Why is most sportswriting so bad?

In addition to the reading issue, the fact that the nation, as a rule, has seen its writing standards lowered as well as the whole ESPN thing, I'd add it's due to the fact our standards have lowered.

I don't mean "our" as in sportswriters -- I mean it overall. We're in a world where voice mail, extra fees and baggage like that is the norm, and it's essentially lowered the common thought demonimator.

And we as writers -- especially those at wire services -- have to write for that common demoninator. They want trite cliches? Well, they are the audience. Give them what they want and expect.

I think that has something to do with it, too.

(Oh, I hate the ESPN thing so. I am still looking for work and when I tell people I "used to be a sportswriter" they automatically say, "Oh, did you try ESPN?") It's what people assume sportswriting to be.

 

From what I can gather, the writing is bad because writers aren't prepared, are rushed into situations they are ill prepared for, and think their work is beyond criticism.

 

Sirs, Madames,

I put it down to the death of manners.

More seriously, I put it down to the fact that young people who want to go into sportswriting care more about sports than writing and not at all about reporting. Fans of sport, not fans of writing, and not fans of journalism.

Perhaps thankfully, we don't have ESPN Sportscenter in the northern dominion. Unfortunately, we have TSN's tepid knock-off. Some on board are professionals, but, even more unfortunately, the two main guys raise the IQ on the street when they walk through the front doors to the office.

YHS, etc

 

Why is most painting so bad? Why is most photography so bad? Why is most music so bad? Why is most cooking so bad? Why is most architecture so bad? Why is most modern dance so bad? Why is most theater so bad? Why are most movies so bad? Why are most novels so bad? Why are most blogs so bad? Etc.

 

Another interesting question would be if decent writing makes as much sense as writing in the queen's English these days. Tweetese and Textlish are what most people communicate in these days. Complete sentences, well crafted paragraphs, a beginning, a middle and an end?
People are growing more accustomed to the three graph "story" to get their news. I was at a Civil War reenactement last weekend and a guy was portraying a newspaper reporter and had one of those old papers with eight columns across - I was amazed at how much information they crammed on to one page - no jumps - a story continued down a column and maybe to the top of the next and ended. Then the next story. Maybe an ad in between stories.
I realize we have a lot of designers here and love a well crafted page as much as anyone - but people want info, and lots of it. And with news space at a premium - it might be time to ditch the artwork.

 

I look back at copies of the newspaper where I'm at and the stories from the '60s and before are horrible. You had 30-inch gamers or roundups. No features or enterprise.

 

+10.

Also doesn't help that there are fewer people available to edit, more regional copydesk hubs and more focus on saving a buck and quantity instead of quality from the higher-ups.

Oh, and many places pay next-to-nothing, which further diminishes the quality of potential workers.

 

that was the trend. However, there was good reporting. Nowadays, the reporting is more rumor than fact.

 

My biggest beef with ESPN-ese from our stringers (and others) has to do with their constant use of the subjunctive -- "would." They often write things like, Smith would hit a two-run home run instead of Smith hit a two-run home run. ESPN uses this a lot, as do many 10 p.m. local sportscasters. Is this a common broadcast way of writing that has filtered into print or is it just poor writing?

 

Poor writing.

 

Too many writers have no drive and too many desks routinely run through what they get, no questions asked. I don't care what you're covering or how many other hundreds of writers are there, if you can't get a fact, a quote, something, that no one else has, you're not trying.

 

While the goal is to be different, there are times when you can't.