Sports journalism evolves in the age of social media AUSTIN HALL | STAFF WRITER JUSTIN TOUHEY | ASSISTANT SPORTS EDITOR The emergence of social media has changed the way many industries operate. From updates on scores to real-time highlights and postgame content that makes morning-after print stories look archaic, sports journalism is no exception. Platforms like Instagram and Twitter have become an integral part of sports reporting and have started to take over many traditional platforms, including newspapers and television. Kyle Cajero, a Pepperdine and Graphic alumnus who is currently the Pepperdine graduate assistant for athletic communications and social media, said the most important way to connect Pepperdine Athletics with the fans during the pandemic has been through social media. “I would argue that social media presence is more important than traditional journalism, especially in the Los Angeles market,” Cajero said. “For sports at Pepperdine, social media is more valuable than ever because the LA Times is not going to come to campus and cover us, so getting the word out there any way you can on Twitter or Instagram gives us more traffic.” How Social Media is Changing Sports Journalism Social media is now one of the most important parts of the sports experience and has changed the way information from games and athletes is expressed. People have access to hundreds of different sources of information, regardless of a person’s credentials. Platforms such as Barstool Sports and “The Pat McAfee Show” offer new content that utilizes social media apps to create content for their fans. Jason Krutzsch, vice president for marketing, content and communications at the Los Angeles Sports & Entertainment Commission, said more people can become content creators because of social media platforms. “Everybody is a content producer now because they all have platforms and phones to create and distribute content,” Krutzsch said. “Everything we do now from an event planning standpoint is focused on creating content for our channels to build awareness for our event.” Alumnus Arthur Puu (2018), a former Graphic staff member, works on the social media team for ESPN. He said social media outlets cater to the consumer in a way the industry has never seen. “All of these methods, in essence, help the average fan,” Puu said. “Growing up, we didn’t really have that. We would have to sit and watch a three-hour game or ‘SportsCenter’ after to know what was going on.” Cajero said Twitter has been the most valuable platform for him, as it provides him with updates quicker and easier than other social media platforms.
The Pepperdine Graphic, If It Bleeds, May 10, 2021
Potential Problems with Social Media in Sports With nearly every game, stat and story at the fingertips of a worldwide audience, social media in sports can lead to some minor downsides. Puu said the abundance of coverage can sometimes take away from sports and the athletes. “Now, there’s just so much information out there,” Puu said. “It’s not completely a bad thing but Art by Autumn Hardwick say, for example, you saw five straight posts about LeBron James; it can Puu said he sees a focal point in the ESPN get very repetitive and takes away from the social media department: availability of congame. It’s sometimes hard to sift through.” tent and reaching a worldwide audience. Krutzsch said breaking stories is no longer “The biggest thing for the big companies is a niche and social media allows more people to how it will reach a further audience,” Puu said. participate. “Not just other parts of the country but other “Everybody has the ability to break news at parts of the world. Think about how Twitter all times and we used to have specialists that Spaces and Clubhouse are trying to bring simwould chase stories,” Krutzsch said. “I can ilar interests together — maybe there’s a way only imagine that this will continue, and I am for sports to do that.” curious to see what kind of content develops Cajero said creating a strong following on when events return to full capacity again.” social media requires personality, and those When live sports returned after the that do not have one will struggle even if their COVID-19 shutdown, viewership did not pick work is good. up where it left off. The 2020 NBA Finals had “You need to sell yourself as a presence now the lowest recorded television viewership rat- more than a body of work,” Cajero said. “I ing in league history. Data from Forbes suggests feel like speed over accuracy is more importthe intertwining of sports and politics played a ant now. I don’t really like that this is the case significant part in the viewership plummet. right now, but unfortunately that seems the Puu said the fusion of politics with sports way things are headed now.” and empty stadiums contributed to the historiRavech said while the 2020-2021 sports cally low numbers. calendar had reasons for concern, sports and “Going to a game live is such a big part of how they’re covered aren’t changing overall. it,” Puu said. “Being able to see the players and “Regardless of anything that happened this sometimes interact with them gets so much year, live sports are not going anywhere,” Ramore engagement. And with the political situ- vech said. “There’s no substitute for it. There ations that were going on, from kneeling for the will always be people that may prefer to watch anthem or Black Lives Matter protests — right a three-minute highlight after the game, but or wrong — it definitely turned some people the live experience will exist forever.” away from it.” Cajero said social media has affected sports journalism and has seen it first hand in the What’s Next For Sports Journalism places he has worked. “I worked at a newspaper in Idaho for a Alumnus Sam Ravech (2017) is a college year, and the hardest part was that they were baseball and basketball play-by-play announc- not tech savvy and did not know how to break er for ESPN. He said ratings taking a dip news on social media,” Cajero said. “Working doesn’t skew his employer’s vision. within an organization like that taught me the “ESPN is trying to make their content es- gap between people who grew up in the digital sential to viewers,” Ravech said. “And they’re age and those that did not. One of the guys I doing their darndest expanding their platform worked with did not even have a cell phone.” — just look at ESPN+. Numbers might be down, but I don’t think it’s a drought. People austin.hall@pepperdine.edu want everything immediately, so companies justin.touhey@pepperdine.edu like ESPN have the challenge of how to adapt.”
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