I read an excellent article from WSJ.com contributor Jason Fry.
Fry posted on IU’s National Journalism Sports Center site about how the embrace of social media by athletes will affect sportswriters and their coverage. The discussion was part of Social Media week in New York (Feb. 1- Feb. 5).
The article caught my eye because the debate has been an issue of interest. In December 2008 while writing for stltoday.com’s Speaking Visually graphics blog, I briefly discussed the impact of Lance Armstrong’s embrace of Twitter. Armstrong, long a technology geek on and off the bike, began communicating directly with his fans through Twitter and encouraged his teammates and coach to join the micro-blogging service.
Last spring, after taking offense to an article blaming him for a rider uprising about safety, Armstrong reportedly boycotted the Giro D’Italia media last year, posting his post-race thoughts and analysis on Twitter. By the end of the race, some cycling journalists were quoting Armstrong’s tweets. Today, Armstrong has over 2.4 million followers while the NBA’s Shaquille O’Neal boasts 2.8 million followers.
Fry notes that the rage of Twitter and Facebook began four years ago — and now a new crop of collegiate star athletes will soon break into the public consciousness having used social media as easily a primary means of communication as they’ve used their smartphones for voice calls.
Fry writes:
So where will that leave sportswriters?
For one thing, they will have to accept that they are no longer gatekeepers through which information must pass – reporting on a team will require not just time in the locker room, but also hours following athletes on Twitter, checking in on their fan pages, and watching their latest Ustream videos.
But that’s already happening – many sportswriters are on Twitter in part because the athletes and agents they cover are on it. As things evolve, I think sportswriters will be more free to let what athletes say through social media stand for itself. Pretty soon specifying that someone said something on Twitter will be as odd as specifying that it was said using a telephone.
The migration to social media by current sportswriters (and the new guard of journalists) likely will change the manner traditional interviews are conducted. While some athletes will use Twitter and Facebook as ways to reach out to fans, other, savvier athletes will expect beat writers and columnists to be just as comfortable using these mediums. Those beat writers and columnists must be skilled in navigating the athlete’s tweets to construct a compelling story — even if the interview unfolds 140 words at a time.