http://www.timesunion.com/AspStories/story.asp?storyID=789417&category=MCGUIRE&BCCode=&newsdate=4/11/2009
ALBANY - They surely did look like two kids trying to sneak into the Albany Firebirds' locker room after Friday night's game. Times Union Center security quickly stopped the pair, garbed in team gear, and asked where they thought they were going
The youths surprisingly pulled out legit press passes. Not entirely convinced, security asked for IDs. The teens produced them, too. They belonged. Finally, the two were let through to join the post-game gaggle of reporters.
The thing is, the two are in fact high school kids. They're also working press, even if they're not getting a dime for their efforts.
Welcome to the future of sports journalism. Actually, welcome to the present.
Ben Schwartz, 17 later this month, makes the four-hour round trip from Westchester so he can report for The Firebirds Nest, his site devoted to all things surrounding the af2 team. His cameraman Jeffrey Friedlander came along for the experience.
They want to be journalists, and what better training is there than covering a pro team? You just wonder what jobs will be there for them when they get out of college in five or so years.
And you ponder what changes are ahead for sports journalism, and what it will mean for its practitioners and fans.
In some ways, many ways, these are the best of days for sports fans. Followers of any team, from the local high school to a foreign soccer club, are a mouse click away from a deluge of information.
But as traditional media cut back on staff and space (at least, for newspapers, in the printed paper editions), who will be providing the source material - the quotes and tidbits and breaking news and first-hand analysis - since most (but certainly not all) journalistic Internet operations are labors of love?
And what quality of information can sports fans expect? Traditional media have access to players and coaches and executives and games, but have seen responsibilities mount exponentially (blogs, video, Web-based reporting, etc.). With an instantaneous news cycle and dwindling staffs, there's simply less opportunity for depth, as well as a declining ability to cover the widest range of interests.
Meanwhile, bloggers and other site operators - some every bit as good or better than the so-called professionals - are often constrained by a lack of access, or the fact they have "real" jobs in order to make a living.
In both traditional and emerging sports media, what we're talking about is time and money.
This is not whining: After two years in sports after a career working for other parts of newspapers, I'm truly grateful to have this gig. But I do question where the fan that is me is going to get first-hand info if we continue to see cutbacks at traditional media outlets everywhere (including this one), and no new model emerges.
Maybe it will be the leagues themselves, such as with nfl.com and mlb.com. As good as many of those sites and writers are, do you really expect them to take on those institutions should the need arise?
According to a recent Wall Street Journal report, the New York Times spends around $50,000 a year to send one baseball writer on the road for spring training and the season - and that's on top of salary and benefits. Few newspapers can do that, even on a local scale.
How can you expect a blogger to do that out of pocket? It's one thing to get dad to drive you up the Thruway for a Friday night game; it's another when the team you cover is playing on the opposite coast.
What will all this mean for local teams? It's Saturday night, and I'm in the upper reaches of Times Union Center, watching the Albany River Rats and Binghamton Senators engage in an epic brawl on the last night of the season. (The featured fight is a rare but crowd-pleasing goalie-on-goalie slugfest, won in a decision by Albany's Justin Peters.)
A row in front are the beat writers for the local newspapers. Will all those seats be filled next season? I have no idea. Maybe. Or maybe some kid will have to get a ride from dad to cover the game for free.
Mark McGuire can be reached at 454-5467 or by e-mail at mmcguire@timesunion.com. Visit his blog at http://blogs.timesunion.com/mcguire.
ALBANY - They surely did look like two kids trying to sneak into the Albany Firebirds' locker room after Friday night's game. Times Union Center security quickly stopped the pair, garbed in team gear, and asked where they thought they were going
The youths surprisingly pulled out legit press passes. Not entirely convinced, security asked for IDs. The teens produced them, too. They belonged. Finally, the two were let through to join the post-game gaggle of reporters.
The thing is, the two are in fact high school kids. They're also working press, even if they're not getting a dime for their efforts.
Welcome to the future of sports journalism. Actually, welcome to the present.
Ben Schwartz, 17 later this month, makes the four-hour round trip from Westchester so he can report for The Firebirds Nest, his site devoted to all things surrounding the af2 team. His cameraman Jeffrey Friedlander came along for the experience.
They want to be journalists, and what better training is there than covering a pro team? You just wonder what jobs will be there for them when they get out of college in five or so years.
And you ponder what changes are ahead for sports journalism, and what it will mean for its practitioners and fans.
In some ways, many ways, these are the best of days for sports fans. Followers of any team, from the local high school to a foreign soccer club, are a mouse click away from a deluge of information.
But as traditional media cut back on staff and space (at least, for newspapers, in the printed paper editions), who will be providing the source material - the quotes and tidbits and breaking news and first-hand analysis - since most (but certainly not all) journalistic Internet operations are labors of love?
And what quality of information can sports fans expect? Traditional media have access to players and coaches and executives and games, but have seen responsibilities mount exponentially (blogs, video, Web-based reporting, etc.). With an instantaneous news cycle and dwindling staffs, there's simply less opportunity for depth, as well as a declining ability to cover the widest range of interests.
Meanwhile, bloggers and other site operators - some every bit as good or better than the so-called professionals - are often constrained by a lack of access, or the fact they have "real" jobs in order to make a living.
In both traditional and emerging sports media, what we're talking about is time and money.
This is not whining: After two years in sports after a career working for other parts of newspapers, I'm truly grateful to have this gig. But I do question where the fan that is me is going to get first-hand info if we continue to see cutbacks at traditional media outlets everywhere (including this one), and no new model emerges.
Maybe it will be the leagues themselves, such as with nfl.com and mlb.com. As good as many of those sites and writers are, do you really expect them to take on those institutions should the need arise?
According to a recent Wall Street Journal report, the New York Times spends around $50,000 a year to send one baseball writer on the road for spring training and the season - and that's on top of salary and benefits. Few newspapers can do that, even on a local scale.
How can you expect a blogger to do that out of pocket? It's one thing to get dad to drive you up the Thruway for a Friday night game; it's another when the team you cover is playing on the opposite coast.
What will all this mean for local teams? It's Saturday night, and I'm in the upper reaches of Times Union Center, watching the Albany River Rats and Binghamton Senators engage in an epic brawl on the last night of the season. (The featured fight is a rare but crowd-pleasing goalie-on-goalie slugfest, won in a decision by Albany's Justin Peters.)
A row in front are the beat writers for the local newspapers. Will all those seats be filled next season? I have no idea. Maybe. Or maybe some kid will have to get a ride from dad to cover the game for free.
Mark McGuire can be reached at 454-5467 or by e-mail at mmcguire@timesunion.com. Visit his blog at http://blogs.timesunion.com/mcguire.
