Australian surfing coverage friendly war heats up; Tingle news media and yards from the deep Media Man Int

Australian surfing coverage friendly war heats up; Tingle news media and yarns from the deep

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Eastern Suburbs Surfing Maroubra Beach Bondi Beach Sports Television Wrestling

By Greg Tingle

Whatever your level of involvement, skill, interest or other in regards to surfing in Australia, and abroad, it seems apparent that the business of surfing news is enjoying a revival of sorts.

It was publication 'Beach Grit' that really put surfing news back squarely in my radar. Surfing news in the form of magazines have been around for decades, but Derek Rielly's 'Beach Grit' really seems to hit the sweet spot for many.

Then we've got other long time favs such as Surfing Life, Tracks - The Surfer's Bible, Surfing World Magazine, The Inertia Stab and then there's the wave cam stranglehold CoastalWatch, SwellNet and a few others, with or without illegal streams and news syndication (that Rupert Murdoch has called theft). What's mention of Mr Murdoch doing in a surfing related article, we know. Maybe son Lauchlan may take more of a pro active interest in surfing culture media in the near future, following FOX's recent massive investment into the wild and often wacky world of professional wrestling - of the WWE persuasion.

From time to time surfing heat footage is also showing up on Australia's Channel 9 and 10, and of course FOX's baby KAYO Sports is now getting the lions share. Then you have WSL and their website, Facebook and YouTube channels. Others, especially down Maroubra Beach way, are likely to go for Red Bull Surfing, highlighted by Cape Fear, part of the Big Wave Surfing offerings.

Before you ask, my surfing is pretty crap at present. Once upon a time as a grommet growing up at Newport Beach, my surfing at 'The Peak' was decent to good. Tom Carroll is and always will be the king of Newport Beach.

We're helping at at OneWave Is All It Takes (Maroubra Beach) and Bondi Beach, and also assisting Surfrider Foundation Australia in a modest media, interview and photoart capacity. Our photoart is probably our strong suit, and I also tell a good story of how my life was saved at Bungan Beach by another surfer in the early 90s. I still remember that friggin legrope snapping, and I was probably out too far for my own good on that unpatrolled beach. At least the sharks didn't get me, and a friendly fellow surfer saved the day - and my life. Oh, I worked for WaveCam for a few years ago (parent company was ID Media). After a few years CoastalWatch one that particular war, since our firm ran out of cash - pretty standard stuff in the 2000 tech wreck. Thanks to the web we are still covering the surfing and larger sports and media world, and we certainly don't have the same overheads and cash burn rates of back then. So yeah, we survived that and a few other tidal waves also.

Thanks for dropping in to check out our big of surf culture fodder today. Now, back to the mags and the ocean.