Course Schedule – Sports Journalism in the Internet Age
Jul 31st, 2010 by Maria Burns Ortiz
Sports Journalism in the Internet Age
Instructor: Maria Burns Ortiz
Office hours: Tuesdays, 5:30-6:30 p.m. (By appointment.)
Readings: All readings are to be completed for the week listed. Readings are subject to change throughout the course of the semester. All readings will be finalized two weeks prior to the assigned date. The link (when piece is accessible online) can be found by clicking on the article’s title. When noted, readings will be handed out in class.
Blog Assignments: Additionally, all students will be required to keep a blog. Posts should be well researched, informative and grammatically correct. Blogs should be concise – remember, in journalism, longer does always not equal better. Posts should be up 24 hours before class meets. Students should familiarize themselves with their classmates’ blogs and comment when warranted.
Week 1 – Introduction. (Sept. 7)
Discussion: What’s most compelling about sports? Why do you watch? Why do you care? How do you consume your sports media? Who do you read?
Expectations for the course. Syllabus review. Assign autobiographies. Personal information sheets.
Writing tips and what makes a good blog. How to set up a blog.
Week 2 – The evolution of sports media. (Sept. 14)
Readings:
• “The Silent Season of a Hero.” Gay Talese, Esquire.
• “LeBron James: The Rise of the Superathlete.” Lisa Taddeo, Esquire.
• “Miracle of Coogan’s Bluff.” Red Smith, The New York Herald Tribune. (Handout)
• “YES!!!” Dan Shaughnessy, Boston Globe.
Blog Assignment: Write a “game story” using only information you find in a box score. Click here for the box score.
Week 3 – What makes for good (sports) journalism? (Sept. 21)
Readings:
• “Warren Beatty.” (Story and Intro) Bill Zehme, Rolling Stone. (Handout)
• “Pat Tillman: Remember His Name.” Gary Smith, Sports Illustrated.
• “If You’re Expecting One-Liners, Wait, a Column.” Jim Murray, Los Angeles Times.
• “Broncos Again Play Clay Pigeons in the NFL’s Biggest Skeet Shoot.” Jim Murray, Los Angeles Times.
• “Into Thin Air.” Jon Krakauer, Outside.
Blog Assignment: An interesting story. A big event. A recognizable/high-profile character. Good quotes/interviews. Writing (set up, lede, scene setting, writer’s tone, etc.) Rate 1-5 the importance of each of the above in creating quality sports journalism. Give a one-two sentence explanation as to why you ranked it in that spot.
Autobiography for Week 5 must be approved. Click here for autobiography list.
Week 4 – Sports journalism that moves you. (Sept. 28)
Readings:
• “To An Athlete Dying Young.” A.E. Housman.
• “Late Hit from a Con Artist.” and “Score One for the Good Guys.” Rick Reilly, Sports Illustrated.
• “When the Terror Began.” Alexander Wolff, Sports Illustrated.
• “Every Parent’s Nightmare.” Don Yaeger and William Nack, Sports Illustrated.
• “My Army Experience Was Life-Altering.” Gino Marchetti as told to Maria Burns Ortiz, ESPN.com.
• Marchetti Transcript. Maria Burns Ortiz. (Will be e-mailed.)
Video:
• One Day in September (Will arrange screening)
• One Last Look, USC draws inspiration from Fan (Web video)
Blog Assignment: Find one to three examples of sports journalism (text, video, audio or photo driven) that moved you. Link to it. What was it that impacted you?
In-class exercise: Interview classmate for Week 5 blog.
Final Presentation Topic Due. (Topics must be approved.)
Week 5 – Long form sports journalism: The athlete autobiography. (Oct. 5)
Readings: Students will choose an athlete autobiography to read. Autobiographies must be approved by Week 3. Click here for autobiography list.
Blog Assignments:
• Blog Assignment 1 – Ghostwrite the first page of your classmate’s “autobiography.”
• Blog Assignment 2 – Autobiography review. Comment on structure, voice, anecdote selection, readability, etc. of the athlete autobiography you read for class.
Skill: Interviewing, Part II
Week 6 – Sports Blogapalooza.
