about everything, because that’s what gets clicks. Whether it’s “snackable content” (terrible term, by the way), or listicles, or over-done opinions like suspending Tom Brady for sixteen games for partially deflating a few footballs, yelling louder gets clicks.

We all take that easy road, at least occasionally – even over here at Rox Pile. Sometimes, it’s easy – and even preferable – to create that kind of content, especially in a time where more people want more content faster and faster every year. But ultimately, only yelling louder is lazy. It’ll work for a while, but unless you are miraculously on top of Internet trends at all times (like Buzzfeed), it’s impossible to sustain the empty calories of this “snackable” plan.

Other outlets looking at long-term relevancy prefer to go deeper. I’d like to think that we do this, but most deserving of mention here – at least in the Colorado Rockies media sphere – is Purple Row. I can’t speak for Rockies Zingers, or Rockies Review, or any other blog or outlet covering the Rox, but I can say fairly confidently that I think we’re all a little jealous (in a good way!) of what Purple Row has done over the last decade with solid, consistent, in-depth and thoughtful content.

I genuinely hope that we complement their work because a majority of our readers consume their content, too, and vice versa; the entire Rockies media realm works better for those who matter most (the readers) when functioning in concert.

Anyways, explaining the louder vs. deeper battle brings me back to Kiszla and Paige. In an effort to maintain their influence, both men have seem to have taken the first path for Internet relevancy: yelling louder. That’s not a good thing. You didn’t possibly think suspending Brady for a year or calling Coors Field the saddest place on Earth were nuanced or thoughtful arguments, did you? Sure, it may bring clicks now, but the Denver Post will soon find out (if they haven’t already) that Paige’s antics on The Denver Post Sports Show will not keep viewers. And, with Kiszla… the jig’s been up.

As I started this post, I salivated at the thought of ripping up Kiz and Paige, but the more I think about it, I honestly and genuinely – with no sarcasm attached – feel bad for them. It’s almost as if the Internet has rendered them caricatures of themselves, adrift in a world of endless sports content when twenty years ago, they were literally the only game in town. Hell, maybe that’s off; maybe those of you who remember their work in the 80s or 90s have better insight, and they’ve always been bad.

But the more I think about these two, the worse I feel, and I don’t like it. Who the hell wants to feel bad for Mark Kiszla and Woody Paige?! I don’t want to feel like this! But it’s hard not to; the Internet has encroached upon their industry, and so many men and women like them now struggle to find work. The swan song of their careers, the downslope where Kiz and Paige maybe hoped they’d be getting accolades or fond remembrances from readers after decades with the newspaper as they ride off into the sunset just… isn’t going to be there. The days of men like Gene Amole are long gone, replaced by us. The kids. The Internet. The “new” media.

It must be scary. And it should be a thoughtful lesson for those beginning careers in media now; how will the Internet change our career paths in five, ten, or twenty years? Will our jobs be here when we have kids?

One of the ironies here is that the Post has great writers and reporters who “get” the Internet. Benjamin Hochman is in a class by himself, and perfectly exemplifies what a “traditional” journalist ought to do in “new” media: be serious and produce deep, thoughtful content, but also be funny, and above all, be interactive. Patrick Saunders and Nick Groke (as well as Thomas Harding at MLB.com) grind it out every day and do a great job being thoughtful, honest and accessible. There are plenty of other examples, too, both at the Post and throughout traditional media.

Maybe Kiszla and Paige have time to learn from those role models. Maybe not. Either way, it’s getting harder for me to watch the Denver Post Sports Show or read their writing. Not only because of the content itself (though the mindless yammering doesn’t help), but because I feel like I’m watching two careers snowball right before my eyes, and two men who can’t stop the avalanche.

***

Postscript: Again, this is in no way sarcastic. I am genuinely, honestly empathetic to the issues traditional media has had navigating the Internet, and it’s unnerving for me to see long-time journalists struggle so badly to find their way on the web.

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