From objective to bullish: Covering sports for a college

Poynter's Romenesko points out a good read out of Harrisonburg, Va., today.

Colleges are hiring official sports writers.

Dustin Dopirak writes about how more newspaper sports reporters are jumping to college athletic departments. "We wanted to create a position that informed our fans directly," said U.Va. executive associate athletic director Jon Oliver.

Now, that sounds like traditional PR, but the story is worth reading. There's more to it. Hiring sports writers is a trend that began with the pros. Sites like MLB.com and NFL.com employ beat writers for each of their teams.

Is this sports journalism or the impression of journalism? These writers are not going to write controversial stories that their employers don't want them to break.

As newsrooms downsize, travel becomes limited, and journalists redefine themselves, what happens to objectivity? What do the fans, sports customers, want?

What happens to stories about the business of sports?

The Reynolds Center for Business Journalism will be hosting a workshop on covering the Business of Sports March 10, 2010, in Indianapolis.

Stay tuned.

Star-Ledger announces cuts

George Arwaday, publisher of The Star-Ledger of New Jersey, sent a memo to employees Thursday detailing new pay and benefits cuts at the paper. The entire memo has been posted to Poynter's Romenesko blog.
From the memo:

The first $40,000 of your new combined annualized income will be cut by 5%. If you make more than $40,000, your next $40,000 in income up to $80,000 will be cut by 10%. Any annualized income over $80,000 will be cut by 15%.

In addition, Arwaday told employees that any bonuses they receive will be rolled into their salary and not delivered all at once at the end of the year.
In addition, all employees will now have to pay for 25 percent of their health care coverage. These moves were put in place to help offset a $20 million year-over-year drop in first quarter ad revenue.
To read the memo, click here.