Sports blogs – Part I. Armchair quarterbacks or essential to the debate? (Oct. 12)
Readings:
• “Bill Simmons, Establishment.” Will Leitch, Deadspin.
• “It’s all fun and games ‘til you (maybe) libel someone.” Sports Journalism Today.
• “Q&A: Will Leitch.” Richard Deitsch, SI.com.
• “Deadspin’s Barrage on ESPN Raises Legal Questions.” Clay Travis, FanHouse. [Read linked stories in this post.]
• “A Sports Column Written Far From Print, and the Game.” Noam Cohen, New York Times.
• “The battle over bloggers.” Bruce Dowbiggin, The Globe and Mail.
• “A Confrontation on ‘Costas Now’ Worthy of a Blog.” Richard Sandomir, New York Times.
• “Blogger vs. Mainstream Media.” Shane Hoopfer, Pro Sports Blogging.
• “Sports-Centric Web Sites Expand, and Bias Is Welcome.” Joseph Plambeck, New York Times.
Additional Sites:
• Sports Guy’s World, ESPN.com Page 2. (Bill Simmons)
• Deadspin.
• The Big Lead.
• Red’s Army.
• MetsBlog.com. (Make sure to read the “About” section.)
• Select one additional fan blog. (Be ready to discuss it in class.)
Video:
Will Leitch-Buzz Bissinger-Braylon Edwards conversation on “Costas Now.” (Via Dailymotion.)
Blog Assignment:
• Blog Assignment 1. Post three short (one per day, approx. 200-300 words) sports blogs analyzing games and/or topical sports news.
• Blog Assignment 2. What additional fan blog did you choose to survey? Include the link. Why did you pick this site? (This post can be very short.)
• Blog Assignment 3. Make your blog “presentable.” If you still have the generic first WordPress post and/or comment, delete them. Write something up for your “About” section. Give it a title and tagline. The byline should be your name. If you’re still using the generic photo that came with your template, change it. Update the time so that your posts are shown in EST.
Skill: Computer Assisted Reporting
Midterm evaluation
Week 7 – Navigating the Blogsphere. (Oct. 19)
Sports blogs – Part II. Blogs as reporting tools and the rise of the live blog.
Readings:
• “How Gawker Ripped Off My Newspaper Story.” Ian Shapira, Washington Post.
• “Has the Blog Killed the Journalist?” Jeanne Sager, The Stir.
• “Blogs: All the noise that fits.” Michael Skube, Los Angeles TImes.
• “Journalism that Bloggers Actually Do.” Jay Rosen, Los Angeles Times.
• “I Am Not a Blogger.” Chris Allbritton, Back to Iraq.
• “Tension over sports blogs.” Tim Arango, New York Times.
• “SportsGrid Presents: The Top 25 Sports Bloggers, Writers, And Tweeters.” Davis/Fogarty, Mediaite.
• “NCAA Puts Limits on Live Blogging.” Mike Masnick, Techdirt.
• Yahoo! Sports UFC 118 Live Analysis.
• NESN.com Patriots-Ravens Live Blog.
Additional Sites:
• ESPNBoston.com Patriots Blog – Mike Reiss.
• D.C. Sports Bog – Dan Steinberg. (Make sure to read the “What the Heck Is This?” link at the top.)
Blog Assignment: Post three short (one per day, approx. 200-300 words) straightforward sports blogs on topical sports news.
Final Project Outline Due.
Skill: Twitter, Useful Real-World Terms and Concepts.
In-class exercise: Live blogging.
Week 8 – How has the digital age changed the sports media landscape?
Impact of the 24-hour news cycle – Part I. (Oct. 26)
Readings:
• “Have Keyboard Will Travel.” Sheelah Kolhatkar, New York Times.
• “Ten ways journalism has changed in the last 10 years.” Paul Bradshaw, Online Journalism Blog.
• “Media Landscape Redefined By 24-Second News Cycle.” The Onion.
• “10 Ways to improve online sports journalism.” Mark S. Luckie, 10,000 Words
• “Why sports has taken the lead in newsroom innovation.” Mark Coddington.
