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Clay Travis on Grantland and Internet writing

Discussion in 'Journalism topics only' started by Alma, Nov 4, 2015.

  1. Lugnuts

    Lugnuts Well-Known Member

    I agree with Brian that Internet ad sales on content is a "zero sum game."
     
  2. DSzymborski

    DSzymborski Member

    I miss Troy Renck since he's been covering Broncos instead.

    I always try to stay on good terms with the beat writers - I know they work a lot harder than I do.
     
  3. Fredrick

    Fredrick Well-Known Member

    Yes we have a winner. This is why the newspapers were so freaking stupid to give away their content for free 10 years ago. The bean counters, publishers, Gannett butt kissing editors don't believe it, but yes the newspaper beat writers and columnists set the tone, set the discussion for talk shows, bloggers, everybody. Yes, believe it. (Nah they can't believe it; they've always felt anybody can write and sports is the toy store; well Mr. butt kiss editors, see you in the unemployment line very soon cause our industry is dead thanks to you).
     
  4. BrendaStarr

    BrendaStarr Member

    On the flip side, beat writers also need some down time in the offseason of their respective sport so I'd argue that having content every single day of the offseason is very unrealistic. Even if it's writing a list-type story. You need to have a life outside this 24/7 job. With your baseball example, the season is about eight months long, including spring training. While there should be a fresh story/content two to three times a week, you will burn out real quick if you have to write content every day for the three and a half months outside of the long season when you are already on edge for breaking news.
     
  5. LanceyHoward

    LanceyHoward Well-Known Member

    I used an example where there are two beat reporters. So one can be recharging in the offseason while the other posts. And some of the items can be written and saved for slow news days. Print lists of candidates for managerial jobs. You can even run fan polls. But I think you need to encourage people to come to the site every day.
     
  6. BTExpress

    BTExpress Well-Known Member

    Tim Stephens (now at sportsmanias.com) has been sermonizing for some time that this is where newspaper people get it wrong (and continue to be behind the curve).

    He says it's not about getting people to go to the site. It's about getting the site to go to where people are.
     
  7. playthrough

    playthrough Moderator Staff Member

    But FiveThirtyEight is a vanity project that has to be in the red. Has to be. If Grantland got whacked than surely it could too, but that shows how these sites are solely about people and support at the very top. Obviously, Nate Silver keeps his nose clean and is still viewed as a valuable commodity for espn to have on their side. But if he ever turned heel on his bosses, poof, that site could become "an economic casualty" for a billion-dollar company.
     
  8. The Big Ragu

    The Big Ragu Moderator Staff Member

    Three things come to mind.

    1) I suspect that FiveThirtyEight isn't costing as much as Grantland (on a P&L basis). Although, I could be very wrong. I'd love to know for sure.
    2) Are we so sure that FiveThirtyEight is safe? I wouldn't be surprised to see it get axed, especially if ESPN continues to leak on the operating income side.
    3) The reason it might not be being axed is that we are heading into an election year. If it was ever going to turn a corner from loser, this would be the time to build an audience, wouldn't it?
     
  9. playthrough

    playthrough Moderator Staff Member

    No. 3 is a valid point, but how is espn leveraging the site? It's not like they'll be teasing it on SportsCenter every night leading up to the election. Does it get more attention through ABC News? I wouldn't know. But I'd love to hear what Silver was promised in terms of promotion vs. what is really happening.
     
  10. dirtybird

    dirtybird Well-Known Member

    At it's peak, it hit about 56 million page views a year according to some profile. So I'm guessing back then, it alone made enough money to support Travis and a small staff. Now he's got to WORK HARD as a TV host, so I imagine some of the other stuff falls by the wayside. Now the site is a Grantland-esque vanity project with a smaller staff, complete with TV recaps and unending mailbags.
     
  11. DSzymborski

    DSzymborski Member

    One thing is that unlike Simmons, Nate actually does have experience managing a smaller, niche brand, from his years with Baseball Prospectus.
     
  12. Alma

    Alma Well-Known Member

    The Alabama fan sitting on the LSU fan was what helped the site take off.

    It's a junk site and Travis is a carnival barker. Since Travis fancies himself an intellectual who purposely embraces low-brow entertainment, away he goes.
     
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