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Long Range Hunting & Shooting
Who is your favorite hunting influencer?
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<blockquote data-quote="LRNut" data-source="post: 2238801" data-attributes="member: 3230"><p>In my opinion, the single thing that led to the downward spiral of sporting literature is the creation of public relations (PR) companies. I believe Kevin Howard was the first; at the time he worked for Winchester-Western. He realized it was less expensive to pay for a hunt for a writer than to buy advertisements. He then left WW and started his own PR firm; others soon followed. As we have all seen, stories are now simply an endless line of product mentions. Writers like Babcock, O'Connor, and Gordon McQuarrie are literary figures from a bygone era.</p><p></p><p>The other thing that changed was writers becoming sponsored by manufacturers. If you look at a Field & Stream or Outdoor Life mag from the 60s or 70s you won't find a writer endorsing a product in an ad; today they abound. Chuck Adams was one of the early leaders. Others took "consulting" contracts with manufacturers, one notable person being Jon Sundra (Shaw barrels and Leica were often mentioned by him), who at the time wrote for Petersen's HUNTING. When Bob Petersen found out he stopped accepting articles from him; when Bob sold his magazine empire Jon got back in. Today many writers are on the "Pro Staff" or otherwise compensated for mentioning products. What I find disgusting is the complete lack of transparency - the FTC requires anyone who is paid to endorse a product to acknowledge that, but it is widely ignored in the publishing industry. </p><p></p><p>I remember O'Connor writing that his latest book had sold so well he could afford to go on another safari. Very few writers today pay for guided hunts.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="LRNut, post: 2238801, member: 3230"] In my opinion, the single thing that led to the downward spiral of sporting literature is the creation of public relations (PR) companies. I believe Kevin Howard was the first; at the time he worked for Winchester-Western. He realized it was less expensive to pay for a hunt for a writer than to buy advertisements. He then left WW and started his own PR firm; others soon followed. As we have all seen, stories are now simply an endless line of product mentions. Writers like Babcock, O'Connor, and Gordon McQuarrie are literary figures from a bygone era. The other thing that changed was writers becoming sponsored by manufacturers. If you look at a Field & Stream or Outdoor Life mag from the 60s or 70s you won't find a writer endorsing a product in an ad; today they abound. Chuck Adams was one of the early leaders. Others took "consulting" contracts with manufacturers, one notable person being Jon Sundra (Shaw barrels and Leica were often mentioned by him), who at the time wrote for Petersen's HUNTING. When Bob Petersen found out he stopped accepting articles from him; when Bob sold his magazine empire Jon got back in. Today many writers are on the "Pro Staff" or otherwise compensated for mentioning products. What I find disgusting is the complete lack of transparency - the FTC requires anyone who is paid to endorse a product to acknowledge that, but it is widely ignored in the publishing industry. I remember O'Connor writing that his latest book had sold so well he could afford to go on another safari. Very few writers today pay for guided hunts. [/QUOTE]
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