Welcome
The idea of a newsletter about college athletics is certainly not unique but I hope that my voice and reporting will be
In the summer of 2016, my dad sent me a story about how the Associated Press was publishing automated game stories after Minor League Baseball games. You’d be hard-pressed to find many industries that haven’t been touched by automation but the realization that journalism, specifically sports journalism, could be replicated – at least at the most basic level: game recaps – was a scary one for me.
Journalism is about people. It’s about storytelling, curiosity and empathy.
No supercomputer or database can replace that, at least not yet – thankfully.
How do you find a lane in sports journalism that transcends box scores and stories that can be replicated by automation?
For me, that lane has largely been built around public records requests and data reporting, regarding topics like coaching contracts, recruiting spending and internal emails within athletic programs – a mix of traditional watchdog journalism, data visualization and of course, a passion for sports.
After subscribing to, and really enjoying, several sports newsletters over the last year (Extra Points with Matt Brown, Hoop Vision, The Intercollegiate, Hreal Sports – I encourage you to check them out and subscribe if you’d like), I’ve decided to join the bandwagon.
After years of publishing blogs on Blogspot/Blogger, Wordpress and Weebly, a newsletter seems to be the best medium in today’s media landscape for direct-to-consumer, self-published writing and reporting. The idea of a newsletter based around college athletics is certainly not unique but I hope that my voice and reporting will be.
I want this newsletter to be collaborative and to start conversations, so feedback, questions and story ideas are always welcome at andrew.wittry@gmail.com or on Twitter.
Thanks for coming along for the ride. If you haven’t already, sign up now for free so you don’t miss the next issue.