I still love T-mag after all these years, since when I first started reading it in 2000. But I don’t understand why the style of articles has changed.
However–and I say this with no disrespect for the current roster of regular writers on here–I don’t understand what happened to the style of the articles. Perhaps it’s because I think writing is important, despite the fact that I’m not a great writer. I think I’m OK.
How come nearly all the articles are now all in interview or second-hand reporter style? How come the articles just can’t be written by the interviewee himself? Lonnie could have written that article on carbs himself; in the past, he wrote articles that resembled small manuals or special reports. Rooney could have written that article on 12 principles. And so on and so on.
This is one of the reasons why I canceled a certain fitness newsletter recently. I’d really like to mention the writer’s (I don’t even think it’s safe to call him a trainer anymore) name, but I don’t defame people on the net. I don’t know if what I would do could be considered defamation, but it’s still criticism and makes can worsen a person’s business. Anyway, the guy’s newsletters don’t even touch upon fitness anymore, and on his website, if he does touch upon valuable fitness information, it’s regurgitated from someone else.
I guess people can say, “Information is information. Who gives a rat’s ass how it’s written?” OK, true. But now that I’m older and have become more business savvy, I think I have a knack to see value in things. It’s not that the articles have no value anymore; they are HIGHLY valuable (eg, Lonnie’s recent article was so interesting that I sent the link to my dietetic professionals/alumni listserv). I just question why the format has changed.
It may be because it’s easier (and cost effective) to get someone on the phone, talk to them for a couple hours then transcribe the conversation. Biotest can have someone like Nate Green contact the subject, conduct the interview and then type it up for submission, all for an agreed amount.
The subject of the interview then gets “exposure” for their respective gym/company.
Nate Green is a known writer for the site, TC can count on the quality of his writing and ability to meet deadlines(I assume).
Hiring an outside coach/writer opens up a can of worms.
Can they write in a manner consistent with T-Nation? How much editing is needed or can they self edit well? Can they produce an article in a certain timeframe and meet a deadline? What is the compensation for said article.
I know authors like Lonnie Lowery have written articles in the past, but maybe due to other obligations this was a way for him to contribute without the responsibility of the start to finish process.
Just a theory.
[quote]Iron Dwarf wrote:
They’re trying to attract the BB.com crowd.
[/quote]
The format isn’t intended to attract a different crowd. It just makes it easier to have articles on a wider variety of people since it doesn’t require the subject to be a writer.