Additional Sites:
• National Sports Journalism Center. (Look over the site.)
Also make sure to read Jason Fry’s posts:
• “Travels along the Journalism Spectrum.’”
• “The Tale of Two Twitters.”
• “Twitter and Personality.”
SportsNewser. (Look over the site.)
Also make sure to read:
•“ESPN launches Heat Index.”
•“Bill Simmons Inadvertently Breaks Moss-Vikings Deal.”
•“The NHL and Foursquare Together at Last.”
•“NBA Game Time Coming to Google TV.”
•“Boston.com Goes Paid But Keeps Sports Free.”
Twitter Feeds:
• Pete Thamel (@PeteThamelNYT)
• Pat Forde (@espn4d)
• Darren Rovell (@darrenrovell)
• Bill Simmons (@sportsguy33)
• Celtics (@celtics)
• Choose two additional teams or sports journalists to follow.
Video:
• Zucker Clip on 2010 Olympic mobile (Poynter).
Blog Assignment: Monitor how you use sports media over the course of one day. Roughly how much of that is via the Web, TV and print (magazine or newspaper)? Do you follow teams/athletes/media via Twitter? Who writes the blogs you read – fans or journalists? When you hear a story where is the first place you go to confirm it – and why do you go there? How much do you use your phone (iPhone/Blackberry/etc.) vs. a computer to check sports news? Compare this briefly to how you used sports media three years ago.
Additional Assignment: Set up a Twitter account. Follow the Twitter accounts for Week 8 and Week 9. Post five sports-related “tweets.” Use a hashtag (#) in at least one tweet. Use a shortened URL in at least one tweet.
Speaker (via Skype): Kirk Gimenez, SportsNite Anchor, SportsNet New York, former anchor, ESPNews
Skill: Twitter
In-class Exercise: Write a “deadline story” in 15-minutes.
Week 9 – Athletes as celebrities – or Why Tiger Woods Hates TMZ.
Impact of the 24 hours news cycle – Part II. (Nov. 2)
Readings:
• “What Tiger Woods can learn from John Gotti.” Charles Feldman, Reuters.
• “Tiger Woods’ business is his and no one else’s” Gene Wojciechowski, ESPN.com.
• “The Good, the Bad and the Ugly of Celebrity Worship.” Charlene Muhammad, The Final Call.
• “What Tiger Woods’ crash means to mainstream media and celebrity news.” Eric Deggans. National Sports Journalism Center.
• “Tiger Woods and the TMZ effect: Can mainstream media compete?” Hal Boedeker
• “Hide The Baby Mamas! TMZSports.com Is Coming.” Sports by Brooks.
• “Brand It Like Beckham.” Kristen Bolt, Time.
• “The Multiple Brand Personalities of David Beckham: A Case Study of the Beckham Brand.” Vincent, Hill and Lee, Sport Marketing Quarterly. (Sep 2009. Vol. 18, Iss. 3 – Available via ProQuest.)
Additional Sites:
• Tiger Woods scandal: Complete coverage. Orlando Sentinel
Twitter Feeds:
• Shaquille O’Neal (@THE_REAL_SHAQ)
• Chad Ochocinco (@OGOchocinco)
• Ozzie Guillen (@ozzieguillen)
• Donte’ Stallworth (@d_stallworth18)
• Two other sports personalities to follow.
Blog Assignment: Give examples two or three athletes that are frequently in the tabloids and two to three examples of athletes that are similar in regard to on-field success, but aren’t tabloid fixtures– what differentiates these athletes? Give at least one example per athlete of an away-from-the-game story he/she was in the news for. Who endorses these athletes? How much do their (estimated) net worths vary? How does the public perception of these athletes differ?
Additional Assignment: Post five personal/observation tweets. (Bonus point if they are engaging.) Use at least one @ reply.
Skill: Networking
Final Project Progress Check.
[Note: Classes on Tuesday, Nov. 9 will follow a Thursday schedule.]
Week 10 – The rise of ESPN and the regional sports networks/sports websites. Convergence and multiplatform content. (Nov. 16)
Readings:
• “ESPN see growth in local sports markets.” Marketplace.
