Reflection paper No. 5

In the US, a major aspect of journalism is about journalism and how it relates to social networking sites. I have spent many classes at the Missouri School of Journalism discussing and debating what the best way to use, and what ethically journalists can and can not do, with sites such as Facebook and Twitter. In my experience in London, I’ve learned that media use of social networking sites is not nearly up to par of American media outlets.

At my internship site, SportsPro Media, they do advertise the publication’s Facebook and Twitter sites on the website, but there isn’t any advertising in the magazine, like what I see when I read Sports Illustrated or ESPN. When SportsPro updates its Facebook and Twitter pages, it will update with stories, or selling the upcoming magazine, which is similar to what I see with different outlets in the US.

However, one thing that I feel that SportsPro does a much better job at than the Columbia Missourian, the media outlet that I’ve done work for in the US, is finding stories through Facebook and Twitter. The editorial staff at SportsPro will go through and research using different team Twitter/Facebook sites, sports business Twitter/Facebook sites and just other random sites in order to get our story ideas, or to get info for the “Daily Deals” section that the magazine updates every day. They also use it as a tool to find sources and experts on a certain topic/issue.

Due to the lack of validity of information and stories that Twitter/Facebook sometimes present, SportsPro won’t necessarily base something simply off a Twitter/Facebook update. However, if we find something that is worth covering if it is in face true, the social networking sites provide us with the initial start, where we can then go research it further to find out if it is valid or not.

The other members of the editorial staff at SportsPro also use their own Twitter/Facebook accounts to relay information about the magazine to different friends, family and sources. I personally believe that this information should maybe be automatically tweeted back by the SportsPro page, but thus far, that hasn’t happened yet.

Reflection paper No. 4

Recently, London hosted one of the grand slam tennis tournaments, Wimbledon, and it led to major news in the U.K. However, Wimbledon never seems to attract much attention in the US, especially this year, with the World Cup and the middle of baseball season going on at the same time. Wimbledon is a sporting event that I believe should be covered more often in the US media, and if it was, I believe it would go over well with Americans, since it has all of the sports elements that Americans seem to love.

Wimbledon is a 13-day grand slam tennis tournament, featuring the best tennis players from all around the world, such as Rafael Nadal, Andy Murray, Roger Federer, Maria Sharapova, Venus and Serena Williams and Ana Ivanovic. This needs more exposure in American media because it has all of the elements in sports that Americans love, which is why I also believe that it would be very popular if it were more easily accessible. For example, in this year’s tournament alone, there was a major upset when Roger Federer and Venus Williams lost. The duo of the Williams sisters also lost for the first time in over a year. The longest match in tennis history, between American John Isner and French Nicolas Mahut, also happened in this year’s tournament. The match, won by Isner, attracted huge ratings in the UK, as the match lasted for three days. The fifth and final set alone was longer than any match in tennis history. It seemed that many American outlets, other than ESPN and Sports Illustrated, didn’t even cover that this match shattered the previous world record for longest tennis match, or that an American won it. Also, former tennis star, and current model that is popular among American men, Anna Kournikova, played during the tournament. I would almost guarantee that if her much were advertised beforehand, it would have drawn in big ratings.

Earlier this summer, I went on a tour of Wimbledon, and learned that the BBC has had exclusive coverage rights of the event for a long time, and it is nearly impossible for anyone else to come in and try to take the rights from them. ESPN will show highlights on SportsCenter, and the major matches will be broadcast, but it is usually the smaller ones, such as the Isner match, that will likely excite and draw many Americans in. Americans might not find the sport of tennis exciting, but the sporting elements that Americans usually love are all there, such as the dramatic win, the upsets, and of course, the pop culture element.

Internship No. 4

The past couple of weeks at my internship have been fairly slow. Two weeks ago was production week, and two of the five people on staff were on vacation that week, so I ended up working four days that week. I normally only write 3-4 deals a day, but on those days, I wrote 10. This past week was the first week of planning for the September issue of the magazine, which will come out in early August. I started working on a story about the history of child tennis prodigies, the deals they’ve signed, and why they are so marketable.

