The Team Reporter: Getting Inside
A while back in December, the acclaimed NBA blog TrueHoop wrote an entry about a relatively new development: the team reporter.
When you pick up say, the Star Tribune, and look for your local Minnesota Timberwolves coverage, you are guaranteed a game recap after each and every game, an injury update, and a general story about the state of the franchise. But what you don’t get is an inside look of practice, of the locker room and of the nuances of a professional sports organization.
Many teams, including the Phoenix Suns, have gone beyond providing uncut audio and video highlights and interviews. The Suns site has practice footage as well as locker room “access.” Not only are teams adapting to the new ways of 21st century sports reporting, they are adapting to what fans essentially crave: to see what the NBA is like behind the scenes, on demand.
In many ways, team reporters are a liaison between the team, its players and fans. The Seattle SuperSonics run a blog by team reporter Kevin Pelton, who spends an entire workday with the franchise that employs him, which gives him more access and probably more knowledge than the average beat reporter. Furthermore, this blog allows fans and fan sites to interact via a very informal forum … providing indirect access never-before-seen.
MLB, NHL and NFL teams also now employ team reporters, and you have to wonder if newspapers will keep up with such extensive, uncut, thorough coverage.