[CQ-Contest] ARRL contest coverage

[Wilson, Mark K1RO]

We're talking about expanding contest coverage using a combination of the
ARRL Web site and QST. We're not talking about eliminating coverage of
contests in QST. What we are proposing is publishing contest results and
rules and information using a combination of QST and the Web, and taking
advantage of the strengths of each medium. Field Day and School Club Roundup
would stay in QST as they have in the past. 

QST would carry contest write-ups that tell what happened during the contest,
along with photos and some top score boxes and some soapbox and some
material to promote the contest to people other than those who already
participate seriously. There would be more space for the writeups and we
expect to have input from multiple sources to tell the story.

The Web would carry the detailed line scores (in several forms, including
searchable database, printable PDF file and downloadable data file for those
who want to do further analysis). Space on the Web is virtually unlimited,
so we can include additional information and tabulations not available in
QST. For example, we can include QSO/mult breakdowns for everyone (not just
the top scores). We can let you search for all scores in your entry
category. If you're a little pistol, you can see how your score compares to
others in your division or state or section without a lot of searching and
guessing. In addition, we can publish the results in a more timely manner
than we do now.

Contest Corral would remain in QST. Announcements for ARRL contests would be
published in QST, including the information that most people need to operate
the contest.

The problem we're facing is that the scope of ham radio continues to expand,
and the pressure on QST to cover it all is intense. For example, you and I
spend most of our ham radio energy contesting and probably don't care much
about, say, vintage radio (just an example--I don't know if you do or not).
So let's eliminate all the vintage radio stuff and print more contest stuff.
But there are a significant number of people who like vintage radio and
would say, let's eliminate all the contest stuff and print more vintage
radio stuff. 

QST is not a contest magazine. It's not a technical magazine. It's not a DX
magazine. QST is a general interest membership journal, and it needs to
devote some attention to many areas of ham radio in a general way. We hear
from every interest group that we need to run more on their area of interest
and less on someone else's, so we know that we're doing a fair job of
balancing coverage. We do extensive surveying to find out what people read
in QST, what areas need more coverage, what areas need less coverage and so
forth. We supplement what QST can do for each interest area with NCJ and QEX
and the Web site and extensive range of ARRL books and CDs.

In the contest world, we receive perhaps 16,000 contest logs in a year
(excluding Field Day) but the number of different people submitting logs or
participating in multiops is maybe 6000, or 4% of the League membership (and
not everyone who sends a log is a member). Yes, several times that number
make QSOs during contests, but they do not send logs. If people just
operated and didn't send logs, we wouldn't be having this discussion.

A complicating factor is that advertising pages have been on a downward
trend for the past 5 or 6 years and we have smaller QSTs. There are many
contributing factors to that, and it affects every publication in amateur
radio, not just QST. Part of your membership dues contribute to defraying
the cost of printing and mailing QST, but advertising revenues pay a large
share of that cost. Your membership dues also pay for defense of frequencies
and representation at the FCC and supporting emergency communications
activities and educational programs and staffing the contest branch and the
ARRL Web site and other things. As advertising declines, the number of pages
available in any given issue of QST for articles and columns and contest
results decreases. 

As a percentage of the available editorial space, the pages devoted to
contest rules and results have fared pretty well. With fewer pages to go
around, we have had to "nip and tuck" the results through use of smaller
type, few photos, little soapbox, short writeups, etc. And we have changed
the publication schedule and separated the phone and CW SS and ARRL DX
results to minimize the burden on any particular issue.

We have made more drastic changes in other parts of QST the past few years.
We've adjusted the size and frequency of many of the columns to reflect
reader interest. We've started publishing traffic statistics, DXCC listings,
propagation charts, club news and other material on the Web. We've dropped
some regular columns and started covering those topics with an occasional
feature article. 

Now we've reached the point that we need to look at two areas that have
traditionally been near and dear to our hearts -- contest rules/results and
section news. Between them, they consume 20% of the available editorial
space in QST. Both of these QST features have a small but devoted following.
Both are important to ARRL and have long traditions, going back to the early
days of amateur radio. But they appeal to a limited number of readers. And
even the readers who are interested only look at small parts of Section News
or at a few of the contest line scores. Putting it in QST is an inefficient
use of pages that could be used for something with broader appeal and make
QST a better journal for the average reader.

Sure, we could continue to whittle away at pieces of these articles and
reduce the type size even more and devote even less space to these
activities. Or we can do things differently and better.

By changing the way we do things, we can improve QST coverage for more
readers and do a better job of delivering detailed contest results without
restrictions on space. QST reader surveys during the past 10 years have
consistently said that contest information is among the least read features
in QST. This doesn't mean that the contest results aren't important or
relevant, just that they appeal to a limited audience. The Web is the ideal
medium to deliver high quality, unrestricted content to a narrow group, and
it offers possibilities not available in a printed monthly magazine.

73, 
Mark Wilson, K1RO
QST Publisher
 


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