Interview With J.R. Absher, The Newshound

by Steve Remington

J.R. Absher over at The Newshound agreed to an interview with me. J.R. is an outdoor writer and blogger for Outdoor Life, and also has been reporting news online longer than anyone else I know. His passion to share news about hunting and fishing is obvious. From time to time J.R. sends me news tips for our bloggers here at Skinny Moose Media and it is well appreciated. Enjoy the interview!

1 – J.R. how long have you been an outdoor writer?

Strictly in the outdoors (hunting/fishing/shooting) genre for about 25 years–newspaper and magazine work prior to that. I have a degree in journalism from the University of Arizona.

2 – Can you tell us a little bit about where you started out as an outdoor writer, some of your journeys along the way, and where you ended up?

Went to work for PSE Archery company in Tucson, AZ in the early ’80s and produced a marketing/bowhunting magazine to promote the product and bow-and-arrow hunting. Did all the writing, editing, layout, production, photo work, etc. Also wrote press material and catalog copy.

From there I served as editor for the trade publication, Archery Industry Magazine (AIM), which also served as a marketing publication for the (now defunct) Bowhunting Trade Show. This was from 1992-95.

During this time I served as the press liaison for a state sportsmen’s organization that battled an anti-trapping voter’s initiative in Arizona with (at that time) an unprecedented $2 million campaign. That’s when I first became involved in hunting and outdoor political issues, and I’ve been a hopeless political junky ever since.

From 95-97 I was director of communication for the Wildlife Legislative Fund of America (which is now the US Sportsmen’s Alliance), in Columbus, OH. I left there and headed to the woods of Southern Indiana’s Hoosier National Forest, where I have been strictly freelancing ever since.

I won’t bore you with the magazines, Web sites, gun companies and other outfits I’ve written and consulted for in the past ten years. But today, in addition to my Outdoor Life blog and The Outdoor Pressroom Web site (which will celebrate 8 years online next month), I regularly write for print publications Outdoor Life, North American Hunter, North American Fisherman, Sports Afield, NRA Publications and Bowhunting World; with weekly online columns appearing on the Sportsman’s Guide and Mossy Oak Web sites. In addition, I serve as director of communications for the International Bowhunting Organization (IBO) and as public relations director for the National Muzzle Loading Rifle Association (NMLRA).

3 – Most of us are familiar with your blog over at Newshound. How are the dynamics different while maintaining a blog as an outdoor writer than the traditional style of writing?

Well, everybody who writes a blog does so for a different–and often personal–reason. Some bloggers offer more opinion, more politics or social commentary. But you know what they say about opinions. My current blog (as well as its predecessor over at ESPN.com and the one before that, outdoorweblog) tends to be more of compilation of outdoor news stories, with emphasis on the weird, wacky and absurd. With my heavy background in sportsmen’s issues and politics, there’s always plenty of that thrown in. But the main difference between the two writing genres is that blogging is far less structured, much more personal, and more free-flowing, without having to adhere to AP style or any specific format.

4 – Your blog takes on a journalistic nature where you report news; hence the name Newshound. Has it been difficult from time to time to find stories that are newsworthy or is the news usually fairly steady?

Finding the material is what I specialize in. Indeed it’s my forte’. I update my Outdoor Pressroom Web site with links to outdoor subjects every day. That’s why I started the site in the first place–because I was cruising the ‘net daily for material anyway, and I thought what I did would be beneficial to other outdoor writers and communicators. And it has. These days my site averages 37-40,000 individual link clicks each week.

5 – How do you like your new job with Outdoor Life?

I assume you mean as a regular blogger on the OL Web site–’cause I’ve been on the OL masthead as a contributing writer for about ten years now.

I love blogging there–I feel more comfortable there than I ever felt with ESPNOutdoors.com. For one thing, the blogging format is great and easy to use, and the interaction with readers is significantly increased. OL readers in general are hardcore hook-and-bullet folks who know the outdoors, equipment and the issues.

Despite a somewhat rocky and delayed start (I was scheduled to begin blogging about the time the surname Zumbo was simultaneously transformed into a noun, verb and adjective), I couldn’t be more pleased.

6 – Since you have been blogging, what would you say has been the most challenging task, and what would you say is the most rewarding aspect of blogging?

Perhaps the biggest challenge to all outdoor bloggers is understanding and comprehending what is genuinely newsworthy and important to outdoor enthusiasts and what is simply trivial and minutiae. There are appropriate subjects and items to rant about, and there are other times when it’s better just to write the facts and details and let the readers sort it out. I think my experience in print journalism helps me make that determination.

The most rewarding part is definitely hearing nice comments and receiving accolades from my peers and longtime writers friends. When an article in Outdoor Life a few years back referred to me as “the outdoor guru of the Internet,” that was real cool.

7 – You are an experienced blogger. Do you think that blogging has a significant impact on the hunting and fishing industry?

Not yet, but there’s certainly potential as more established outdoor industry folks, hunting/shooting/fishing writers, and dedicated individuals discover the medium.

8 – In your free time what is it you like to do?

Free time? Fishing, shooting and hunting are all part of gathering background material. Reading is research and inspiration. Getting together with other writers and industry folks is serious field work. Cooking game and gardening is basic sustenance. Backcountry excursions, jazz and classical music and sipping single malt scotch is considered necessary and therapeutic. Other than that, I have no free time.