In addition to this, the past couple weeks have consisted of:

-       Interviewing the coach of Maria Sharapova, Anna Kournikova, Venus and Serena Williams, and Andre Agassi.

-       Copy-editing and proofreading for the upcoming magazine

There’s nothing that I’ve done directly that applies to what I’ve learned in my classes at the Missouri School of Journalism, other than the basic skills of researching and interviewing. However, one thing that I want to talk about, and how much it has shaped my work experience, is the World Cup. Since I am working at a sports magazine, the World Cup obviously has been a large part of what we have been covering. One of my favorite stories that I’ve done so far this summer was about the value of the World Cup trophy (http://www.sportspromedia.com/notes_and_insights/_a/world_cup_trophy_worth_over_us10_million/)

The World Cup has also offered us a great way to bond over something we might not otherwise have. On Friday’s, the employees don’t dress up like during the week. People can wear polo’s, jerseys, t-shirts, whatever they like, so I decided to wear my US soccer jersey on the day of the US England game at work. Plenty of people in the office, who I otherwise might not have had contact with since they work for different publications, all came up and gave me a hard time, but it was all in good fun.

Another fun bonding experience that the World Cup provided was after the group stage ended. The US won the group, and England took second. Both advanced into the next round, but since the US won the group, they got the better draw, so I made a paper that had the group standings in bold, with a USA flag underneath it. I posted it on the wall behind my editor, David, and he looked at another employee and responded, “What the bloody hell does our intern think he’s doing,” just like any true Brit would.

The World Cup comes to an end this Sunday, something I am extremely sad about. On one hand, I will miss the fun that we were giving each other in the office, giving us a chance to bond better. On the other, I will miss the wealth of exciting stories, deals, and information that I get to report about that deals with stuff about the World Cup.

Ilya Kovalchuk to re-sign with New Jersey Devils

He’s the Lebron James of hockey.

The National Hockey League’s (NHL) Ilya Kovalchuk, 27, is expected to re-sign a deal with the New Jersey Devils today. The deal is thought likely to be for seven years and worth US$60 million. Kovalchuk played for the Devils for the second half of last season after turning down a US$101 million offer from his former team, the Atlanta Thrashers.

Kovalchuk’s agent Jay Grossman said via Twitter on Monday night that, “Ilya Kovalchuk choices have been narrowed down, details to be finalized but no announcement tonight.”

Several teams have been bidding for Kovalchuk, the NHL’s most sought-after free-agent, and it came down to two teams, the Devils and New York Islanders. The Islanders reportedly offered Kovalchuk US$100 million over a 10-year contract, which would have made him the highest-paid player in the NHL.

Kovalchuk, who has had 52-goal seasons twice in his career, had 41 goals and 44 assists last season.

The expected deal with the Devils, which will see the franchise pay the player US$8.57 million/year, will make Kovalchuk the fourth-highest paid player in the NHL. The Washington Capital’s Alexander Ovechkin is the highest paid player at US$9.538 million/year, followed by the Pittsburgh Penguins Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin, each paid US$8.7 million/year.

The Devils have about US$6 million in cap space available, counting 16 certain roster players. Aside from Kovalchuk, they’d also have to fill six other roster slots, probably for a total of US$4 million, leaving some US$2 million for Kovalchuk. They can exceed the US$59.4 million cap by US$5.94 million until the regular season begins, at which time they must comply.

The 2010-11 NHL season starts on Thursday 7th October when the Carolina Hurricanes play the Minnesota Wild in Helsinki, Finland. The Devils open up their season when they host the Dallas Stars a day later.

Reflection paper No. 3

The Fifa World Cup in South Africa has been an event that has attracted soccer fans, and fans that know nothing about the game, but just want to root their country on, from all over the world. All in all, 32 teams compete in the tournament, so the Fifa World Cup website has a massive audience in which it is trying to appeal to. There are several ways that they are able to give information and news for each individual fan.

At the main page, there are results of the most recent games, the upcoming games and the main headlines revolving around the tournament, which can include stories involving multiple teams, the most recent stories or whatever the day’s hot news is revolving around the competition.

