Nate Ewell: 3 things
I'll be checking out all your comments about my tovarich, Nate Ewell!
Nate Ewell is in his seventh season with the Washington Capitals, his fifth leading the team’s media relations efforts. Washington has earned the Dick Dillman Award as the top media relations staff in the NHL’s Eastern Conference each of the last three years. Ewell, who is the co-founder and co-owner of InsideCollegeHockey.com, was a writer and researcher for NBC Sports at the 2002 and 2006 Winter Olympic Games.
Nate joined the Capitals after spending four years in the sports information department at Michigan State University, working primarily with the hockey team. Ewell is a 1996 graduate of Princeton University, where he worked in the athletic communications office and was the sports editor of The Daily Princetonian.
GRADED EXERCISE: In the comments section below, add the three things you learned from Nate Ewell‘s presentation on Tuesday Feb. 16. Deadline is 30 minutes before class on Tuesday Feb. 23. No exceptions!
February 16th, 2010 at 10:58 pm
Three things I learned from Nate Ewell’s presentation today:
1. There are jobs out there, thankfully. It was actually kind of reassuring to hear that.
2. Since the Caps send their own reporters to all the games, they are are given more control over what message is being sent and allows a certain amount of criticism that doesn’t go overboard but still gets the message through.
3. I learned how valuable Twitter can be. It sends followers of certain writers to other reporters which not only generates more fans for the actual writer, but the fan is given more information about his/her favorite team.
February 17th, 2010 at 1:53 am
1. Reporters that are employed by the Capitals can criticize the team for poor play. For injury news and other things, I still need to read Tarik El-Bashir in The Post.
2. The team has maxed out its tickets. Therefore, social media helps engage fans with the team and grow the fanbase.
3. Tarik is the only “mainstream” journalist who attends every Capitals game.
February 17th, 2010 at 1:34 pm
1. Teams hire bloggers to be their own beat writers for the team website.
2. The Capitals have two beat writers covering the team, while the Washington Post only has one.
3. Club bloggers have greater insight than the Post beat writer.
February 17th, 2010 at 1:39 pm
The three things that I learned from Nate Ewell:
1. It doesn’t matter whether it is a practice or a game, no matter the piece of content, it will create a new storyline.
2. It is important for the Caps reporters to control their message. That is why the Caps send more of their own reporters to games instead of mainstream media.
3. The National Hockey League needs to reach out beyond their fanbase.
February 17th, 2010 at 2:45 pm
1. The goal of the writers hired by the Capitals is to CREATE content for people to watch. In addition, this media strives to reach out to Caps fans and make them even bigger Caps fans than they already are, especially because the Caps can’t sell anymore tickets. At the same time, though, they need to create new content that will reach out to more of the community than simply the hardcore fans.
2. The media employed by the Capitols do not cover injuries in their articles, posts, blogs and so on because identifying an injury could give another team an advantage.
3. Nearly half the NFL teams still have not hired beat writers for their own team. What this means is that there are jobs out there!
February 17th, 2010 at 3:39 pm
The three things that I learned was;
1) That professional sports teams hire their own beat reporters to cover their games and practices.
2) that there are jobs out their in the fields my major is in. This was nice to hear. In past classes all I have heard about is the hopelessness and terrible economy.
3) The idea of creating content. That sports teams should think of themselves as content providers to their fans.
February 17th, 2010 at 7:53 pm
The three things I learned from Nate were:
1) Luckily, there are journalist jobs out there. They can be beat writer for a specific team.
2) As writers, we must continue to create new content, while creating our own.
3) I also learned the value of Twitter. I don’t use it but the way Nate explained Twitter, it actually seems useful.
February 17th, 2010 at 9:14 pm
What I learned from Nate is:
Beat writers are allowed to criticize their teams more than other reporters.
Any given day there are hundreds of stories about a team, You just have to find them.
Beat writers write more in depth about their teams and less about actual game facts.
February 17th, 2010 at 10:04 pm
After Nate talk to us, I learned several new things about sports journalism, The first thing I learned was that most professional sports teams are creating new jobs by having full time beat writers who follow the team wherever they go. The second thing I learned was that teams now send more people to follow the game just for their website than the nation press. One of the final things I learned was that the purpose of the capitols website was to make fans even bigger fans.
