Indy Star major shakeup...

Is Fox Sports hiring beat writers for each team?

 

Fox Sports owns Scout, so yes, it already has reporters for every college team.

 

Also, any idea when these gigs will be posted? I imagine they already have candidates in mind for the Pacers and IU gigs.

 

I wonder if they planned to fill either one or just were trying to nudge veterans out the door.

 

On a different note, I've had three friends this week texting me and calling me about the Star situation. None of them are sports writers. Just avid IU or Butler fans. Usually I agree that laymen don't care about bylines. But apparently some do.

 

The most passionate fans care. The ones who troll the message boards care. Hell, I have about 5-7 people on FB who ask me a questions weekly about the college team that I covered over a decade ago. I have no idea why. I'm guessing they reached out to multiple beat writers and I was the one stupid enough to engage them.

 

Congrats Hutch! Nice move for both him and Fox.

 

Well, there are always some fans who will attempt to connect with journalists and familiarity helps. I experienced the same thing.

My point is you ask a dozen random people in a sports bar about a TV or radio personality and at least half will be able to tell you what station they work for and maybe offer an opinion. Ask the same people who is the beat writer for State U or the local NFL team at the newspaper and my guess not a single one can come up with the correct name. TV and radio are personality driven, while newspapers -- for the most part --- are content driven.

 

The more passionate the fan base, the more likely they are to know the beat writers. Especially if the beat writer is thought to be "negative."

 

From Ruth Holladay's blog, here's Hutch's Facebook post:

Here's what the Indianapolis Star's Indiana University beat writer Hutchens posted a bit ago on his Facebook page, regarding the Star's decision to reassign him:

"I'm happy to announce to all my Facebook friends that I resigned today at the Indianapolis Star after 22 years, the last 15 on the IU beat, and accepted a position with Fox Sports/Scout where I will help them launch the Indiana site for Scout.com. Basically what this means for me is that I'll be able to do exactly what I've done for the last 15 years but now I'll be my own boss, have a small staff of people, and be able to continue to do what I really want to do. Eight days ago I learned I had been taken off the IU beat by The Star. Within four days I had a job offer and I accepted it yesterday. I appreciate those at Fox Sports having faith in me that I can bring my brand and Star following to Scout and do what I do best. My new twitter handle is @FoxSportsHutch. The launch date is set for July 21. At that time you'll be able to sign up for a subscription. It costs about $10 a month if you go month-by-month or $8 plus if you sign up for a year at a time. I'm sure all my former Star readers will be getting line to follow me at Scout. ] I'll continue to take the high road with The Star and to tell you the truth they were more than fair with me today when I submitted my resignation. I just can't tell you all how happy I am that my job in a few weeks will continue to be the same one I've enjoyed for many years -- except I'll be running the show. Very cool."

 

Yeah. True. People imagine the writer has an axe to grind.

 

Glad to see how well this worked out for him. Only way it's better is if management really wanted a "recruiting" beat writer and thought he'd take the screw-job sitting down and now has to go looking for a qualified "recruiting" beat writer.