• “ESPN: The local leader in sports?” Eric Fisher, Sports Business Journal.
• “Will you be ready when ESPN Local comes to town?” Poynter.
• “A Network of Their Own.” NPR On the Media.
• “The Rise of ESPN.” Terence Smith, PBS Transcript.
• “The Ledger Domain: The Effect of Regional Sports Networks.” Maury Brown, Baseball Prospectus.
• “ESPN’s leap into the major leagues.” Marketplace. (Also read and/or listen to the “Bodenheimer full interview” and “ESPN corporate history” links in the accompanying box.)
• “ESPN can’t just bigfoot its way into local markets.” James Rainey, Los Angeles Times.
Additional Sites:
• NESN.com
Blog Assignment: How has ESPN, and subsequent regional sports networks, impacted sports media – for better and for worse?
Final Project Draft (Optional)
Guest speaker: Eric Ortiz, New Media Editor, NESN.com, former MLB Editor, ESPN.com
In-Class Exercise: Press Conference
Skill: Internships
Week 11 – More than just words: The impact of Moneyball. The role of stats and numbers. (Nov. 21)
Reading:
• “The Great Debate.” Alan Schwartz, Baseball America.
• “The No-Stats All-Star.” Michael Lewis, New York Times Magazine.
• “Differentiating the Top English Premier League Football Clubs from the Rest of the Pack: Identifying the Keys to Success.” Joel Oberstone, Journal of Quantitative Analysis in Sports.
• “From One-and-Done to Seasoned Veterans: A Demographic Analysis of Individual Career Length in Major League Soccer.” Nathaniel Boyden and James Carey, Journal of Quantitative Analysis in Sports.
• “Moneyball opened our eyes, but it wasn’t a game-changer.” Sky Andrecheck, SI.com.
• Classmates’ projects.
Additional Sites:
• The Harvard Sport Analysis Collective Blog.
Blog Assignment: Write a post using analytics data.
Skill: Building up clips, freelancing
Final project presentations.
Week 12 – Diversity. Women and minorities in sports media. (Nov. 30)
Reading:
• “Who’s covering whom? Sports sections lag in diversity” Richard Lapchick, ESPN.com.
• “Offensive Interference” Sherry Ricchiardi, American Journalism Review.
• “Depiction of a female reporter in Mr. 3000 sends the wrong message.” Richard Deitsch, Sports Illustrated.
• “Hey Chico! The Latin in Major League Baseball.” Samuel O. Regalado, Nine: A Journal of Baseball History and Culture. [Nine is available through Gale or MUSE in Tufts E-Journals. Fall 2002. Vol. 11, Issue 1]
• “Stereotypes, the Media and Black Athletes Who Get into Trouble.” James G. Muhammad. New America Media.
Racial and Gender Report Card (Associated Press Sports Editors).” 2008 report. University of Central Florida’s DeVos Sports Business Management program.
Blog Assignment: Ines Sainz case study. What are you thoughts on the Ines Sainz-Jets controversy from earlier this semester? Also examine what has happened following this incident. Include links. [You do not have to read or comment on your classmates’ blogs as you are expected to read your classmates’ projects.]
Speaker (via Skype): Angela Clemmons, Sports Copy Chief, The Denver Post, former copy editor, The New York Daily News
Skill: Resume
Course evaluations.
Final project presentations.
Week 13 – Wrap Up – What’s Next? (Dec. 7)
Reading:
• “Back to the Future.” Gary Andrew Poole, Columbia Journalism Review.
• “Covering the Nationals on Behalf of Fans.” Patrick Hruby, ESPN.com.
• “Will Citizen Journalists Take Over The London 2012 Olympics?” Andy Miah, Huffington Post.
• “Baseball Writers Brace for the End.” Russell Adams and Tim Marchman, Wall Street Journal.
• “Arthur Sulzberger: ‘We Will Stop Printing The New York Times Sometime In The Future.’” Huffington Post. [Also read the two stories linked within the post.]
• Sports Illustrated tablet demo. YouTube.
Blog Assignment: How do you envision the future of sports journalism?
Skill: The good, bad, ugly and amazing.
Final project presentations.