I come to you today admitting that I am a convert. I am now a believer. A believer in what, you ask?
A believer in new media.
I didn't go to college two decades ago intending to become a sports radio host. I went to college with the idea to become a sportswriter. I wanted to be a columnist, more specifically. I wanted to be the guy that wrote things that had people talking at the water cooler and during coffee and lunch breaks.
Life, though, has a funny way of throwing curveballs at you. The curveball it threw at me was going to school and being told that I couldn't write for the newspaper until I was a junior. The internet was only a gleam in Al Gore's eye back in 1989. There was no information super highway. No one knew what a blog was. There was only one place for me to turn to. That place was radio.
I walked into my college's radio station and never left (believe me, my grades reflected that). I've been in radio ever since. Well, up until I was laid off this past October.
In the last few years, I watched the internet explode into a force as far as sports media was concerned. I watched as people in all walks of life launched websites and blogs. I admit that up until last October, I was somewhat down on the new media. I saw how people wrote whatever they wanted to without having to check their facts or put their name to it. To be honest, I was a victim of this trend in new media as well. I hosted a Brewers pregame show for two years. One of my colleagues handed me a piece of paper saying the following. "An internet report states the Brewers have traded for (then) Reds slugger Adam Dunn." I went with it, and quickly realized I had gotten some bad info. We - as a radio station, backed off the report, and I apologized personally to Brewers GM Doug Melvin.
So as you see, I had a reason to be down on the new media. But since that day in 2007, I've watched new media - especially in sports - mature.
From a personal standpoint, new media has helped me keep my name 'out there.' My blog and podcast each weekday allows my to keep in touch with the people that used to listen to me in Milwaukee. My podcast helps me keep my talk show skills in shape so I won't be rusty when I get my next radio job.
From a professional standpoint, I have watched the new media become the modern day version of the newspaper. I'm not going to tell you how the newspaper is yesterday's news a day late or anything like that. I think we all know that the internet has had a negative impact on the newspaper industry. I am going to tell you that I have watched as some of the best writers in the country have left their newspaper columns behind to go 'online.'
Jay Mariotti left his job as the lead sports columnist at The Chicago Sun Times last summer. There was speculation that he might go across town to the Chicago Tribune, but that didn't materialize. Instead, Jay took his writing skills to Fanhouse (AOL Sports). He has totally embraced new media and its place in sports journalism.
Other writers have done the very same thing. Michael Felger of the Boston Herald is now a columnist for WEEI.com. Greg Couch left the Chicago Sun Times to join Mariotti at Fanhouse. There are others who have made the move, as well. But, I am not going to waste anyone's time by rattling off name after name after name.
I am going to tell you that not everyone has jumped on the internet bandwagon. I know there are plenty of writers who still look at the internet and think of it as the annoying little brother to print media (did anyone see Buzz Bissinger on Costas Now a year ago?).
Those writers are missing the boat here. The blogosphere is full of people who write whatever they want and post their ramblings under a fake name. But, in the last year or so, more writers - newspaper writers - have made the move to the net. They are writing hard hitting columns, and they are putting their names to them. The blogosphere is not the Wild Wild West it used to be. It has more credibility than it has ever had before. Sure, there are still plenty of people posting things under fake names. But they are being overshadowed by the established journalists who are embracing new technology.
The writers who don't believe in new media will tell you they are 'newspaper guys.' That's an admirable thing. But times are changing. The newspaper isn't what it used to be. Major newspapers like the Rocky Mountain News (Denver) and the Seattle Post-Intelligencer have either gone out of business or are out of the print side of it (concentrating on the internet).
There are literally hundreds of newspapers who have been making cutbacks by the boatload over the last year. Not just small newspapers either. Almost every newspaper in every major city is cutting back because circulation is down. It's a good bet that we will see more newspapers go out of business over the next year.
So, the anti-'net writers have a couple of choices. Become a magazine writer (because magazines will probably never die), or eventually make the jump like some of their colleagues have.
The alternative is sticking with a business (newspapers) that is dying (if not dead already). I have friends who work for my local newspaper (I'll keep their names out of it) who tell me it's not a matter of if they will be laid off, but when.
To me, the choice was clear (at least when I was laid off). Either embrace new technology and new media, or fade away. I chose to embrace the new media/technology.
The 'newspaper guys' who haven't caught up to the rest of us should get on board as well.
It's simple evolution. Get on board or get left behind.
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