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Jason King to Bleacher Report

Discussion in 'Journalism topics only' started by Moderator1, Dec 10, 2013.

  1. Moderator1

    Moderator1 Moderator Staff Member

    per his Facebook feed.

    Excellent get. Bias alert, Jason is a friend. But I also think I'm far from alone in regarding him as top notch.

    Maybe it is time to take BR seriously. Jason is leaving ESPN of his own volition. Freeman is another big-name hire but with all that's gone on at CBS, someone leaving there isn't as big a surprise. Leaving ESPN for BR says a little more, I think.

    Anyway, congrats to Jason. And BR.
     
  2. TopSpin

    TopSpin Member

    They also hired Dave Lozo, formerly of NHL.com.

    Here's a link to Turner.com's news release announcing King's and Lozo's hire: http://news.turner.com/article_display.cfm?article_id=6577

    Agreed on your point about shifting thoughts on B/R. They've hired bona fide sports journos in the last year or so and I'm highly interested in seeing how it goes. The feature that Jeff Pearlman wrote on the late Jovan Belcher two weeks ago was a journalistic piece not normally associated with B/R (zero annoying slide shows, screen grabs, etc.).
     
  3. MileHigh

    MileHigh Moderator Staff Member

    I don't know if this was posted around here, but I read this very interesting piece a couple of weeks back regarding Bleacher Report and its changes -- from hiring and perceptions -- thanks to the acquisition by Turner. Some really good insight.

    bit.ly/1f4yCr1
     
  4. Jake_Taylor

    Jake_Taylor Well-Known Member

    I've avoided Bleacher Report thus far, but I'll start reading now. Jason is by far my favorite national college basketball guy.
     
  5. Alma

    Alma Well-Known Member

    When they take themselves seriously -- and ditch the mass slideshows -- I will take BR seriously. It's either a news org or a Google bot troll.

    That's different than taking the writers seriously. King's terrific. But there are terrific people working for Fox News, too. And I don't take that channel seriously anymore.
     
  6. Schottey

    Schottey Member

    Right now, in the top "section" on B/R's homepage, there's a grand total of zero slideshows. Do we still use them? Absolutely, as do many other sites—SI and NFL.com are two that I frequent daily. As a lead writer, I write one a week—our LW-consensus Picks. Frankly, I have no idea how I would put that much content into a standard column and format it neatly. I mean, I could, but the slideshow format works, looks great, and allows us to embed videos that guys like Mike Freeman and Matt Bowen do throughout the week.

    Finally, as to your non-slideshow point, I would say this: If we didn't take ourselves seriously, we wouldn't be spending money on Beck, Bucher, Ding, Freeman, Pompei, King, Skolnick, Lazo, etc. If you read the "Awful Announcing" link above, you'll see some quotes on just how seriously Turner and our leadership team takes quality.

    Obviously biased, but on a daily basis, I don't see a lot of sites match our NFL and NBA coverage. CFB and (now) CBB are right behind. If you disagree, let me know who the other fantastic writers are. We'll probably hire them! ;D
     
  7. Cigar56

    Cigar56 Member

    Well said, Schottey. I have never understood why the people on this board get all twisted into a knot over slide shows. People who visit these sites obviously like them, no matter how silly we think they are, being that we are know-it-all journalists.
     
  8. Jake_Taylor

    Jake_Taylor Well-Known Member

    Bleacher Report gave slideshows a bad name. They can be a nice way to package a lot of good information online. But Bleacher Report at its worst was putting up way, way too many of them and the lion's share were put together by complete amateurs and hacks who obviously didn't put in more than five minutes worth of thought or effort.
     
  9. LongTimeListener

    LongTimeListener Well-Known Member

    That is indeed a great roster of names B/R has put together.

    Has anyone seen those guys' work since their moves, though? I feel like I would run across all of them pretty regularly at their former places. I can think of only one B/R story I've read: Pearlman's on Jovan Belcher.

    Still think B/R "investment" is just an accounting thing and TV is paying the freight. Not unlike CBS, Fox, ESPN, etc.
     
  10. Cigar56

    Cigar56 Member

    The majority of the people who click on Bleacher Report seem to disagree that they published "way too many of them," as evidenced by the extraordinary traffic BR generated -- largely because of slide shows. There is no doubt that BR was playing the site visits and page views game via Google, which is absolutely what you have to do when you are backed by venture capital. Those guys want to see hockey stick growth, month over month, and you damn well better hit the numbers.

    So to get there BR heavied up on the slide shows, and I found many of them intrusive. But it is also true that people like the damn things. As we all know, its a new day in media. People vote with their mouse clicks. A site like BR has no choice but to give people what they want, but it is refreshing to see that with all the fluff, they are also embracing serious journalism. As for the silly slide shows -- they are here to stay, whether we like them or not.
     
  11. H.L. Mencken

    H.L. Mencken Member

    Mr. Moderator:

    I'm chuckling a bit that this thread:

    http://www.sportsjournalists.com/forum/posts/3680365/

    Brought this response.

    Then today...


    That someone was yourself, it seems.
     
  12. Moderator1

    Moderator1 Moderator Staff Member

    I'm good like that.
    Knowing Jason like I do, that was the move that made me raise my eyebrows and go, well now. Maybe the time was earlier and I just didn't notice.
    And Moddy is fine. Mr. Moderator is my dad
     
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