How to cover sports in real time

3rd & 7 37yd

The event is available to syndicate for free here on the Scribble Market, so feel free to pick it up and publish wherever you like!

by robin.minchom 8/6/2013 2:35:28 PM
Thomas Klein
by robin.minchom on Aug 6, 2013 at 6:47 AM
Tom Klein (@tmsklein) is a freelance multimedia journalist with German public broadcaster ARD. Working on a wide range of journalistic projects for various departments, his main focus lies on the development of formats merging traditional print, radio and television coverage with social media.
In the past few years, Klein has developed and managed a number of Social TV and Social Radio projects for ARD including the 2011 FIFA Women’s World Cup, the UEFA Euro 2012, the UEFA Champions League or the Ironman European Championships 2010-2013.
Klein blogs for the leading German blog on Social TV we.makesocial.tv and teaches journalism students at the University of Applied Sciences in Darmstadt.

by robin.minchom 8/6/2013 2:37:52 PM
Robert Hodges
by robin.minchom on Aug 6, 2013 at 4:41 AM
Robert Hodges (@RobertKHodges) is the Social Media Editor for Sky Sports where he works with the editorial and production teams to bring the best out of social media across all platforms. That includes working directly with ScribbleLive to maximise the potential of real-time.

He has been working at Sky Sports for seven years in Digital Media, is a journalism graduate and supports West Ham United.

Sky Sports The 92 Live

Sky Sports The Ashes

by robin.minchom edited by Allendria 8/6/2013 2:38:19 PM
Derrick Goold
by robin.minchom on Aug 6, 2013 at 4:37 AM
Derrick Goold (@dgoold) is a baseball writer at The St. Louis Post-Dispatch and serves as the paper's lead Cardinals beat writer. He joined the paper in 2001 and moved to the baseball beat in 2004, where he has been active in expanding, improving, and innovating the paper's online baseball content while maintaining the quality of baseball coverage in print.

He started one of the first newspaper-based baseball blogs, Bird Land, and has maintained it for nearly a decade. A graduate of the University of Missouri's School of Journalism, Goold has previously worked at The New Orleans Times-Picayune and Rocky Mountain News (Denver, Colo.) and been honored for his feature writing, online journalism, and investigative reporting.

Derrick Goold Live Chat Cardinals Spring Training

by robin.minchom 8/6/2013 2:38:55 PM
Our three esteemed panelists are:

by robin.minchom 8/6/2013 2:39:25 PM
by robin.minchom 8/6/2013 3:32:02 PM
Here are a few really cool ScribbleLive events that our panelists have been involved in:

Sky Sports Ashes (it's cricket)

Cardinals Spring Training

ARD Ironman (Frankfurt)

by robin.minchom 8/6/2013 3:49:50 PM
The guests have all arrived and we should get this discussion under way in a couple of minutes!

by robin.minchom 8/6/2013 3:57:23 PM
The time has arrived, so let's get this chat underway!

The three panelists are from a diverse range of backgrounds - we have a social media editor, a beat reporter and a multimedia journalist - so they’ll be able to offer some different perspectives on the industry.

by robin.minchom 8/6/2013 4:00:00 PM
First of all, thank you all for joining from the four corners of the globe!

by robin.minchom 8/6/2013 4:00:28 PM
Thanks for the invitation, Robin. Looking forward to hearing the many, varied ways sports reporting has evolved -- and continues to do so every day -- from the other panelists here.

by Derrick Goold 8/6/2013 4:02:08 PM
To get everybody warmed up - let’s start with a bit of an ice breaker: what has been your favourite sporting moment of the past year?

by robin.minchom 8/6/2013 4:03:15 PM
Amazing - quite an eclectic mix! Here's Robert's (and mine)

Andy Murray Wins Wimbledon 2013 Title Final Match Point Highlights Wimbledon 2013
by HDGrandSlam TennisHigh... on July 7 at 5:56 PM

by robin.minchom 8/6/2013 4:07:44 PM
You've all been involved in sports journalism for quite a few years now - what have been the biggest changes to you're job in the past 5 - 10 years?

by robin.minchom 8/6/2013 4:08:57 PM
The time commitment. The 24/7/365 news cycle means you're basically on deadline constantly. Ten, 15 years ago you were always on call as a beat writer -- but now the need to produce a story immediately or a Tweet as you report is paramount. Content is constant. That means sometimes you cover news as it is happening, not just for the next day's paper when you have a chance to synthesize information for an article.

by Derrick Goold 8/6/2013 4:10:42 PM
I think you'd find a lot of journalists agreeing with that!

by robin.minchom 8/6/2013 4:12:14 PM
I started doing online journalism back in 1999. I have gone through all stages from there: The very beginning trying to establish sports journalism online was quite a challenge in itself in a traditional broadcaster environment.

by Tom Klein (hessenschau.de) 8/6/2013 4:13:18 PM
Not many would have said online journalism was proper journalism back then. That has changed.

by Tom Klein (hessenschau.de) 8/6/2013 4:14:30 PM
Well that's a positive development at least - Robert what have you seen?

by robin.minchom 8/6/2013 4:15:24 PM
And finally, the addition of social media content to traditional reporting was another huge step.

by Tom Klein (hessenschau.de) 8/6/2013 4:15:32 PM
For me, the biggest change has been Twitter...it's changed everything for journalism and how people obtain the news. Gone are the newswires and gone are the days when news organisations could dictate when stories broke. Now anyone can break a story and reach millions of people, which is why Derrick's point about needing to be 24/7 is so relevant. Everything is around the live as it happens as Twitter makes it feel out of date so quickly.

