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MEDIA WATCHDOG: Holding WNST Accountable

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Like many of you, I follow Nestor Aparicio and his little sports media company, WNST, on their various forms of social media. Also, like many of you, I can’t stand 95 percent of their content and disagree entirely with their brand and message. I just have to stay plugged in to what those guys are doing there at that small AM station in Towson.

Yes, I know. I know. You can stream them online, they write blogs, send out a “Daily Newspaper” (that’s actually just an email newsletter) and are “real fans” unlike the “out of town jabronies” they have working at that FM station. I get it, but I want my sports commentary from a source I can trust, not a company led by a guy that has an ax to grind against Orioles ownership.

Nestor loves to blame everyone but himself. He uses that “big guy trying to keep the little guy down” commentary to attempt to cover his biases.

The truth is, WNST lost their press credentials with the Orioles because they decided to stage protests against the team’s ownership. In the media world, if you want access to a team, you have to agree to their guidelines. A press credential is a privilege, not a right. You follow the team’s rules and in exchange you’re given access that fans don’t receive.

No one asks for you to be cheerleaders, they ask for you to follow the rules — and they’re pretty basic. You can’t cheer, ask for autographs and have to follow a very loose dress code. Which is why I’m always so surprised when Nestor sports that 1998 custom “Nasty” Ravens jersey in the M&T Bank Stadium press box. That’s beside the point though.

The constant hammering of the O’s not only gets old, but often squanders the quality work of guys at NST like Luke Jones, who produce quality, unbiased content. Often times, Nestor’s commentary on the Orioles is blatantly inaccurate. Need an example?

 

 

At the time of these tweets, December 2012, MASN had been in existence for five years. So that third tweet would have calculated to $650 million ($130 million x 5 years) in alleged “profit.”

How much has Angelos pocketed again? $500 million, $650 million or $700 million? I guess it depends on when (and on what account) Nestor is tweeting. Interestingly, FanGraphs.com published the revenues that each Major League Baseball team made from their respective TV deals. MASN brought the Orioles $29 million annually according to figures in 2012.

And that’s just one example.

Not surprisingly, Aparicio blamed Angelos for refusing to move the Orioles September 5 game against the White Sox so the Ravens could open their season at home. Numerous reports indicated that the Orioles, traveling White Sox and the Major League Baseball Players Association would have had to sign off the game being moved. To no one’s surprise, Aparicio put all the blame on Angelos and his darn “stubbornness.” Ravens owner Steve Bisciotti even denied those claims.

In a lot of ways, I’m a part of the problem. I click his trolling Facebook statuses, I reply to his inaccurate tweets and write hundreds of words about why he’s so inaccurate.

Perhaps it’s best that the Media Watchdog just hits the mute button when it comes to this agenda-driven station.

Care to join me?

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