The Athletic keeps growing .......

Though I will say it was interesting to read in that Deadspin piece about the issues between the union and Bezos. I was previously unaware of that, or at least forgot about it.

 

...but enough about the St. Louis Sun.

 

The space thing is largely why some of what I've read has been uninspiring. It takes a disciplined writer to show restraint despite unlimited space. Not everything has to be a Longform. So I think having unlimited space has caused some to suddenly think it's a green light to forget about writing tight and give us more than is necessary. It's the Bill Simmons effect.

 

The Athletic is gearing its entire operation toward content that attracts subscription dollars.

The Sacramento Bee has a new hire and has decided that money is best spent hiring what sounds like an aggregator.

No surprise the Athletic is having a difficult time pillaging the Washington Post. Post is one of the few sports digital operations that does it right.

The money isn't the only thing driving talent to the Athletic. Writers are tired of working under bosses who have no idea what is required to compete in today's digital landscape.

Real-time sports reporter — Sacramento Bee

 

Kevin Draper talks to a few current and former media execs about The Athletic and some are skeptical and some are more bullish about its prospects.

At The Athletic, a Hiring Spree Becomes a Story in Itself

 

One thing that's fascinated me so far is the frequency or infrequency of coverage in certain NFL markets.

Completely agree that the lede/notebook/something to just make deadline is outdated and won't attract audience. But in a market I follow, the NFL beat writer posted a story Tuesday and another longer piece Friday this week. Nothing Sunday, Monday or Wednesday or Thursday. (The Friday piece was presumably derived from reporting time Wednesday and Thursday.) The site had its analytics person post a video-driven piece on one of the days that the beat writer didn't write and another writer post a lengthy takeout on another day.

With a new model and no expectations of levels/volume of coverage, The Athletic can not have coverage on certain days and say, we will make it up to you tomorrow with something really great. Can the local newspaper go dark in terms of live content on the local pro teams on a given day, given that there is still the print base to serve? Are the reader expectations that there will be a story every day when the team is practicing not relevant anymore?

 

Maybe this should be on a different thread, but do I need to lighten up about beat writers (this time it's the Clippers writer for the Athletic) posing for selfies with the famous people they cover? It comes off as amateurish, and is something old school reporters would have a problem with.

 

Self-promotion, which includes promotion by selfie, is part of the game these days.

 

So taking selfies with athletes or coaches you cover is now OK? Been over a decade since I've covered sports,
but would think that's kind of like asking for an autograph. Guess I'm out of touch.

 

He took a photo to post the story link on Instagram. Doesn't really strike me as an "OMG I met a CLIPPER!!" post.