The Athletic layoffs

Which is contradictory to what they said they are: a place for analysis, not quick-hit stuff.

 

A lot of people on here are quick to diss something they've never even seen. This is an example of their breaking coverage from last night: Jets agree in principle to hire Robert Saleh as head coach

It's quick, analytical, unique and keeps them competitive with other national outlets when there's breaking news. I think it's genius, it's a great way to expand the number of people visiting the site and it gives those people a little taste of what they'll get if they subscribe.

 

Banter and stanning aside, there's no question The Athletic has pivoted to being more competitive on breaking news when they punted on it at the outset, which is an admission that they are shifting from their original approach. Even if you hate it, you at least have to attempt to stay on top of breaking news in order to stay afloat these days.

Also, to call how they're handling breaking news as "unique" and "genius" is why some sports writers don't like The Athletic. They're doing stuff that has been done forever, not reinventing the wheel.

 

Click the link I shared earlier. That's what all of their breaking coverage looks like. It doesn't look like any breaking news coverage I've ever seen. It's better, and they can do it that way because they're not hamstrung by needing to fill space in dying print product.

 

I'm in the business, Chad, and compete against The Athletic. I know what their stuff looks like. Also, congrats on your employment at The Athletic.

 

I’m out of the business but that’s the only place I would go if I wanted to get back in. It’s the only place where long-term success actually seems possible.

 

I mean, its a q&a with the beat writer? This is something you’ve never seen before? I’ve seen it hundreds of times, usually aggregated as a transcript of those same questions asked when the writer calls in to do a breaking news hit

 

So on one hand we have Sports Barf and on the other we have Chad Felter's hagiography.

The truth is somewhere in the middle, no doubt.

 

The Athletic bankrollers, IMO, desire to be bought by some larger organization, which will then do whatever it pleases with the operation.

The work is fine. Good. I would not describe it as a place with a lot of original, dynamic thinking going on, however.

 

I’m not saying it will be weak. I’m saying they explicitly said they would be above the fray and offering in-depth stuff instead. I admired that approach. I find it interesting that they are changing course.

 

Most breaking news stories I see these days are 20-inch stories overloaded with background info. They all look the same. The Athletic's approach is different and I admire it for a few reasons:

1) It's quick and easy. For everyone saying that this takes them away from the in-depth content that they promised from the start, I totally disagree. The reporters probably get these done in 10-15 minutes and then move on to all of the good in-depth stuff that they've promised all along.

2) The Q&A format showcases the reporters' voices and expertise, which is exactly what The Athletic has been selling all along. Early on, they brought in a lot of people who had huge followings on Twitter. How'd they get those followings? Their voice and expertise stood out among the crowd. These breaking files, which are outside of the paywall, give a taste of those voices and expertise to people who maybe aren't on social media or don't know much about The Athletic.

3) The format also gives the reader some initial analysis, rather than what I see from most outlets, which is just an explanation of the news followed by paragraphs upon paragraphs of context. Most readers aren't reading 20 inches of background, which means the effort that went in to writing all of that background was a waste of time.

The only downside to this format is that it doesn't play well in print. Oh, wait, The Athletic doesn't have a print product. Nevermind!

I imagine that they jumped into the breaking news game to 1) stay competitive with other outlets and 2) to expand the number of potential subscribers. Before they were in on breaking news, they were really just relying on social media and word of mouth to gain subscribers. But by bringing people to the site through Google and other search engines to give them a taste, that's tapping into a huge amount of potential subscribers they weren't reaching before.