A few weeks ago, I wrote about a big problem facing sports journalism. I wanted to expand on that thought because I think it coincides with another issue with the industry. The situation, as many know, is that budget cuts and layoffs are sweeping across the newspaper industry. That doesn’t bode well for those of us who need to travel, whether by car or by plane, to different cities for coverage of our local sports teams. Making it to different stadiums, spending time in hotels, covering dining costs and everything else involved with a trip is getting costly.
Is it really worth sending one or two reporters hundreds of miles away for usually two days and one night — on the paper’s dime, mind you — just to write a recap for a game that is over and done with in usually two and a half hours?