by Sky Sports 8/6/2013 4:15:37 PM
Well said, Tom. That line has not only been blurred but completely vanished.

by Derrick Goold 8/6/2013 4:15:40 PM
Before social media, people had to come to you for their news, now we have to start going to them and where they are. It's changed the way online is percieved by those who were so against it not so long ago.

by Sky Sports 8/6/2013 4:16:01 PM
I couldn't agree more - social media has shattered how news is both gathered and consumed.

by robin.minchom 8/6/2013 4:17:21 PM
You have to be much more mindful of your audience, which leads me to the next question about encouraging community engagement - a huge part of liveblogs and real-time journalism.

by robin.minchom 8/6/2013 4:18:17 PM
Any tips on how to create sports communities using Scribble?

by Kate 8/6/2013 4:18:41 PM
The community is very special when it comes to sports. Fans are very enthusiastic, the use very open and direct, sometimes strong language. And very often they are in favour a certain team or athlete.

by Tom Klein (hessenschau.de) 8/6/2013 4:20:14 PM
It's very easy to steer the community when it comes to matches of our national soccer team, when they play other nations. But when we talk about domestic games, it's a different story.

by Tom Klein (hessenschau.de) 8/6/2013 4:21:14 PM
Good question Kate, it's been a tough nut to crack for us. But we've found the best way is to make it part of the conversations we are having elsewhere. Social Media is a huge part of that, but just as much of it is broadcast as well. We have the advantage of hours of live programming to work with and all the personalities within them. We've tried to bring a flavour of them into our Scribble activity and create something that feels like you are talking to them, then we invite viewers to do just that.

by Sky Sports 8/6/2013 4:22:06 PM
That opportunity is unique and we've seen some really good results in growing a community across digital using these techniques.

by Sky Sports 8/6/2013 4:23:07 PM
Robert - I've seen with Sky that you've invited readers to send in videos and added them to the liveblog - I thought that was a really good touch!

by robin.minchom 8/6/2013 4:23:40 PM
And Derrick, you seem to interact an enormous amount with your readers - any secret to getting them involved?

by robin.minchom 8/6/2013 4:24:35 PM
With the old mailbag style interactions we had, the exchange was more static, less of a conversation and more of this monolith that we just dropped onto the web site every week and let it sit until the questions came in for next week. The liveblog and live Scribble-live chats allow a tremendous amount of interaction and real-time conversation that can grow organically depending on the topic -- or depending on the game. It can take on the rhythm of the event you're covering instead of existing outside of that. I think the important thing then is to try to build on that. Use pictures. Use polls. Take the reader there and interact. Anything you do during these events to exchange thoughts or take the reader to the event strengths that community feel beyond the one-way street of a television broadcast or newspaper article.

by Derrick Goold 8/6/2013 4:24:37 PM
To answer your question Kate: It's a matter of having regular services where the community can be involved. We started with soccer, which is the easiest thing here in Germany since the sport is so popular. Then the Olympics came and now we do it at many other events, such as the Swimming World Champs etc.

by Tom Klein (hessenschau.de) 8/6/2013 4:24:50 PM
Some really great answers there - thanks for the tips!

by robin.minchom 8/6/2013 4:26:03 PM
Tom's right. Regularity and consistency are the keys. If readers know you're going to be there at a certain time or provide a consistent kind of product then you can maintain that community feel. You start getting regulars and you recognize them as regulars. It can become an online pub.

by Derrick Goold 8/6/2013 4:26:23 PM
I fully agree.

by Tom Klein (hessenschau.de) 8/6/2013 4:27:11 PM
It often feels like an online pub with football fans!

by Sky Sports 8/6/2013 4:27:35 PM
I suppose when you've got that feeling, you've succeeded in creating a community - would you agree with that?

by robin.minchom 8/6/2013 4:28:24 PM
I figured that was a more recognizable reference than "online tailgate."

by Derrick Goold 8/6/2013 4:28:28 PM
Everyone loves a pub...

by robin.minchom 8/6/2013 4:29:12 PM
One of ARD's best services in terms of community involvement is UEFA Champions League Social Radio. We've built a web application with ScribbleLive and a live radio stream where users can submit questions during the match and many of them are answered by the radio commentators. It's almost like an ongoing conversation which is great for both sides.

by Tom Klein (hessenschau.de) 8/6/2013 4:29:36 PM
It's great when you get large numbers actually wanting to respond and engage, around events like the Transfer Window we just see huge responses with people arguing and people just making rumours up. Basically everything you see down the pub on a Friday night and it's great fun.

by Sky Sports 8/6/2013 4:30:30 PM
Absolutely. And it can become a viral thing. The group of "regulars" grows with word of mouth, especially if they now where to find the coverage, when to find the coverage, and -- from this word of mouth -- what to expect from the coverage. At the end of the day, the quality of the content is king. That's the priority. That's the sell. But the hook can be all the other things possible with a liveblog/chat that the traditional article doesn't offer because of its lack of interaction.

by Derrick Goold 8/6/2013 4:31:07 PM
We get a lot of viewers for our online chats, but not a lot of participation...are there any methods you use in particular to get viewers to become commenters and take a more interactive approach to the chat?

by Cody edited by robin.minchom 8/6/2013 4:31:34 PM

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