Fan journalism

A couple of weeks ago, a cousin of my wife told me he doesn’t read sports writers anymore. Instead he follows fans and hear what they have to say on podcasts.

As a sports writer, I guess I am supposed to be upset by this. Truthfully, I do the same thing though.

After each week of the NFL, I listen to a podcast where two football fans share what they thought. Basically, what we have seen in the last decade are sports journalists morph into a role of a fan.

About 15 years ago, I wanted to be like Bob Kravitz of the Indianapolis Star. I read everything Mike Wells wrote about the Pacers. Today, I can’t even tell you who the beat writer is for the Pacers.

The industry has been cornered by a few “insiders” who break news and everyone reacts to it. People like Adam Schefter and Adrian Wojnarowski. When Andrew Luck retired from the Colts the news did not come from a local source. If you are a fan of the Pacers or Colts, you don’t have to go to local sources of information to follow the team.

The Indianapolis Star was who I looked up to when I was in high school. Now, the leaders in the sports industry I try to follow the most are Bill Simmons and Scott Van Pelt. Two guys that are more of a fan than an actual sports journalist. Today, if you ask a sports fan in Indiana who is the top sports media member in the state, you will get a variety of answers. I betting though Dan Dakich and Pat McAfee will come up quite a bit. That would not be the case 15 years ago.

So what are the ramifications of this? An example came up Friday night for me when Linton played North Daviess. Linton lost 24-23 despite holding the ball for several stretches of the game. As a sports journalist, it was my job to find out why Linton held the ball as long as it did. Coach Joey Hart did not want to go into his bench for a big game when his starters picked up some fouls.

For fans, the game became another reason for why there should be a shot clock in high school basketball. You see the difference there?

Sports writers are better at day to day and gathering objective information. Fan journalists tend to do better at the bigger picture though. For a good chunk of media consumers, that is what they want. Especially when there is so much information floating around out there. They need someone to break through the noise.

I don’t have the answers by any means but I do think you will see sports writers take on a hybrid role this decade. For example, the printed sports section in this paper will always be objective and factual. This column and my “Low Budget Sports Show” might be viewed as fan journalism from time to time. My videos and the interviews with players are more on the fan journalism side of things as well.

It’s a tricky path to navigate but as the habits of media consumers change, so should the habits of media companies.

Nathan is the Sports Editor of the Greene County Daily World and can be reached at npacegcdw@gmail.com. His Low Budget Sports Show airs weekly on Facebook Live.