The website also has a feature on it where one can click on his or her respective country and see the headlines revolving around that one team. Fans can also follow their favorite player by clicking on the link to the players tab. Some players play in different countries than what they are born in, so if a fan of a European-league team wanted to follow a US player that played on one of England’s teams, for example, they could click on that tab to follow the news and stats of that player.

Many fans from across the world are currently in South Africa, so the country is trying to appeal to a vast range of people, interests and hobbies. On one of the pages of the site, they have a feature on the country of South Africa, what there is to see and do, and information on the different stadiums and areas where the games are being played. There is also an article mentioning how the entire continent is now following behind the last remaining African country, Ghana, which puts international boundaries aside, and makes it more about the host continent, rather than the host country. (http://www.fifa.com/worldcup/news/newsid=1264248/index.html#ghana+fever+grips+south+africa).

Another way that this website appeals to an international audience is through the Fifa International Fan Fest, which displays the games on jumbo-tron screens in major cities all over the world. These cities include Paris, Berlin, Rome, Sydney, Mexico City and Rio de Janeiro. The advertising for the fan fest on the website says, “More fans than ever, in more countries than ever, will have access to the remarkable FIFA Fan Fest experience.” Again, this is stressing the importance of the World Cup being an international experience.

Overall, Fifa has to put a wide range of people with a wide range of different talents, from languages, to skills, to knowledge about the different teams and countries, in order to put a website compiling all of this information together.

Paris

Paris- what a city. I spent this past weekend in the City of Lights, and it was four-days of non-stop excitement.

When my roommates Kevin, Nick, Dan and I all arrived in Paris early Friday morning, the first thing we went to see was the Louvre. We just went outside of it on this occasion, but to stand next to the pyramid was really something special. After this, we walked over to the Eiffel Tower. While waiting in line to go to the top of the tower, two gypsies came up to us asking for money. At first they asked if we spoke English. For the first one, we made the mistake of saying yes, and then she held a note out saying how poor she was and asked us to give her money. When they came around, I made sure I covered up my pockets so someone else couldn’t come in from behind to steal my wallet. We obviously told both of them no, but when the second one came in and asked if we spoke English, we immediately responded by saying no.

After this, we went to the top of the Eiffel Tower. The views from the top are outstanding. I’m including pictures because it truly is indescribable, and the pictures still don’t do it nearly enough justice. After the Eiffel Tower, it started to get dark and we walked down towards the Arc de Triomphe, which is a monument celebrating Napoleon’s victories. When we got down here, it was just after Portugal tied Brazil in the World Cup, which set up a Spain vs. Portugal match in the second round. The Portuguese and Spaniards were out celebrating the results of their matches that day and also getting ready for the upcoming match. At first, we got there and they were just dragging their flags around cars and buses driving by. As things heated up though, they started to attempt to roll cars over, bang on the buses and started lighting each other’s flags on fire. Eventually, the riot police showed up and it cleared up, but we were all in shock watching everything go down.

The following day, we got up extremely early in order to be the first in line to get into the Louvre. When we got in, we ran to the Mona Lisa in order to beat the crowd. I had heard that it was very disappointing since it is small and in a poorly lit room. However, I’d have to disagree with this, as it wasn’t huge, but I think it is decent sized, and the room was lit just well. After that, we found the Venus de Milo, which I really enjoyed since I think Greek mythology is really interesting, and this is rumored to be a statue of Aphrodite. My other favorite art exhibit was Cupid and Psyche, in which Cupid is holding her up. In addition to the Louvre, we saw the Notre Dame cathedral, the Versailles Palace and Napoleon’s tomb.

While we were standing in line to get into Notre Dame, this couple in front of us asked Kevin, who was wearing a Mizzou shirt, if we went there. We told them that we did, and they said how they are teachers at Hickman High School (one of the two high schools in Columbia) and they were there with a group of 21 students. While we were walking to Napoleon’s tomb, a guy (which I’m assuming to be one of the students, but don’t know for sure) yelled M-I-Z! so we yelled Z-O-U back. At the Louvre, we were sitting and just resting for a minute, and I saw a girl that I had a class with freshman year at Mizzou, and she and her friend she was with are friends with my roommate Dan, so it was really cool to all be reunited half a world away from where we all live. It’s amazing how even in Paris, we see so many people from Columbia.

