Recently sports blogs have been highly scrutinized by the likes of ESPN, Buzz Bissinger, Bob Costas and many other “real” journalists. Some of their main complaints has been that blogs are malicious, gossipy and vulgar which a lot of them are (including this one). They feel that regular fans shouldn’t have the right to post their opinions without formal training despite the fact that in America we have rights like freedom of speech and freedom of press. So as a result they’ve taken some strong stands against blogs and the sad part is that a lot of blogs are feeling the pressure and folding.
In an LA times article talking about how sports blogs are becoming more and more censored made me realize that it’s true. I’ve seen a decline in the normal edginess of blogs like Deadspin and The Big Lead which are some of favorites. Why are they softening up?
One reason for their recent softness is the fact that these blogs bring in so much daily traffic that they feel the need to only use only legit sources and sound more professional but at what cost?
When rumors and pictures like the Kobe Bryant cheating on his wife rumor and the Matt Leinart pictures were released, the blogs that reported them got tons of traffic. Whats the reason??
It’s because that is how our society thinks now. Whether the journalists like it or not, people want dirt. People want to know all the scandals. People want to see celebrities in peculiar and sometimes embarrassing situations because it makes them more human.
When I first started this blog, the intention was for it to just be a sports blog. I aspired to be the next ESPN but when I actually write about sports and the scores and things like that, NO ONE READS IT! The stories that get the most attention are the scandals and the half naked bitches. If you just clicked one of those links, you just proved my point.
You have to give the people what they want if you want them to come back right?
These blogs are so well established that they will get traffic no matter what they write but what about the average up and coming bloggers such as myself. We need these scandals and naked women to draw in new readers.
After talking about the current state of sports blogging, the article then talked about the dirty and it’s creator Nik Richie. The Dirty specializes in candid, salacious photos and has become known in the sports world for posting snapshots of famous athletes in private and sometimes embarrassing moments.
Nik has decided that he is not going to change his approach to blogging despite all the pressure. When the Kobe Bryant rumor broke, some blogs were cautious about posting about it but not the Dirty. They put some of the most info out about it and were not concerned with the repercussions even though they got a cease and desist letter from Kobe’s lawyers. Nik stated how he felt about it on a recent radio appearance.
“All these other sites are evolving because everyone’s putting pressure on them for their journalistic integrity,” he said. “That’s kind of a sell-out. . . . I think it’s 100% less fun.”
I love that quote. It says exactly how I feel about it. That is the reason most of us got into this in the first place. It is a very fun career to have and now guys are trying to be all politically correct and everything but it doesn’t make any sense. If someone wants to read an unbiased, well written yet boring article than they will go to ESPN or CNN or something like that. Thats not what most of us aspiring to be.
I like to post about half naked women in bikini’s, scandals and things like that mainly because if I wasn’t writing about it, I would probably be looking those things up myself. Like it or not journalists, this is what the people want. So I just have one question…. ARE YOU NOT ENTERTAINED?!?!?
What do you think? Do you agree with sports blogs cleaning things up or do you think that they should remain edgy?
