The percentage of sports fans turning to Twitter, Facebook and other social media for results, stats, facts and updates is increasing. Given that, sports departments and sportswriters need to rethink and restructure their coverage plans with social media in mind.
A recent GateHouse News & Interactive webinar discussed different ways sports staffs of different sizes may utilize social media in their coverage of local sports. Click here to download the webinar.
Here is a recap of some of the webinar’s main points:
Eighty-six percent of sports fans will check updates online while at work, while 81 percent prefer digital platforms to radio for sports news. What does this mean? “Social media have climbed to the top as the No. 1 source for the average person’s sports fix,” according to GMR Marketing.
Social media will generate buzz around a reporter’s name and product’s brand. It also will help build a loyal audience, increase the reach of a reporter’s content and increase the amount of time spent on a newspaper’s website. As Jason Piscia, online editor at The State Journal-Register, summarizes it: “Live-Twittering is the appetizer we use to get people hooked on our site’s content.”
Social media offer a proactive approach that engage readers and allow them to follow the action and not just read about it the next day.
Sports departments need to recognize the cultural shift in the way people consume news and realize they no longer can rely solely on the print platform to shoulder responsibility of delivering result-based content.
Sports editors and writers need to recognize and plan for opportunities to cover prep sports while becoming more creative in their approach to digital coverage.
The percentage of sports fans turning to Twitter, Facebook and other social media for results, stats, facts and updates is increasing. Given that, sports departments and sportswriters need to rethink and restructure their coverage plans with social media in mind.
A recent GateHouse News & Interactive webinar discussed different ways sports staffs of different sizes may utilize social media in their coverage of local sports. Click here to download the webinar.
Here is a recap of some of the webinar’s main points:
Eighty-six percent of sports fans will check updates online while at work, while 81 percent prefer digital platforms to radio for sports news. What does this mean? “Social media have climbed to the top as the No. 1 source for the average person’s sports fix,” according to GMR Marketing.
Social media will generate buzz around a reporter’s name and product’s brand. It also will help build a loyal audience, increase the reach of a reporter’s content and increase the amount of time spent on a newspaper’s website. As Jason Piscia, online editor at The State Journal-Register, summarizes it: “Live-Twittering is the appetizer we use to get people hooked on our site’s content.”
Social media offer a proactive approach that engage readers and allow them to follow the action and not just read about it the next day.
Sports departments need to recognize the cultural shift in the way people consume news and realize they no longer can rely solely on the print platform to shoulder responsibility of delivering result-based content.
Sports editors and writers need to recognize and plan for opportunities to cover prep sports while becoming more creative in their approach to digital coverage.
