A Time for Innovation

While browsing the internet sports news universe this morning, I came across this interesting column that ran in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram by sports columnist Gil Lebreton, titled "Super Bowl may have outgrown the media that helped create it." It is a fun read, but part of the story really intrigued me. Libreton wrote,

"Newspapers and radio stations still cover the game in record numbers. But whereas, as recently as Super Bowl XIX, a reporter could actually sit down and interview one of the two Super Bowl quarterbacks, the media crush now is so thick, you're lucky to have 10 minutes with the special teams coach."

I had never really thought about it like that before. As much coverage as there is of the Super Bowl, it really is limited. At first this scared me: what will stories include if access is so limited? Will it be pure speculation? Maybe I shouldn't have jabbed the press for creating such a stir over Brady's walking boot and high ankle sprain. If they had better access to the sources they needed then maybe the story would have began and ended in the same news day.

But here is the thing. This may be the perfect time to experiment with new media techniques and technologies. User generated content, more analysis and comparisons using video and audio, blogs and polls, profiles and scorecards and so much more could be experimented with. If only certain media outlets can interview the big names, other media needs to create new content that will draw readers in. Innovation and invention often occurs when the traditional or accepted ways of doing something are taken away. Smaller media outlets would benefit to start the experimentation and draw in readers with features that larger outlets didn't think of doing when they were interviewing the star QB.