A future starts with the next generation of sports journalists
Opening for Future of Sports Journalism discussion. Courtesy of Aspen Sports Institute.
On Nov. 15, Aspen Institute hosted a virtual panel that discussed the future of sports journalism. Panelists discussed the importance of journalism over opinion when it comes to covering sports and a possible solution to the growing industry.
The first panel included Andrea Kremer, an NFL Network chief correspondent, CBS Sports Network co-host and HBO Real Sports correspondent; Ben Strauss, a Washington Post sports and media reporter; Moderator Jon Solomon, Aspen Institute Sports & Society Program editorial director and former investigative sports reporter.
Discussions comprised sports journalism and journalists, comparing the past to the present and then the profession's future but also how long form sports journalism has taken a backseat due to audience interest.
In the first panel, Kremer spoke heavily about how sports journalism lacks stories and is more about opinion. Kremer regards today’s sports programming as “networks of screaming men” because of how much arguing analysts do on their respective platforms.
“You may not know what they’re talking about, but they’re screaming,” said Kremer.
She used the example of the new program on ESPN, the Pat McAfee show, and regarded it as not real journalism.
Kremer said networks continue to produce shows like McAfee's as “cheaper to produce” than programs like “Real Sports”, for which she was a correspondent. However, she recognized that live sports and opinions rack in the money for these networks.
“You continue to have this programming to share their opinions. It is not reporting,” said Kremer, “it is not what I call journalism.”
With hundreds of sports analysis shows across networks, for young sports journalists, it can be hard to navigate what is truly sports journalism and what is opinion.
In addition to the changing landscape of how sports journalism is presented, networks are opting for hiring former athletes to give the news to audiences. However, they don’t have the same journalism training, so the question becomes whether or not they would be able to “peel back the onion” if needed for a story.
“They [athletes] remember the code, they were on that other side,” said Kremer, “I think that can be an impediment to really strong journalism.”
As concerning as it is to see the lines of sports journalism and opinion being crossed, another problem looms in the distance.
Over the summer, the New York Times dissolved their sports department. This means that coverage of games and athletes will come from The Athletic.
“The New York Times is in the subscription business, they’re a publicly traded company and they wanted 10 million subscribers and The Athletic was a great way to get closer to that 10 million,” Struss said. Struss added that even though they dissolved their sports desk they are able to cover more sports that the Times has ever done in the past. The panel reached out to the Times, but at the time of the panel they had yet to hear from the news giant.
Journalists working for The Athletic can now focus on sports and cover more live games and sports events. This move can be viewed as more of a business decision for the Times. However, Struss pointed out that now the sports desk at the New York Times is no longer in the newsroom. Even though the New York Times gained more subscribers through The Athletic and there is more focused coverage on sports, the camaraderie between colleagues is lost. The sports desk is a part of a lot of newsrooms as coverage of sports can become news.
“I think it’s too early to tell long term,” said Struss, “It’s interesting where the New York Times company dissolved their sports desk, but the New York Times is now covering sports more robustly.”
As sports desks are now dissolving, the industry is seeing more networks like the National Football League have partnerships with cable networks like NBC. The partnership can compromise how a story of an athlete or coach is told. Kermer ended the discussion on the importance of staying honest in journalism.
“You have to be careful that you’re able to report honestly and thoroughly and fairly about a subject and not fall prey to you’ve got an executive looking over your shoulder,” said Kremer.
Sports journalism is continuing to evolve along with new technology and audience interests.
“One of my big takeaways from this is that there are some real challenges but I’m hopeful, fingers crossed, that there is still some real impactful long form sports journalism,” said Solomon.
The full discussion can be found here.