Sharks getting less coverage

Desmond the Durbanite

To the sports editor. Sir, is it my imagination or does The Citizen give less coverage to rugby teams outside Gauteng? Especially the Sharks seem to get only a paragraph or two – or none at all. I hope you can prove me wrong.

Jaco van der Merwe, sports editor

Very good observation Desmond, it’s most definitely not your imagination. The Citizen gives more coverage to Gauteng-based teams and it’s not limited to rugby only, but applies to all sports. The reason is that although we distribute outside the province, the bulk of our readers are based in Gauteng and therefore the interests of the region get preference. However, that is not to say that we ignore teams from other regions as we realise there exists a variety of fan bases in metropolitan areas such as Gauteng. Apart from the Lions and Bulls, The Citizen has carried plenty of news on the Stormers and Sharks since the start of this year’s Super Rugby, and to a lesser extend the Cheetahs, Southern Kings and even overseas-based franchises. We strive to carry a well-balanced selection of sports news where possible, but when space and resource constraints arise which result in our offering of rugby stories being limited, news from local teams will be favoured ahead of overseas and other SA franchises. The exception to this rule will be when there is news of national interest in a specific sport.