Twitter's Impact on Sports Journalism: Replacing Reporters?

Introduction

The efficiencies of social media have all but replaced the need for beat reporting as digital mediums continue to change the way information is disseminated and received. Pocket-sized computers and handheld smartphones have made it easy to bypass conventional media outlets to break news, and professional athletes, teams, and sports organizations have all followed suit, posting their own messages on Twitter to mixed reviews. But are countless hours spent online contributing to the demise of traditional reporting? Is the lack of connectedness leading to journalistic failure when the need is less about accountability and more about being the first to break a story? Has the modern sports journalist simply been replaced by 140 characters? These are all valid questions when considering the impact that Twitter has had on sports journalism.

Fans of old-fashioned journalism are certain to suggest that Twitter cannot replace the comprehensive coverage that a journalist can provide. Moreover, people tweeting on Twitter generally lack the objectivity that sports journalists would have about an issue, introducing an untold amount of bias into reporting.

On the other hand, Twitter's appeal is not that it is a neutral source of information. On the contrary, fans of Twitter not only know that the information they are getting is biased, but actually seem to enjoy getting individual perspectives about sports-related issues. Followers may choose to piece together their own interpretations of various tweets to arrive at an individual perspective about a story, rather than rely upon any single source. Moreover, while the 140-character format necessarily limits the amount of information that can be conveyed in a single tweet, individuals may use multiple tweets to convey information, and followers can choose multiple sources for the story. To assume that information would be less comprehensive than that provided by a traditional sports journalist is to assume that the follower uses a single tweet to gain information about an event, which is simply not a realistic assumption. Given the realities of Twitter, it is possible — if not probable — that Twitter, along with other similar forms of social media, could entirely replace traditional sports journalism.

The Beginnings of Twitter

For a social phenomenon that has helped change the face of modern media, Twitter is really very young. In early 2006, a podcasting company called Odeo, Inc., located in South Park, San Francisco, was facing tremendous competition from industry heavyweights and decided to reinvent itself (Sagolla). One of the people in the company came up with the idea of using SMS to send messages to small groups (Sagolla). The initial idea was that the service could be used to inform people about local events (Sagolla). The group went through several different demos. "Obvious Corp was born as an incubator with Twttr as its sole project" (Sagolla). The group acquired Twitter.com and rebranded, incorporating the 140-character limit so that messages would not be split into multiple texts (Sagolla). The new company used the Austin music festival South by Southwest as a launching point for the service. Twitter won in the blog category and rapidly expanded into social media (Sagolla). Soon, it was a real presence in all areas of popular culture, including sports.

Anyone who questions the value of Twitter need only understand the role it has played in the world. "In five years, Twitter has become an increasingly valuable tool for communication, powerful enough to help spur uprisings in the Middle East that have toppled governments" (Holmes). Clearly, as a form of social media, Twitter is extremely influential.

Furthermore, "sports journalism, in particular, seems to be a realm where Twitter has assumed much influence as a journalistic tool, perhaps for such reasons as a highly routinized news cycle and dedicated fan following" (Sears 1). Sports journalism had long been highly formulaic. "A reporter attends a post-practice media scrum and either writes or broadcasts the news he has gathered to the thousands of waiting fans" (Goodman). However, with athletes being able to engage in real-time conversations with one another and with fans, sports journalism changed. No longer were questions limited to those asked by reporters. Instead, fans could interact directly with athletes.

Works Cited

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Goodman, Eric. "Tweet! Tweet! Sports Journalism has Changed." Courtside Post. 5 Jan. 2010. Web. 2 Dec. 2011.

Holmes, Baxter. "When Athletes Post on Twitter, Controversy can Follow." Los Angeles Times. 15 May 2011. Web. 2 Dec. 2011.

Klemko, Robert. "Gilbert Arenas, Athletes Still Causing Twitter Headaches." USA Today. 9 Jun. 2011. Web. 2 Dec. 2011.

Marcusa, Anthony. "Michael Wilbon, the Last Bastion of Sports Journalism, finally Joins Twitter." Social Times. 27 Apr. 2011. Web. 2 Dec. 2011.

Sagolla, Dom. "How Twitter was Born." 140 Characters. N.p., 30 Jan. 2009. Web. 2 Dec. 2011.

Sears, Kyle. "Twitter's Impact on Sports Journalism Practice: Where a New Medium Meets an Old Art." 18 Apr. 2011. Web. 2 Dec. 2011.

Seth. "Twitter: Killing Sports Journalism 140 Characters at a Time." The Sports Circuit. 6 Jul. 2011. Web. 2 Dec. 2011.

Sheffer, Mary Lou and Brad Schultz. "Paradigm Shift or Passing Fad? Twitter and Sports Journalism." International Journal of Sport Communication 3.4 (2011): 472–484. Print.

Skolnick, Ethan. "Athletes on Twitter: Danger Lurks at Every Turn." NBC Sports. 2 Nov. 2011. Web. 2 Dec. 2011.