Author: Miguel Alberto Cedeño Ortiz
The year 2020 has been marked by great changes throughout humanity, as a result of the pandemic generated by COVID-19. In practically every corner of the planet this virus has changed the daily life of each of the people, forcing us to suspend many of our activities, maintain social quarantine and adapt to what is called the “new normal”. Sports and Journalism have been witnesses, protagonists and reporters of these changes and they already show us the way of what the relationship between them will be like and how sports information will be handled in the immediate future.
Although before the pandemic, sports journalism as a specialized genre had already been experiencing the changes and transformations resulting from the digital age, it has been in this year, where the acceleration of these changes and new trends have been exponentially reflected. With the paralysis of almost all sports activity worldwide: Championships, Leagues, Tournaments and even the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, sports journalists no longer had daily information to review; However, spaces arose to be able to get closer to athletes by digital means: interviews by videoconferences, live broadcasts on social networks, are some of the means that have allowed athletes to get closer to their followers. Likewise, this pause in the day-to-day activity allowed to generate spaces, programs and podcasts, where the protagonists of the world of sport told their anecdotes, their trajectory and historical reviews of events, championships and sporting feats that had been saved in the trunk of memories.
With the return to sporting competitions, the new normal is already present, the required social distancing and protection and biosecurity measures mean that some press conferences are held by videoconference or that on-site interviews are made with distanced microphones and with the use of masks or face masks, elements that will continue to be used until a vaccine is obtained and the pandemic has been overcome.
There is no doubt that based on everything we have seen and experienced this year and thanks to technological advances, we will increasingly see new ways and creative ways of bringing sports information through traditional media or new digital media, in what we call the New, New Sports Journalism, where technology and innovation are present and where those who manage to adapt to these changes and new trends will be followed in The Race for Sports Information Post COVID-19
Miguel Cedeño
@miguelsportsub
miguelsportsub@gmail.com