Article on Why Sports Journalism Matters

Yes, Journalism matters overall and so does sports journalism

The piece I found to read and talk about this week was not a straight news article on sports journalism and social media. This was a column about why sports journalism matters.

While this doesn't really talk about social media and sports journalism changing, it is important to show that sports journalism matters. If the basis of sports journalism does not matter, the changing of sports journalism doesn't matter and therefore the SM4SC campaign is not a thing. I think my SM4SC Campaign is important and would not happen without showing the importance of sports journalism.

So people don't consider sports journalists to be journalists because they don't think they are doing the "hard-hitting" journalism. This is not true, in my opinion. Sports journalists are just as much journalists as those who cover news and politics.

While some journalists just talk (TV or radio) or write about games and random sports topics, they also have to deal with issues related to athletes and teams. And even covering games, you still have to deal with other media members and players and coaches who don't often like to talk to the media. It is not all fun.

In terms of dealing with real-life issues related to the athletes or teams, you may have to deal with issues of a player or coach getting into trouble away from the sport, or an athlete dealing with sickness or other personal life issues.

In addition sports journalists normally shine when they do an in-depth feature on a player, coach or team. They allow you to see a backstory that you might not know if you just watch the games.

Article on the impact of social media on sports journalism the world of sports

I found and read an article on how social media is used in sports journalism. The main focus of the article was on Twitter. It talks about how social media sometimes divides sports journalists because some journalists love social media and use it often and others do not like/use it often or at all.

Yes, keeping a strong presence takes work, but it is vitally important, especially in this day and age. If you don't, you will fall behind the competition who are using social media. SM, especially Twitter, allow for promotion and allow for sports journalists to get information to people and allow them to get their stories out fast.

The article also mentions fan social media use and says that 80% of fans use social media while watching sports on TV and 60% use it while at games. They Tweet their own thoughts and also get information and thoughts from reporters.

Social media has also hurt sports journalism because athletes/coaches/teams can break the news themselves by posting something on Twitter, Instagram or Facebook, rather than telling a reporter/journalist.

This is related to my SM4SC Campaign because it talks about how important of a tool Twitter is and my SM4SC is about how social media has changed sports journalism. On a related note, I use the TweetDeck site for Twitter which allows me to manage multiple accounts easily. It also allows for easy viewing of notifications, mentions, direct messages, lists, and many other columns. It makes it easy to find and use information on Twitter. 

Article on Sports Reporters adapting to the Internet

I found an article on how sports reporters who are at newspapers are adapting to the the internet. It talks about how some reporters use social media, others to not. Personally, I see some reporters who use social media a lot, some who only use it a little and other reporters do not use social media at all.

The reporters who use social media a lot are the ones who Tweet frequent updates at games, post pictures, post their game stories, and other information. These reporters might also blog in addition to their articles with other information and commentary. The reporters who use it a little are the ones who Tweet/post at quarters only. Finally, the reporters who don't use social media go to games and or events, take notes, do their interviews and then file their story. Their stories often get less views people don't know them as well.

The article also talks about the old-school reporters not treating blogging as reporting/journalism. It is not traditional journalism, but it is journalism in my opinion. Yes, anyone can create a blog, but people should be able to tell what is real and fake news. Also, it is a way for people to break into the journalism industry.

This article relates to my SM4SC campaign because I want to show how important the internet and social media is nowadays in sports reporting. It is much tougher to compete in the industry without being very active on social media. 

Article On Correlation Between Social Media and Sports Journalism

I am someone who is an aspiring sports journalist and use social media to give out information, find information and to promote my work and the work of others. I read an article on the correlation between social media and sports journalism.

This article has some description and then uses charts and graphics to explain how social media and sports journalism have a correlation. The article says that 54% of all journalists use Twitter. Personally, I use it all of the time. I am surprised however, that the percentage is not higher. I think this is because some are still set in their ways and are "old-school." That being said, with newspapers unfortunately dying, journalists need a social media presence to stay relevant.

The article gives stats for ESPN, the Worldwide Leader in Sports, uses Twitter, Facebook and Youtube and are very successful at these. Due to the fact that people are "cutting the cord," ESPN needs to still have a presence to those who don't watch ESPN on TV and to the younger audience who is always on social media on their smartphones.

This article really helps to show my SM4SC campaign because it gives statistics to the use of social media for sports journalism and just doesn't give opinion or general information.