On Saturday night in Paris, we went to watch the US vs. Ghana World Cup game at the Fifa Fan Fest in Paris. Paris is one of six cities in the world that has this fan fest. It is a huge jumbotron playing the games, and the one in Paris is right in front of the Eiffel Tower, so you literally watch the game in the shadow of the Eiffel Tower. Unfortunately, the outcome sucked, as the US lost 2-1 in extra time. There were tons of Americans and Ghanaians though, and for the most part, everyone was cool about the game. There were some Algerians (who the US beat in the most recent game) that were trying to start stuff with us. We figured we’d let them talk, but one of them grabbed Kevin’s flag and attempted to light it on fire. After that, a security guard that was at least 400 pounds of solid muscle got in between us and threw him and all of his friends out. After that, we congratulated the Ghanaians on their win, talked and hung out with them for a little bit, and also talked with a few Americans about how the game sucked. After the game, the four of us walked back to our hostel draping our American flags, which was about a 4-mile walk right through downtown. The French had interesting reactions to this. Some booed as we walked by, others started yelling “Ghana!” and others came up and asked us the result. Some seemed to be genuinely asking, but I think others just wanted to hear us say it. Regardless, nothing can be as embarrassing as France’s World Cup, so none of them have any room to talk.

The city of Paris itself was great. However, I cannot stand the French. I have never met a culture that is more arrogant than they are. For example, I asked the doorman at our hostel which way the Louvre was, since that was the general direction we needed to go to in order to see the sights. He responded by saying “Do you want me to hold your hand and walk you there or what?” I said I just wanted to know the direction, and he told me that I’m 20, not 10, and to figure it out myself. That was just one example, but all weekend, we continuously had encounters with the French just being arrogant and obnoxious.

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NFL and Nickelodeon to produce cartoon series

The National Football League (NFL) is pairing up with Nickelodeon for an NFL cartoon.

Nickelodeon, the number-one entertainment brand for kids in the US, has signed a deal with the NFL to create a new, original animated short-form series. The 22 episodes of “Rush Zone: Guardians of the Core” is comprised of two-to-five minute shorts featuring an unexpected new hero, all 32 NFL teams and voices of NFL players and coaches themselves, such as New York Giants quarterback Eli Manning and New Orleans Saints coach Sean Payton. The series will air weekly to coincide with the 2010 NFL season from September through February and will culminate with a one-hour movie, airing the day before Super Bowl XLV. The series will also be shown on Jumbotrons in NFL stadiums, Nicktoons.com and NFLRush.com. The series is based on NFL Rush Zone, the league’s online world for kids.

“We are pleased to expand our relationship with Nickelodeon and to bring the NFL to life in a fantastical, exciting animated series,” said Peter O’Reilly, NFL vice president of fan strategy & marketing. “Millions of children have discovered the fun of the NFL Rush Zone online world in the past two years, and this new series is a great way of bringing the Rush Zone to an even wider audience every week during the NFL season.”

The show is about Ishmael, a ten-year-old boy, whose superpowers include the skills of an NFL player. Ishmael must protect valuable supernatural objects hidden in the league’s stadiums.

NFL Rush Zone, which was launched in 2007, currently has two million registered users. Nicktoons, meanwhile, is on pace to have its highest-rated quarter ever. For the second quarter to date, Nicktoons is posting double-digit increases of 17 per cent with boys 6-11 and 20 percent with boys 9-14. With overall kids 2-11, the network is up 25 percent, up 33 percent with those aged 9-14 and up 15 per cent among total viewers.

“It is great to be partnering with the NFL,” said Keith Dawkins, Nicktoons general manager and senior vice president, Nickelodeon Programming Partnerships. “To be able to bring the power of two brands that boys love, the NFL and Nickelodeon, together under one roof and leverage the best of what we both do is extremely exciting. This new series combines fantasy, sports, game play, team work, competition and the age old theme of good vs. evil, under one compelling new narrative.”

Internship paper No. 3

My internship at SportsPro Media has continued to be exciting these past few weeks, as I got to research and write a four-page feature about the college conference shakeup.

