Are sports journalists becoming redundant in today's tech-savvy world?

Sports journalists are quite a niche

Journalism, sports journalism in particular, is a profession in which one has to be able to stick to tight deadlines, improvise on the spot and, work in a fast paced environment, not to mention the fact that this industry is evolving and growing at an exponential rate, as of late.

After the advent of social media in the form of Twitter and Instagram, the way in which athletes reach out to their fans has drastically changed, compared to when fans would just have to wait for their local newspapers to arrive in the mornings to find out what is happening with their favorite sports team or sports star.

Let us take the example of Twitter. With twitter becoming so immensely popular with celebrities and ‘regular’ people, it has changed the way in which professional athletes and fans communicate.

A player has something in mind, opens his machine, types it and tweets it. There you have it – the thought he/she is thinking has reached millions of people across the world. Also, it is to note that these tweets are starting to be sent more and more from the celebrities themselves, and not a PR team a player hires to make them look good, according to Bill Simmons, founder of Grantland.com

With technology taking over the sporting world, does this mean sports journalists are becoming redundant or obsolete in today’s times?

Moving onto something truly special – Derek Jeter’s ’The Players’ Tribune’

What is The Players’ Tribune? It is “a new media platform that presents the voices of athletes, bringing fans closer to the games they love than ever before.” – as stated on The Players’ Tribune website. This website is not just any other sporting website out there, though.

It’s much more than that.

On The Players’ Tribune, real athletes share real stories written by them. Take a moment and let that sink in.

Just imagine, you are reading an article written by your sporting idol who talks about his colleagues and shares his personal experiences from his/her point of view. How crazy is that?! 

This type of knowledge or information can not be written by any journalist who is interviewing a player, as they can't get inside the players’ mind and figure out what the athlete is truly thinking, or, when asked a question, what the real response of the question asked may be, if the player is not being completely honest or detailed enough.

From the man himself

A few days back, NBA legend Kobe Bryant announced his retirement after the 2015-16 season. Did he do this in an interview, or did some renowned sports journalist drop this news?How did he announce his retirement?

Through the Players’ Tribune.

Bryant wrote a poem titled ‘Dear Basketball’, in which Bryant made his announcement. This poem was first published on The Players’ Tribune, and reached hundreds of thousands of fans.

Amazing, right?

No journalist or media person broke this (unfortunate but, inevitable) piece of news.

It was the legend himself.

The world has really changed, and that's mostly thanks to constant advancements in social media and technology. What once seemed almost impossible – athletes to speak with their fans directly – is now a reality, and one that happens on a daily basis, thanks to various social media platforms.

So, in today's times, with technology at its peak and players having the power they never have had before, are journalists, especially sports journalists, becoming redundant?

What use is there for a reporter interviewing a player, writing about it, and then publishing it, when the athlete has the opportunity to tell their fans themselves, what's going on via social media such as The Players’ Tribune, Twitter, Instagram, etc?

However, one should keep in mind how busy these athletes are with all the practices and travelling they do. Will they really take time out after every game to write their thoughts? No. Websites like The Players’ Tribunes are meant for athletes to voice their own opinions from time to time.

Websites like Sportskeeda and Bleacher Report though, are sporting websites where sports journalists voice their opinions on what they think of something and provide predictions and analysis which players do not have the time, or, need to do, game after game.

This is when sports journalists come into play, and therefore, I feel, even though connectivity has increased and players and fans are getting closer, the need for sports journalists will never become obsolete.

Next time you are listening to an interview of your favorite player, let this thought wander in your mind.