College football in the South, especially in the SEC, is not just a regional obsession. There are no boundaries thanks to the Internet.
Here is a look at how four newspapers focused more attention on the Web to promote coverage of teams in the SEC.
Video, video and more video
Times-Picayune sports editor Doug Tatum said the biggest change in coverage of
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| Nola.com, Dec. 11, 2008, appr. 12:30 a.m. CST |
LSU involved video.
■ Video: blog.nola.com/lsusports/2008/10/video_les_miles_
talks_about_up.html
■ Blog: blog.nola.com/lsusports/2008/11/video_lsu_vs_
arkansas_football.html
"We videotaped Les Miles’ Monday press conference and replayed it online as soon at it ended," said Tatum. "It consistently was our top-rated video on nola.com. We also filmed a weekly preview show featuring our beat writers, Jim Varney and Jim Kleinpeter. Considering they had no TV training or experience, I thought they did a great job. I’m so pleased with the results we’re going to do even more video in 2009. We also did a weekly live chat with our beat guys."
Over at the Athens Banner-Herald, news sports editor David Ching had to start
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| Onlineathens.com, Dec. 11, 2008, appr. 12:30 a.m. CST |
moving fast to cover Georgia and the hype surrounding predictions of a national championship.
"Honestly, I think we could be a lot more efficient in making our beat coverage a true 24/7 operation, but we have plenty of online-only coverage that helps us in that regard," said Ching. "Our proximity to Georgia is a benefit, obviously. We do a weekly podcast and regularly post audio clips with stories. We also offer video with our Georgia football coverage at least once, usually twice, per week. Our Georgia beat writer, Marc Weiszer, blogs on a daily basis, and I also chime in with blog posts on occasion. Our men’s basketball/backup football writer, Roger Clarkson, will start picking up the pace on his blog now that his main season is starting. We also provide an online forum for the message board crowd to do their thing and allow comments to registered users on our stories. In the future, I see us doing a lot more multimedia and regular blog posting to keep up with the growing need for real-time reporting."
■ Forum: forums.onlineathens.com/cgi-bin/bb/ultimatebb.cgi?
ubb=forum;f=11
■ Beat blog: blogs.onlineathens.com/blog/11
■ Video archive: www.onlineathens.com/multimedia/video.shtml
Getting it right in Orlando
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| Orlandosentinel.com, Dec. 11, 2008, appr. 12:30 a.m. CST |
Orlando is not in Gainesville, but the Orlando Sentinel knows there is a great appetite on the Web for news on the Gators and college football.
The newspaper takes a different approach according to John Cherwa, who is Tribune sports coordinator and a sports editor at the Orlando Sentinel.
"Covering college football on a 24/7 basis wouldn’t be smart," said Cherwa. "You’ve got to pick your spots and those times fall during the traditional web traffic hours, after games and when news breaks. The college writers at the Orlando Sentinel are required to have a morning post on their blogs, an early afternoon post and one more late in the day. We usually start with an aggregation of what other people are writing about the Gators or Seminoles. The idea of exclusivity died long time ago. If you can train the readers into thinking you are the ultimate source for a certain kind of information who cares if it is housed on another site as long as they come to your site to get there?"
Cherwa says the Sentinel has a game plan depending on the sport.
"It’s a cheap device but we also use a lot of polls (Who is better: Urban Meyer or Nick Saban?). The idea is very Pavlovian in nature. We need something fresh every time they come to our site during the optimal web hours. We also do in-game blogging, which is only effective if a game isn’t on TV. If a game is on television, it’s is best to go to a message board about a play, a substitution etc. Then after the reporter is done covering the game and has filed all their copy for the print edition, do they go back to the blog and do report cards, analysis, looks ahead."
■ Blog: blogs.orlandosentinel.com/sports_college_uf
Busy in Starkville
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| Clarionledger.com, Dec. 11, 2008, appr. 12:30 a.m. CST |
The Clarion-Ledger is busy with Ole Miss and Mississippi State in the coverage area.
When news of a coach resigning or being fired (let’s face it, most coaches are fired) hits, the Web traffic increases.
Mississippi State beat writer Kyle Veazey was ready.
"He has been blogging about 12 times a day since (Sylvester) Croom resigned," said Clarion-Ledger sports editor Rusty Hampton. "We moved a link to his blog to the front of our Web site on Tuesday. On Wednesday, his 11 blog entries for the day received a total of 41,000 page views."
■ Blog: www.clarionledger.com/msublog
Planning for Fulmer’s ouster
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| Govolsxtra.com, Dec. 11, 2008, appr. 12:30 a.m. CST |
At the Knoxville News Sentinel, Tennessee football overshadows most news on the Web.
Govolsxtra.com provided clips from Tuesday’s weekly media day session along with audio from interviews with coaches and players. A podcast was produced every Thursday to preview Saturday’s game.
On game day, a reporter watches the game and posts on a blog and interacts; an audio slide show goes up shortly after the game’s conclusion; stories are posted as soon as they are read for comments; and finally interviews with players and coaches are made available.
Rumblings that coach Phillip Fulmer would be fired or resign led editors and reporters to meet and develop a gameplan to be prepared.
On the day of the announcement, an audio slide show of Fulmer’s career was ready along with a timeline. Because the news leaked in the morning, there were enough stories, photos and graphics to produce a six-page special section.
However, not everything went as planned on the Web. ESPN.com broke the story about Fulmer around 11 a.m. The thirst for more news brought visitors to govolsxtra.com. Too many apparently as the server crashed and prevented a story confirming the ouster being posted to almost noon.
Despite the slow start, there were more than 1 million page views for knoxnews.com that day.
■ Fulmer audio slide show: web.knoxnews.com/special/110308fulmer
■ Game day audio slide show: web.knoxnews.com/special/112908ut-ky
■ Poll: www.govolsxtra.com/polls/2008/nov/112408gvxpoll
■ Blog: blogs.knoxnews.com/knx/gameday
■ Video: www.govolsxtra.com/videos
