Yahoo’s Star Sports Writer Adrian Wojnarowski Says Basketball Is Perfect for the Internet
“Either you’re going to compete, or you’re going to come up with excuses for why you got your ass kicked.”
Courtesy “The Vertical Podcast with Woj”
Adrian “Woj” Wojnarowski left newspapers for the Internet when the print business started to turn south. Now the new company that signs his checks, Yahoo, is slicing down its digital media divisions. But Woj is confident that he will stay put.
On the latest episode of Re/code Media with Peter Kafka, he explained how he made the jump to the Web in the late 2000s, and why he just launched a new NBA-focused site within Yahoo called The Vertical. There, and in his podcast “The Vertical Podcast with Woj,” he blends old-fashioned reporting with an attitude attuned to the high speed and high stakes of the Web.
“I want us to win. I don’t apologize,” Wojnarowski said. “Either you’re going to compete, or you’re going to come up with excuses for why you got your ass kicked.”
He also discussed what he thinks of aggregation journalism, the ethical debate over reporters mixing opinion with fact and why basketball is a good match for online media.
“The NBA was perfect for the Internet,” he said. “Its star players drive everything, and there’s lots of conflict among teams and groups.”
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Peter Kafka will be back next Thursday to talk to Danielle Weisberg and Carly Zakin, the creators of email newsletter theSkimm.
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This article originally appeared on Recode.net.
