By Nicholas Fouriezos
University of Georgia
DETROIT — One of the best ways columnists can have value in an opinion-saturated sports market is to be reporters.
"I think we're highly valuable," said Dan Wetzel, a columnist with Yahoo! Sports, Thursday during a panel at the 2013 APSE Conference at the Detroit Marriott at Renaissance Center. "You can get opinion anywhere, but if you are doing your job, the columnists who work at it are reporters."
Jenni Carlson, a columnist for The Oklahoman in Oklahoma City, Carlson highlighted the need for columnists to set the tone for coverage.
"The columnists are the voice of the sports section. If they're not, there needs to be some adjustment," Carlson said during the "Pursuing excellence in column writing" panel. " I think columnists are where a newspaper can differentiate itself from what other newspapers nationally or in the state are saying."
The session, moderated by Ft. Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel sports editor Greg Lee, also included columnists Jerome Solomon of the Houston Chronicle and Bob Wojnowski of the Detroit News. A look at the other questions they discussed:
Q: In the slow periods during the year, how do you find topics to write about it?
Wetzel: I don't really have a slow time and that's nice. Each of these three are great writers and you want your columnists to be your best writer at your paper. You want to push your columnist to not think he's above writing a feature. They are all storytellers and if you get a chance to tell and breathe a story, you want to take that.
Carlson: There were a lot of long, hot, dry months there where you just try to think of stuff. I have an ideas folder throughout the year and this is the time I'll go back and take a look at it. This is one of those times when we can even resurrect some old high school stuff.
Solomon: I do a lot of looking at odd stories, stories you wouldn't normally think about or wouldn't be looked for if the baseball team was any good. Anniversary stuff is usually a good thing that I find.
Wojnowski: You're already thinking of stories for football season. Periodically, the news wants you to chime in on a national topic, like Lebron or Aaron Hernandez. That, to me, makes sense in this time of year.
Q: What's the place for national columns in a local media setting?
Wetzel: Sometimes it's best to write about what everyone in town is going to be talking about. Everyone gets sports through ESPN and it's a communal narrative and if it's a good narrative, it's worth going after.
Carlson: I think of readers as paying consumers. If they plunked down 50 cents, what are they really wanting to see? We have default settings at the Oklahoman. When in doubt, write about Oklahoma football. Nowadays, it's when in doubt, write about Oklahoma City Thunder.
Wojnowski: We are somewhat beholden to the most-read list on every news website. You're not completely tied to it but it is important.
Q: What other time commitments do you have and how do you find time to write bigger picture stories?
Carlson: We do Monday and Thursday online video sessions. We'll talk about it in terms of what is the return and what is the sacrifice? We try to space it out enough that I just disappear and people are like, 'where'd they go?' We try to think of it in those terms: if I take away one writing day a week, in three weeks can we have a really great story? It becomes like 'where am I going to find time to make this work,' but sometimes it's not as much of an imposition on our time as we might think.
Wetzel: Once a week, a two-hour radio show. A lot of radio shows will call. Video at times too. After games, I'll write quick and I get really focused after games, as I report, so I can't deal with postgame standup or radio. Has to happen after the column. Can't switch gears. It always takes longer. I'll focus, but once I'm done with that I'll do it. Those 90 minutes after the game, if you're missing time in the locker room, that's the biggest challenge for me
Wojnowski: On the radio five days per week from 6-8 p.m. Local TV appearances on the Fox station.
Solomon: Radio show every day from 12-2 p.m., Comcast Sports Net Houston once a week.
Q: How do you make yourself more credible through the writing process?
Solomon: Be a writer. If you write all the time, then even when you're against the grain, you're going with what you know because you're not just giving another opinion. This is the informed opinion. If I write something that is controversial for most of the readers, they should at least have the confidence that … I'm not just doing it to get a rise out of you. I'm doing it because I'm going to get it right.
Wetzel: Reporting out your column differentiates you a lot and don't be cheap.
Carlson: I think adding context, if your local story becomes a national story, you as a local beat writer … having that perspective of 'I've seen this team all season,' you can provide something the national beat writers can't.
Wojnowski: The one thing I try not to do is shout louder than other people. I try to use humor and if you're in a town for a long time you have your own connections and personally. It's kind of a challenge to not cave into the loudest voice you hear on any day.
(Nicholas Fouriezosis a sports reporter based in Athens, Ga. He can be reached at www.nick4iezos.com or nick4iezos@yahoo.com)