-Everyday, I research deals for the first two hours and then we write them. Over the past few weeks, the number of deals that they want me to write has increased. At first, it was usually three a day, and it has now raised to four or five a day.

-I worked on my 4-page feature for the August issue of the magazine about the college conference shakeup.

-I wrote smaller stories (300 to 500 words) about topics such as the France World Cup scandals, the value of the World Cup trophy and the NHL Stanley Cup Finals doing really well in ratings and merchandise sales this year.

The most exciting thing that I’ve done over the past couple of weeks has been researching and writing the college conference story. Since Mizzou has been a key player in this since December 2009, it was something I was already interested in. This article presented an exciting challenge though in that it had to be 2,000 to 2,500 words, which is the by far the longest article I’ve written. Before this, the longest was under 1,500 words.

When I first set out to write this article, it appeared that the conference shakeup wouldn’t happen until around the end of the year, so I originally wrote it saying that it might happen, and these would be the affects of it. However, it snuck up on me much sooner than I originally thought it would. Just a couple days after finishing the original draft, Colorado left the Big 12 for the Pac 10. The next day, Nebraska left the Big 12 for the Big Ten and Boise State left the WAC for the Mountain West. Early the next week, Utah left the Mountain West and also joined the Pac 10, so it was a lot of chaos in a short amount of time. Also, it was uncertain as to what Texas was going to do, and since they are a major player, I had to wait until they announced a decision before going back and re-working my article. I had to practically re-write the entire thing, but I was still able to keep a lot of the information and quotes in there about the financial aspects of the shakeup, so that was good.

In addition to this, I wrote several smaller stories. My favorite was about the value of the World Cup trophy. My editor, David, was editing my college football story, and I was just trying to kill time, so I began researching the value and production of costs of the World Cup ball, since so many players are complaining about it. I was unsuccessful in this, but did find some stuff about the value of the World Cup trophy, and how it’s grown in value over the years, so I just wrote a story about it. When I was done, I sent it to David and he liked it, so it got published.

At Mizzou, I’ve been taught to always make stories out of stuff that other people don’t know, or don’t want to write about. I’m thrown a lot more deals than anyone else on staff, mainly because they aren’t fun to write or research. However, I’m learning a lot about the sports industry in general by doing that. Also, since all my coworkers are English, and I’m American, they naturally know much more about soccer, and the World Cup, than I do, so it was really cool when I was able to tell them something in an article about the World Cup and the World Cup trophy that they had no idea about.

Maria Sharapova signs multi-year deal with Evian

Three-time Grand Slam champion Maria Sharapova has signed a multiyear agreement with Evian, a French brand of mineral water.

“I have been drinking their products and using their face spray for years,” Sharapova said.

Earlier this week, Sharapova, the world’s highest-paid female athlete, was named the number 16 seed a Wimbledon, which started on June 21st. In addition to Wimbledon, Evian is also a sponsor of the US and Australian Opens. Sharapova has won all three in her career.

“She is a superstar, she is famous in many countries,” Michael Aidan, global brand director at Evian, which is sold in 152 nations, said in an interview. “She embodies a youthful spirit that fits our brand.”

For the campaign, Sharapova is wearing a t-shirt with a printed figure of a baby and a bottle of Evian water. Financial details of the deal have not been disclosed.

Under Armour signs 11-year old to US$350,000 deal

Under Armour has signed 11-year old tennis prodigy Maria Shishkina to a five-year deal worth US$350,000, plus bonuses.

Under Armour is using Shischkina to attempt to make a splash in the tennis market. In 2009, Under Armour accounted for just 4.4 percent of the tennis apparel market.

“It sounded like a pro,” Under Armour CEO Kevin Plank said after hearing Shishkina volleying. “She was this little girl with a twinkle in her eye, and she was just so physically mature.”

Shishkina, originally from Kazakhstan, is currently home schooled by her mother in order to accommodate her training schedule, which consists of five hours a day on the court and in the gym, working with resistance bands, doing yoga and soccer drills, roller-skating and playing basketball.

“Someday, I want people to say I changed the game of tennis or I was a legend or I was number one for a long time or made records,” Shishkina said. “It means a lot when people say I could be a star. It motivates me.”