February 17th, 2010 at 10:06 pm
What I took away from Nate Ewell speaking to our class…
1. Beat writers are expected to cover practice.
2. There’s newer information on the Caps website rather than in the newspaper.
3. You need to know PR but not necessarily everything about the sport.
February 17th, 2010 at 11:37 pm
I found Nate Ewell’s presentation to be very informative. Three things I took away from Ewell’s visit were:
1. While reporting, there is no such thing as a “normal” practice. Even when covering a team practice, the writer must find an angle.
2. There are many opportunities in sports for media directors. The Penguins just launched a 24/7 HD Radio station.
3. Beat writers cover practices and games at a very “in-depth” level to offer criticisms and analysis.
February 18th, 2010 at 9:16 am
Three things I learned from Nate Ewell are:
1. Team are hiring writers for their own website more in recent times.
2. “Everyday there are 100 stories for each team.”
3. The goal is to engage more passion for the team and sport
February 18th, 2010 at 12:14 pm
three things i learned from nate ewell:
1. that the language is a huge hurtle when doing public relations in the national hockey league
2. that teams are now hiring their own beat writers to cover the teams, as well as newspapers.
3. twitter, contrary to popular belief, only reaches the same population that has always been there, and has not yet proven itself as being able to reach the general public and help expand the fan base.
February 18th, 2010 at 12:34 pm
1)Sports teams are understanding that the game now goes beyond the game itself, allowing for more jobs to be opening up in the process.
2)The team sends out more writers than the mainstream media does. This is not a bad thing that the team sends out their own people because their beat writers can put out more of an opinion on the team than the mainstream media can.
3)Mainstream media is able to keep the team website honest as their website will not focus on a players injuries.
February 18th, 2010 at 1:12 pm
Three things I learned from Nate were:
1. On any given day there are many different stories written about a team. As a reporter you have to find a unique story.
2. Some of the most unique stories come during a team’s practice.
3. There are still jobs out there. Market yourself and don’t let the jobs come to you.
February 18th, 2010 at 1:38 pm
1. The use of social media on a PR level is to expand passion around the team
2. People interested in the Capitals already know where to access information, so the goal is to gain the interest of other people.
3. The Capitals website hires two beat writers and so they can control more of what the web says. This is compared to one main newspaper writer. I found it interesting that they send more people to cover the team from their own website, rather than in mainstream media.
February 18th, 2010 at 5:57 pm
Three things I learned from Nate Ewell
1)Professional teams are actually hiring beat writers for their own website.
2)Capitals fans know where to get their news and information about their team and favorite players, so growing fan interest is very important
3)The NHL needs ESPN to promote their brand to a wider audience since not everyone has Versus on their cable channel lineup.
February 19th, 2010 at 2:56 pm
Three things I learned from Nate Ewell:
1. The goal of the writers for the Capitals is to create content and entertainment for people. They find ways to engage with fans and spread the “Caps” word.
2. There is never a time when there are no stories to write. Every day there are several different stories going on. It is our job as writers to find the stories that people want to hear.
3. Starting recently, most teams are starting to hire their own beat writers. These were encouraging words because I am so used to hearing about the recession and the struggle for jobs coming out of college. Hearing this definitely brightened my day.
February 21st, 2010 at 3:00 pm
Three things that I learned from Nate Ewell:
1. The team has the ability to control the message if they send their own people to the sporting event.
2. You should push out your own content, that way more people will have a chance to read it.
3. The remaining objective for the rest of the Capitals season is to make people more of fans than they already are.
February 23rd, 2010 at 9:58 am
I wasn’t in class to listen to Nate Ewell but this what I learned:
1.Caps writers and advertisers work to make already caps fan even bigger caps fans.
2.Make your voice known. Put your name where ever you can so people can hear what you have to say.
3.There are lots of differnt jobs out there for people interested in the realm of sports broadcasting.
February 23rd, 2010 at 10:32 am
The three things that I learned from Nate Ewell:
1. How they are able to control their message when it comes to writing for the team they work for.
2. How much the NHL is really trying to make their web sites much more oriented of the people that are fans of the team.
3. So many different jobs are available with the team if you search hard enough for the opportunity.
February 23rd, 2010 at 11:44 am
Three things about Nate Ewell
1.) There are some job opportunities for many teams to do sports writing.
2.) The Capital’s reporters have freedom to talk about terrible play from the team but can not disclose injury information
3.) There is never a time when there is no story. There is always something to write about in the sports world.