Twitter: The nail in the coffin for sports journalism

The Albert Haynesworth "conflicting" reports today have really cemented it for me.

Sports journalism is dead. We now get 140 characters telling us the latest unconfirmed rumor from "sources" as opposed to actual confirmed news.

Everyone goes in tizzy. Fans, sports radio, etc.

Its no longer news or analysis. Its "lets get everyone running around re-tweeting" unconfirmed "information"

Blah. I miss the days of waiting for my dad to get done with the sports page

I agree. I'd extend it to all journalism. People are more worried about being the first than making sure they have it right.

Journalism itself is dead. Has been for a long time. Walter got it started when back in 1968 when he gave his little opinion piece on the evening news (Vietnam). It went downhill from that moment.

It really is terrible, especially when it comes to trade rumors and stuff.

This is nothing new... One of my good friends was a DJ at the Eagle in Dallas... One night he said that Justin Timberlake and Brittney Spears were in a horrible car wreck, Spears was dead and Timberlake was in Critical Condition. (He completely made ALL this up and it was back in the day when they were dating and the 2 hottest celebs out there)

Headline News reported it as true, with NOTHING to go back on except what 2 DJ's on a ROCK station in Dallas said... (He got fired for that, but he was proving a point that people would rather be first to report a false story than actually doing any research for the truth)

It is complete crap. And a worthless distraction for too many people.

I'm entering into the field of sports writing. It's been interesting discussing the changes in the industry over the last decade, with the biggest changes occurring with in the past five years as the entire nation has hopped onto the broadband train.

It's not dead, it's just morphing. Eventually the structure of journalism will change and the amateurs will be weeded out. Whether this means licenses (which kind of goes against the concept but nevertheless) or something else, it will change because news is essential and at some point, the industry will finish adapting to the Internet age.

As for Twitter, it's great and bad for news. It's great for getting quick updates from reliable sources but it also spurs so many stupid rumors which sadly, morons believe. As for those who think people care that "they are watching TV", get a life and get over yourself.

Eventually you're probably going to have to buy all online news through subscriptions.

It's not dead, it's just morphing. Eventually the structure of journalism will change and the amateurs will be weeded out. Whether this means licenses (which kind of goes against the concept but nevertheless) or something else, it will change because news is essential and at some point, the industry will finish adapting to the Internet age.

I think journalism in general now needs some sort of certifications. Before the internet age, you weren't a reporter unless you worked for a newspaper, tv station, etc. You were at a legit news organization which followed the standards of journalism.

Now you have 100s of bloggers and thousands of unconfirmed tweets from "sources" Its now rumors as opposed to news which really muddles the information out there

Having certifications for bloggers and tweeters would go a long way in my opinion

I would have no problem with certificitions of some sort. Most of my class agreed.

Why else do you think I love to read all my news on ES? It seems like I rather be reading what regular people have to say on topics than the media

I'm entering into the field of sports writing. It's been interesting discussing the changes in the industry over the last decade, with the biggest changes occurring with in the past five years as the entire nation has hopped onto the broadband train.

It's not dead, it's just morphing. Eventually the structure of journalism will change and the amateurs will be weeded out. Whether this means licenses (which kind of goes against the concept but nevertheless) or something else, it will change because news is essential and at some point, the industry will finish adapting to the Internet age.

As for Twitter, it's great and bad for news. It's great for getting quick updates from reliable sources but it also spurs so many stupid rumors which sadly, morons believe. As for those who think people care that "they are watching TV", get a life and get over yourself.

Eventually you're probably going to have to buy all online news through subscriptions.

I agree with everything here. First, good luck with sports writing, I would love to get into that business!

But I use twitter as a source for news. Yeah I might tweet something random every once in awhile, but more than likely its in response to news or something happening in sports. I've found plenty of useful info on twitter from guys like Schefter, Buster Olney, Jayson Stark, CNN, NYTimes, etc.

And the worst thing ever is FourSquare. Who the hell cares where you are at all times of the day and what you are mayor of?

I love the information that I can get from Twitter.

Being an out of town fan for both the teams that I love, I get instant access to both 24/7.

