More on AEJMC panel

I briefly blogged after our AEJMC panel last week, giving you some of the highlights. I wanted to
give some more details in the form of quotes from the panelists. Some very interesting conversation to say the least.

Panel:

Graham Watson, formerly of ESPN.com
Lindsey Jones, Denver Post (Broncos beat writer)
Ben Hochman, Denver Post (Nuggets beat writer)
Reggie Rivers, Channel 4, Denver/Former Broncos running back

Lindsey Jones:

Twitter has completely changed our beats. I can’t remember what the job was like before it. The whole mentality has changed. Who cares when you get it on the website? Twitter is what matters.

(Jones has 11,000 Twitter followers; on August 1, 2010 she started Tweeting at 8am and didn’t end until 9pm).

(Denver Post has hired a Social Media Editor. Dan Petty started as a 22-year old intern. Six months later he was SME).

I’m not going to tweet something I wouldn’t put in the paper.

Ben Hochman:

The way you approach the workday is completely different than just a few years ago. If Carmelo Anthony sneezes, people want to know. A lot of people care. This is the new journalism and changes the way we approach the newspaper. If it’s already appeared on Twitter, why read the newspaper?

The new dynamic is media and fans. People are tweeting me constantly and I’m encouraged to interact with them. I’m not just writing for them, but communicating with them.

Tweets are now quotes. Tweets are now news.

Graham Watson

The ESPN policy was, “Don’t break news on Twitter. That’s what we have the web for.”

College football realignment was the best example of false reporting in the new media. Ninety percent of it was just not true and irresponsible.

One thing I’ve learned is to play nice with others. We’re taught to be competitive in journalism, but in the blog world we need to share, like linking to other people’s stories. Then they will link back.

ESPN makes millions. During the football season, they get 18 million unique page hits per month. And the NFL is twice that.

You wake up at 7am and put your face into the computer until 10pm. It’s a grueling, demanding job and burnout is a real danger.

Reggie Rivers

The way people experience sports media has changed. They can tailor it to the way they receive information; the way they follow certain teams.

The relationship between the players and the media is well established, but it’s changing. Now, players have their own blogs and tweets.

We’re losing the vetting process and a degree of journalistic integrity. There’s no time to consider or edit anything. A good example is someone who shoots an interview in a locker room. The person behind them may be naked or say something profane, but in the rush to get it posted it may go unnoticed.