Who’s Covering Home? Panel to discuss dramatic changes in coverage of professional baseball – and sports
Feb. 3, 2010 8:10 a.m.
The coverage of professional sports is being radically transformed by the growth of new media, and the downsizing of traditional media. And, perhaps no sport has been touched by these changes more profoundly than pro baseball.
Web sites and television outlets owned by leagues and teams are expanding and growing in popularity. The number of bloggers writing about teams is exploding. Social media allows fans to interact directly with their favorite players and teams. At the same time, however, fewer print beat reporters are covering teams and the post-season.
These watershed changes are occurring at the very time when fans are asking hard questions of sports journalists, such as how so many of them missed one of the biggest scandals in the history of the sport – the abuse of steroids by several star players.
Print journalists have traditionally played the role of watchdog over the sport, but their numbers have been shrinking in this media industry shakeout. For example, only about half of the newspapers that regularly cover pro baseball teams sent journalists to last fall’s World Series.
These issues and many others will be the subject of a panel this month sponsored by the IU National Sports Journalism Center. The panel discussion, “Who’s Covering Home? The Transformation of Baseball Coverage in America and What It Means for Sports Journalism and Fans,” is set for 7 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 9, in the auditorium at Ernie Pyle Hall.
The panelists include Eric Collins, play-by-play sportscaster for ESPN and ABC; Steve Jacobson, a former Newsday sports columnist and author of “Carrying Jackie’s Torch: The Players Who Integrated Baseball — and America;” Josh Rawitch, vice president of communications for the Los Angeles Dodgers; and Ken Rosenthal, lead field reporter for Major League Baseball with FOX Sports TV. Jacobson and Rawitch are IU graduates.
“We are in the midst of historic changes in the coverage of professional sports, especially baseball,” said Tim Franklin, director of the National Sports Journalism Center and the Louis A. Weil, Jr. Chair in the IU School of Journalism. “These changes have major implications for fans who follow the sport and the journalists who cover it. This is a diverse panel that includes broadcasters, a print journalist, a Web reporter and a public relations executive. They’ll explore these questions from all angles.”
Rosenthal, who spent 17 years in newspapers before entering broadcasting and reporting for FoxSports.com, said young people always are asking him how to get into the business.
“The answers are not as clear as they once were, but they are out there,” Rosenthal said. “The trick is to find them — and the industry is changing so rapidly, the answers tomorrow might not be the same as they are today.”
Jacobson said recent changes in the business have big consequences for fans who follow all sports in the media.
“The future I see is for coverage reduced to hardcore sports for hardcore interest,” said Jacobson, the legendary former columnist for Newsday. “The big four sports are covered, and the broader reader/sports fan will never see stories about the Little League coach who attacks an umpire with a hockey stick.”
Rawitch agrees that the industry is changing at a rapid rate.
"With the changing media landscape in baseball and throughout the world of sports, it’s important for students and professionals alike to take a step back and really dissect where we’re headed in regards to coverage,” he said.
About the National Sports Journalism Center: The National Sports Journalism Center, which opened in January 2009, is the nation’s most comprehensive institute for the study of sports media. The center includes undergraduate sports journalism courses on the IUPUI and Bloomington campuses, internship opportunities for students, a speaker series that includes America’s top sports journalists, and a Web site, www.SportsJournalism.org, with breaking news and information on the sports media industry. The center is the national headquarters of the Associated Press Sports Editors, the nation’s largest professional sports journalism organization.
Follow us on Twitter at iusportscenter and on Facebook at sportsjournalism.org.
Web sites and television outlets owned by leagues and teams are expanding and growing in popularity. The number of bloggers writing about teams is exploding. Social media allows fans to interact directly with their favorite players and teams. At the same time, however, fewer print beat reporters are covering teams and the post-season.
These watershed changes are occurring at the very time when fans are asking hard questions of sports journalists, such as how so many of them missed one of the biggest scandals in the history of the sport – the abuse of steroids by several star players.
Print journalists have traditionally played the role of watchdog over the sport, but their numbers have been shrinking in this media industry shakeout. For example, only about half of the newspapers that regularly cover pro baseball teams sent journalists to last fall’s World Series.
These issues and many others will be the subject of a panel this month sponsored by the IU National Sports Journalism Center. The panel discussion, “Who’s Covering Home? The Transformation of Baseball Coverage in America and What It Means for Sports Journalism and Fans,” is set for 7 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 9, in the auditorium at Ernie Pyle Hall.
The panelists include Eric Collins, play-by-play sportscaster for ESPN and ABC; Steve Jacobson, a former Newsday sports columnist and author of “Carrying Jackie’s Torch: The Players Who Integrated Baseball — and America;” Josh Rawitch, vice president of communications for the Los Angeles Dodgers; and Ken Rosenthal, lead field reporter for Major League Baseball with FOX Sports TV. Jacobson and Rawitch are IU graduates.
“We are in the midst of historic changes in the coverage of professional sports, especially baseball,” said Tim Franklin, director of the National Sports Journalism Center and the Louis A. Weil, Jr. Chair in the IU School of Journalism. “These changes have major implications for fans who follow the sport and the journalists who cover it. This is a diverse panel that includes broadcasters, a print journalist, a Web reporter and a public relations executive. They’ll explore these questions from all angles.”
Rosenthal, who spent 17 years in newspapers before entering broadcasting and reporting for FoxSports.com, said young people always are asking him how to get into the business.
“The answers are not as clear as they once were, but they are out there,” Rosenthal said. “The trick is to find them — and the industry is changing so rapidly, the answers tomorrow might not be the same as they are today.”
Jacobson said recent changes in the business have big consequences for fans who follow all sports in the media.
“The future I see is for coverage reduced to hardcore sports for hardcore interest,” said Jacobson, the legendary former columnist for Newsday. “The big four sports are covered, and the broader reader/sports fan will never see stories about the Little League coach who attacks an umpire with a hockey stick.”
Rawitch agrees that the industry is changing at a rapid rate.
"With the changing media landscape in baseball and throughout the world of sports, it’s important for students and professionals alike to take a step back and really dissect where we’re headed in regards to coverage,” he said.
About the National Sports Journalism Center: The National Sports Journalism Center, which opened in January 2009, is the nation’s most comprehensive institute for the study of sports media. The center includes undergraduate sports journalism courses on the IUPUI and Bloomington campuses, internship opportunities for students, a speaker series that includes America’s top sports journalists, and a Web site, www.SportsJournalism.org, with breaking news and information on the sports media industry. The center is the national headquarters of the Associated Press Sports Editors, the nation’s largest professional sports journalism organization.
Follow us on Twitter at iusportscenter and on Facebook at sportsjournalism.org.