I think journalism in general now needs some sort of certifications. Before the internet age, you weren't a reporter unless you worked for a newspaper, tv station, etc. You were at a legit news organization which followed the standards of journalism.

Journalism hasn't changed. The people haven't either. Its just gotten easier to access the bad stuff.

Journalism works like a pendulum. Sensationalism was the norm back in the early 20th century and remained that way until around World War II. We're simply seeing it swing back that way. This, too shall pass.

Journalism in this country has been less than even for over 300 years.

Like some others said here, the medium is changing, not journalism itself.

If people think that "opinion" is something newish, then they need to go back to school.

Nobody is forcing you to follow someone's twitter account. You can still read "sports page" type information on newspaper websites and ESPN (just don't go to the articles that say RUMOR). The only problem with twitter news is that people don't know what "This is a breaking unconfirmed report" means.

Twitter is not journalism. I gave up on it for sports news about two months ago when half the stuff was just plugging articles you had to pay for. Forget that!

Here's one thing I hate about twitter. Has anyone watched CNN lately? Where did they get the idea that a random person's opinion about a news story is worth spending 15 minutes out of the hour on?

Why else do you think I love to read all my news on ES? It seems like I rather be reading what regular people have to say on topics than the media

same here. I know who y'all are, so I know what to expect going into a conversation and we can discuss current events and all come out better for it. Just watch the news and you're being spoon-fed bull****.

The thing about sports journalism is that people have different perceptions of what it is. I personally don't consider half of what Jason Reid does as journalism. Its this "insider" stuff that's killing part of journalism, but on the other hand there are still tons of great sportswriters out there like Tom Boswell and Woody Paige who use their contacts to help write their stories instead of just using their contacts to get information out quickly.

I'm a journalism major, and I know it's not dead. It's just changing. That's what the internet does. It changes things.

The thing about sports journalism is that people have different perceptions of what it is. I personally don't consider half of what Jason Reid does as journalism. Its this "insider" stuff that's killing part of journalism, but on the other hand there are still tons of great sportswriters out there like Tom Boswell and Woody Paige who use their contacts to help write their stories instead of just using their contacts to get information out quickly.

I'm a journalism major, and I know it's not dead. It's just changing. That's what the internet does. It changes things.

Pretty much.

I think it depends on who you're following on Twitter.

The conflicting reports about Haynesworth, for example, were started by Jason Reid. We already knew Reid was a sketchy reporter from his regular work in the Washington Post. The fact that he put up the initial Haynesworth story doesn't mean anything, it's just another example of his shady journalism.

On the flip side, I follow a few college sports writers and they never post any crazy rumors or anything, just their own personal takes on stories, links to their articles or interviews, etc.

Schefter is another guy who's been excellent breaking news and clearing up rumors on Twitter this past offseason.

I don't think Twitter itself is the issue here.

Exactly

A shame when we all used to read about sports from credible sources, before the rise of ESPN into what it is today

Internet has taken over and bloggers / ESPN just rush to print things, it's just sensationalist journalism with little facts. The bloggers are the worst, though. They make up crap and then act like it's legit. Bloggers once reported that Ned Yost was being fired, and that Brett Favre was going to Tampa. Neither happened (technically the Yost firing did happen, but several months later).

I think it depends on who you're following on Twitter.

The conflicting reports about Haynesworth, for example, were started by Jason Reid. We already knew Reid was a sketchy reporter from his regular work in the Washington Post. The fact that he put up the initial Haynesworth story doesn't mean anything, it's just another example of his shady journalism.

On the flip side, I follow a few college sports writers and they never post any crazy rumors or anything, just their own personal takes on stories, links to their articles or interviews, etc.

Schefter is another guy who's been excellent breaking news and clearing up rumors on Twitter this past offseason.

I don't think Twitter itself is the issue here.

In fact I would say that every columnist is good...I may not agree with them but they have a right to voice their opinion

Never did understand hate for those such as Plaschke and Cowlinshaw and Dan Shaugnessey...these are respectable voices of the media and I trust them over anyone else. They are columnists though, and that's different from being someone like Jason Reid

Twitter sucks.

That is all.