Mainstream sports journalism to get hit by social media on a whole new front
This article by Colin O’Keefe explains how mainstream journalism is being threatened by social media. The article details the path of decline that traditional print media has taken due to the rising popularity of blogs and social media. Now major sports celebrities can bypass traditional beat writers and can break news directly to the public. O’Keefe cites the recent example of John Elway, Executive VP of Football Operations for the Denver Broncos, Tweeting that the team signed Cornerback Champ Bailey to a new long-term deal. With the ability for sports personnel to bypass traditional media members altogether, non-traditional media members now have greater access. This increases the transparency of those on the inside of sports and further satisfies the increasingly insatiable appetite of fans for up-to-the-minute information.
Twitter enables fans to enter the SportsCenter Top 10 Highlight Room
Since creating the #SCTop10 hashtag on Twitter in early 2012, ESPN has increased fan involvement on its flagship show. Those involved feel that it engages viewers by presenting sports to fans in a creative way. Social media creates a strong connection between SportsCenter employees and their fans.
Rules of the game change as sports journalists compete against teams they cover
Teams, leagues, associations, athletes and agents are bypassing journalists and using social media to communicate directly with fans. This capability will eventually threaten the position of traditional journalists in sports media. This article references Mark Cuban’s recent blog post in which he concluded that Internet reporters are becoming less relevant in the current media climate and therefore are at risk of losing their positions. Now that teams, owners, and players have the ability to communicate directly with fans and each other, will traditional sports journalists be needed in the future?
The Sports Tweet New Routines on an Old Beat
This article is a sports reporter’s firsthand account of how Twitter has impacted her job. In the past 4 years, Twitter has become a big part of her coverage. Twitter has completely changed the way she covers football. This article is a great read that sheds light on the challenges of balancing speed and accuracy in the new sports climate.
Sports Essay: Sports Reporting in the Digital Age
Digital media has greatly changed the way that fans
access news and other content about their favorite teams. The days are fading when a fan waits to read
about their teams in the next morning’s paper.
Now, readers are able to access news in real-time across a multitude of
platforms. Game stories are now
available online within an hour of the game’s conclusion. This has caused major changes in the sports
departments of newspapers and increases what is demanded of traditional
journalists. With so much timely
information available via digital sources, what should now be included in print
media? Also, how can traditional sports
media members maintain their journalistic integrity while utilizing social
media to break news? The role of a
sports journalist is certainly changing and will continue to do so as
technology evolves and competition increases going forward.
Stop the Presses!
Professional
athletes have been demonstrating a decreasing level of trust for traditional
journalists. As a result, they have been
turning to social media to break their own news stories and communicate
directly to the general public. The
relationship between journalists and athletes has deteriorated considerably as
it has become unnecessary for athletes to communicate through journalists. Traditional print media members now have to
face the challenge of presenting fresh and innovative stories that will
sell. This is complicated further
because of the declining access given to journalists. Traditional journalists
must learn how to utilize and adapt to these new digital mediums in social
media or they will quickly find themselves obsolete.
Sports Media: The Beat Goes Gone
The new SXSW Interactive Sports Track recently
enabled attendees to gain insights into various aspects of sports media. A select group of panelist discussed in part
the future of the sports beat writer in the current world of advanced social media. Fans have more power than ever before because
they can now choose who they want to obtain their news from. Journalists must develop strong relationships
with teams, players, coaches, and execs in order to ensure that they will
continue to have unparalleled access and relevance.
Four ways social media has deteriorated traditional journalism
Social
media has benefitted traditional journalists by enabling them to have a greater
voice with their followers and to share their personality in real-time. However, according to Ronnie Ramos of the
National Sports Journalism Center, there are four specific ways that social
media has deteriorated traditional journalism.
They include lower journalism standards, anyone is now a “journalist”, the
tarnished credibility of traditional journalists, and the line between opinion
and fact has been blurred.
