Moving from behind the desk and out of the newsroom

Peters recently joined the legion of
"former" sports broadcasters
http://www.kmot.com/

If you sit down and have a heart-to-heart with somebody who is currently in the sports journalism profession, it seems as though many are Debbie Downers, with mostly negative things to say about it.  Crappy hours, bad pay, poor equipment…

The Fargo-area sports broadcasting pool has even taken a hit lately, with both the sports director (Scott Peters) and weekend sports anchor (Brian Shawn) at KVLY recently (and quietly) announcing their resignation.

So let’s face it; the broadcasting/journalism business (the sports side in particular) is tough.  And new media isn’t making things any easier on the traditionalists (the local TV/newspaper guys)…  Or you could say that new media IS making things easier…for those willing to forge new territory.  

Brown is forging new territory in the
sports journalism world
http://www.marcmine.com/
orangebloods.com-chip-brown

For example, take the story of Chip Brown.  Brown currently works for orangebloods.com, a fan-based Web site that predominately covers Texas Longhorns football.  He is now known as one of the first journalists to break a national sports story on a fan-based site because of his work covering the potential realignment of college football’s Big 12 conference this past summer. 

The point is that Brown had previously worked for the Associated Press and The Dallas Morning News for 20 years as a reporter.  He was well established in his career, to say the least.    

But Brown evidently saw an opening.  One created by new media. 

Instead of being restricted by the traditional boundaries of television and print, Brown took his journalistic skills and 20 years of experience to the web and just started digging, as every journalist must do.  In the process he out-performed ESPN and every other prestigious radio and print journalistic entity in breaking a story with definite national interest.  All while working for orangebloods.com.

Byers has found his niche
as multimedia coordinator for
the NDSU Bison
http://www.gobison.com

More locally, Kasey Byers, the multimedia coordinator for NDSU Athletics, serves as another example. Byers, like Brown, had dabbled in the “conventional” sports journalism world…and hated it.  He, too, turned to new media.  Now, he covers all things Bison for gobison.com.

Byers has found freedom.  Not only can he get the game’s best plays available online for the world hours before the evening news will go on the air in its limited market, but he is not confined to a four minute time slot in which he has to jam highlights from six different games.  On the web, he can post whatever he thinks is necessary to a seemingly limitless audience, even adding artistic flair.  Check out his work: 

If you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em.  During the development of the Big 12 story, Brown made seven appearances on ESPN and did 70 radio interviews, according to SI.com.  Subscribers on his Web site increased seven percent while more and more people tuned in to his Twitter account for updates.     

Because of the ever-growing prevalence of the Web, guys like Peters can attest to the fact that success in the sports journalism industry no longer necessarily means you have to wear a suit and tie while sitting behind an anchor’s desk or write for a prevalent newspaper or sports magazine.  All you really need is an internet connection...and a healthy dose of ambition.