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Focus Interview with James Hutchison, editor of The Rugby Blog

This week, FeaturesExec caught up with James Hutchison, editor of The Rugby blog, which covers all aspects of rubgy for ABC1 males aged 16 to 35.

Here, Hutchison tells us about the blog, and how PRs can be useful to him and his team of writers.

You and your blog:

Who reads it and how many of them are there?
The Rugby Blog has a loyal and knowledgeable readership, largely consisting of males that are likely to be in the 16-35 age category. Traffic-wise, we get about 700-800 visitors every day, the majority of which comes from bookmarks and people typing in the address, whilst just over 40% of traffic reaches us via search engines. Our best day was when we had 6,500 visitors in a day, just before last year’s Rugby World Cup final.

What subjects do you cover?
All aspects of rugby, from the International game across the world to the UK and European domestic rugby competitions.

What makes you different from other blogs in your sector?
We have feature articles and opinion pieces, as well as a range of more unusual topics, such as our ‘Fantasy XV’ series, but what makes us stand out is the level of discussion and engagement that we have from our readers. The discussion is always very well-informed, and people enjoy reading the contributions of others, rather than just what me and my writers have to say.

Why do you blog?
For the love of the game, and to help advance my career as a sports journalist. The reaction and feedback that you get from writing on a blog is actually much greater than in a magazine or newspaper, where you never quite know whether anyone is reading what you have written.

About PRs:

Do you work closely with PRs or do you keep them at arm’s length?
I’m always interested to hear from PRs if they have a relevant story that I can form an opinion about.

What information/input from PRs is most useful to you?
Rugby-related stories can be interesting, access to rugby players is particularly useful and anything that will benefit our readers will be considered.

When is the best time for PRs to contact you & what is your deadline for contributions?
Drop me an email at any time, and I’ll do my best to respond. If it’s interesting and relevant, there is no deadline!

About you:

A phrase I use far too often is…
“Let’s see how it goes.” I’m always keen to give things a go and just see what happens.

I’d like to have a go at…
Kite surfing.

Where do you hope to be in five year’s time?
Working remotely in an exotic place with a steady stream of journalism work.
[lnk|http://www.featuresexec.com/publications/info_features.php?pubid=13775|_self|The Rugby Blog]
[img|jpg|James Hutchison]