The New Age of Sports Reporting

This new age of digital media has been both educational and expansive for individual writers, and feel free to roll those descriptors up to the outlets that provide both print and online news sources. Just ask Ohm Youngmisuk - also known as @NotoriousOHM on Twitter - a prominent writer for ESPN New York who has covered the New York Giants and Jets for years and is now back on the NBA beat. We at #FerroBTS did just that . We wanted to hear firsthand what life was like on the front lines of this New Age Media.

It's changed a lot, he said. Now you almost can't take a breather without having to be online and monitoring Twitter. This has affected Mr. Youngmisuk, especially during the NFL free agency period, where he was incessantly checking his Twitter feed for updates to either make sure he wasn't repeating news or that somebody else didn't break a story that he was after.

He believes that a career in journalism/reporting has changed because if a writer wants to stay relevant, he/she must be using social media to keep up with the latest news. Back in the day if you got scooped, you'd wake up and read about it the next day. Now today, you're scooped for a minute, and then you're following it on Twitter, he said.

Social media is just the beginning of this new and evolving digital media upswing. Not only does Mr. Youngmisuk quite effectively write and report while updating his Twitter account, he also compiles his own blog, produces his own videos (with proper lighting and audio), and hosts web chats. To bring the best and most in depth coverage in a plethora of formats, Ohm shoots his own video, edits it, and delivers a coherent report that's arguably second to none. An ESPN producer once told me that I do the job of three people, said Ohm. Because [on a typical day during the season] after I do my video, shoot different takes inside the field house, and do a field pass with different backgrounds, I have to come back and write.

The nature of the business has changed in such a way because the speed and depth of which information travels, has never been faster. News outlets, specifically sporting news outlets such as ESPN, need to turn around their information to the public as quickly as they can. ESPN represents the highest level of sports journalism and reporting, which is why they want to provide their readers with fast, yet comprehensive insight and analysis. Nowadays everybody is blogging or involved in some sort of social media, whether it's Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, etc., creating a higher demand for outlets to reach their readers in a more timely fashion, especially effectively and economically. There are a lot of people out there now; bloggers, newspaper guys, television guys, computer guys there are a lot of things you have to do now, and it's a lot for one guy, but you end up having to do it, said Mr. Youngmisuk.

There are so many types of people who specialize in certain fields, and it isn't cost-effective to hire a video guy, an audio guy, a lighting guy, and a writer to compile a 20-second video on, say, Victor Cruz's injury update. Writers like Ohm are beginning to grow, or have grown, into this all-encompassing and worldly position where a little bit of everything is incorporated into their daily tasks.

The question remains: Is this making it harder for newer writers to break into the scene?

Ohm doesn't think so. He believes the higher competition just takes a little extra effort to make oneself versatile and distinctive, which is attainable for any writer that has passion. And Ohm can sympathize because when he was growing up there wasn't any of this technology and demand for such prerequisites. If you're applying for a job, one of the editors will say, I want to see your blog.' And you should have a blog because they will ask you what's on it and how it differentiates you from everybody else, he said. So start a blog. Make some vine videos. Tweet something of substance. Host a podcast. Because now all of these things will contribute to your portfolio, and more importantly, your future.

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