Feb 8, 2010
At Social Media Week in New York last week, I found myself returning to one thought: How will the growing use of social media by athletes change sportswriters’ roles?
Athletes are already breaking news via social media: Last fall Allen Iverson announced his signing with the Memphis Grizzlies on Twitter, and the Cincinnati Bengals’ Chad Ochocinco reported that first-round pick Andre Smith was close to ending his holdout, pre-empting Smith’s own agent. The always-entertaining Ochocinco even has his own NFL social-media news service, called OCNN. (That’s the Ocho Cinco News Network.)
OCNN may be a lark, featuring moonlighting NFL players and two guys from the CollegeHumor Web site. But athletes have more and more reasons to use social media. It’s a way for them to sidestep the traditional media and present stories on their own terms. It’s also a way for them to enhance their own personal brands, building a connection with fans that will be like catnip to sponsors. And it’s a relatively easy way to do those things. Twitter in particular is a natural fit for busy athletes: They can be followed by fans without having to reciprocate, and they can engage their followers by entering short messages from a smartphone.
Feb 4, 2010
Some things you like to write. Other things you have to write. Take the Super Bowl. (Please.) It’s a fun week to be a sportswriter. [...]
Feb 2, 2010
CBS executives must be stunned to find that, days from the year’s biggest game, only the most dedicated football fans are talking about Peyton Manning’s [...]
January 8th, 2010 at 1:14 am
If Brent Musberger mentioned Mark Ingram’s father being incarcerated one more time, I was going to throw up. Who wants to hear that during a Rose Bowl game? Championship football games, rather all athletic events, should not be a venue for sportscasters to talk about any player’s father, mother, sister, brother, or other relative’s problems with the law. It’s sickening. Stick to the game plays.