Catching up: Birkett leaves the Lions beat

Coming off of major surgery, I have to be honest with you. There were a few weeks where I wasn’t paying much attention to the Lions. I was kinda busy, you know?

But what did happen over the past few weeks in Lions-land? I plan on spending the next week catching up. Thus, the “Catching up” headline.

First off in “Catching up”, we have news that is tangentially about the Detroit Lions, but news which will drastically affect their press coverage…and not in a good way.

The Oakland Press’ Dave Birkett has left the Detroit Lions beat.

Apparently he has left the paper, but will be still writing locally, covering Michigan and the Big Ten, at the new AnnArbor.com (which is the reincarnated, web only version of the Ann Arbor News). His Press blog, the once must read “Birk’s Eye View”, has now become “Lions Lowdown“, with several contributors. There was a reason I checked Birkett’s Press blog multiple times a day; he broke news. I doubt we’ll be seeing any breaking news from “Lions Lowdown”.

This is not cool folks, as Birkett had become one of my go-to guys for all things Detroit Lions. Birkett leaving the Lions beat is a big time loss for we fans. (Though he’ll be a positive addition to the Wolverines beat, which lost Jim Carty. Carty left sports writing altogether when he saw the print version of the AA News going into its death throes)

Birkett, along with Mlive’s Killer Kowalski (who also works for a news organization having major financial issues. Then again, is there a print entity that isn’t having money problems?), broke Lions news more often and faster then their counterparts at the Freep and News.

I’ve often been a critic of the MSM, but as a blogger with no real “access”, I have to depend upon the beat writers (who have the hardest job in print, don’t get me going on certain lazy columnists)  for the latest in Lions information. Good beat writers, in all sports, are getting harder and harder to find. 

We’re still lucky in Detroit, and better off than most cities with big league sports. We do have a competent group of beat writers covering the Lions, Tigers, Red Wings, Pistons, Wolverines and Spartans. But the best of the best see the writing, and it’s not on the wall, definitely not in print, but on the web, and are leaving for greener online pastures.

Last year, Mlive lost their Tigers beat writer, who was the best in town, Danny Knobler, to CBSSports.com.

The man who took the mantle from Knobler as best Tigers beat guy, Jon Paul Morosi, left the Freep for FoxSports.com earlier this year.

The one Lions writer who had seen it all, Mike O’Hara, retired from the Lions beat after decades of coverage with the Detroit News early last season. Say what you will about his predictions, O’Hara knew the Lions inside out. (O’Hara still has one foot in the journalism door, having gone freelance and joining the world of blogging. His blog is a fun read for Lions fans)

Now we can add Birkett to the list.   

But be it through attrition, buy outs, moving to web only gigs, or their parent companies going under, this is just the beginning of the end. Local coverage of all sports is going to take a huge hit. Dave Birkett leaving the Lions beat is just the latest. It won’t be the last. 

As fans, we’re all the worse off.