Live from Denver

Well, almost live. We're at the AEJMC convention where it's been a busy day for the new sports interest group.

The panel on 'Social Media and the Future of Sports Journalism' was terrific. Lindsay Jones (Denver Post writer for the Broncos and Benjman Hochman (Denver Post beat writer for the Nuggets), Reggie Rivers (former Bronocos player and local NBC sports reporter) and Graham Watson (former ESPN college football blogger) was a lively 90-minute give and take with a good audience on hand. I'll save some of the details for when I get back, but the highlights include:

• Sports journalism has changed drastically in just the past two years, primarily because of the blogging, tweeting and other new technologies reporters must now use. Hochman said the entire approach of the sports reporter has changed. No longer does he/she build for one story at the end of the day. The process is continuous and immediate.
  
• The work is longer and harder than ever, and can lead to burnout. This past Sunday, Jones posted her first Broncos tweet at 8 a.m., and her last at 9 p.m. In between, she had to keep up with her normal writing and reporting duties. Jones estimates she's now working around 70 hours per week.
  
• The demand for speed and updating has a down side in that sports reporters do not have time to carefully consider what they're reporting. Rivers said the "vetting process" has suffered and that causes some obvious ethical problems.
  
• Social media has changed the fan-journalist and athlete-journalist relationship. Fans are more involved and more demanding for information than ever; many athletes see the new media as a way to shape and control the content they produce.

Like I said, I'll have in the next day or two. The only downside to the panel was the Woody Paige was unable to attend. Woody contacted me during the afternoon and said he couldn't make it because he had to cover the breaking news in Broncos camp Thursday. I'm sorry Woody was unable to attend because I think he would have been great.