In the past year or so, I’ve spent time blogging for two sites, MVN and the Bleacher Report. In the past month, both of these sites have made huge steps in better establishing themselves as a part of the online sports media. MVN has unveiled a brand new platform, one in which I will discuss more in my paper next week, and the Bleacher Report has raised $3.5 million, presumably so it can begin paying its numerous writers.
When I wrote for these sites, I wrote for myself, to improve my own writing. I never believed sites with sports fans, who are amateur writers, could establish themselves as a credible medium, and I still don’t think these sites are the future of online sports medium. These sites let too many people write, and in my opinion, there are too many bad writers, writing recycled material for the sites as a whole to be taken seriously. But, for the Bleacher Report especially, it is pretty amazing how much these sites have improved in the past year. Even more amazing, is how they’ve raised money to build new platforms and pay writers, while the rest of journalism is struggling to make ends meet.
I still have my doubts about the permanent staying power of both, but we shall see.
