What Is Media

According to the Oxford Dictionary, media is defined as “[t]he main means of mass communication (broadcasting, publishing, and the Internet) regarded collectively.”

On multiple occasions, we have been informed that we are not media. However, over the past 3 years, we’ve been on the radio, published in newspapers, and built our blog - meeting not 1, but all 3 of the Oxford Dictionary’s examples of media.

We do not charge subscription fees, seek funding through advertisements or sponsors, nor are we compensated for our insights with other media outlets. Why do we do this for no profitable gain? The answer is truly, very simple - the three of us have our own full-time careers. This blog does not put food on our table; it is purely a labor of love. We were tired of having the best small school conference in the state of Illinois getting overlooked by recruiters and college coaches. So, we decided to put our passions together and create NUIC Football Fanatics to fill the void we saw in our area. The blog was created to provide anyone interested in the NUIC with information, statistics, state rankings, stories, game breakdowns, and predictions. We wanted to shed light on the conference, bringing more coverage and exposure for the players, coaches, schools, and fans.

There has also always been the argument that what we do is not for the kids, only the fans. How are we different from other media? The newspapers write articles and post box scores, for both players and fans to read, while the radio broadcasts games for fans unable to attend. We publish articles and videos covering all the schools in the conference on our blog and YouTube Channel. We also take our online platform a step further and promote players that have submitted their Hudl videos so that they can be seen by college coaches and recruiters. Just a year ago, the NUIC had 4 athletes move on to play Division 1 football, and 2 more were given offers this year to play at that same level. In addition to our own online content, we work closely with several local television stations - submitting Player of the Week nominations and any other requested information. We do our very best to help the conference gain the exposure it deserves.

Just a few weeks ago we made a mistake, one of such magnitude it shook the core of the NUIC conference rules. While we published information that was given to us, it was unbeknownst to us at the time that the information was not yet to be publicized. As one may make you believe, we were sent an email noting that the all-conference selections were not to be released until the last team was done playing for the season. However, the information that was provided to us did not state this, as we were not part of the original email chain releasing such information; we merely received the information second hand.

For our error, we apologize wholeheartedly, as we were not trying to discredit the conference rules, or disrespect any other media outlets who were abiding by the guidelines.

Although others may try to spin the story a different way, please know that we were never discourteous towards any Athletic Directors who posed concerns of our early release and that we did not blatantly discard the rules. There were never any ill-mannered discussions with administrators who contacted us. We have spoken to many, apologized for our mistake and promised that it would be handled accordingly.