This morning, I received an email from an old friend of mine. I am not saying he is old, just that I’ve known him for a long time. This gentleman is a sports writer and his email asked me to comment on his latest story which was posted on the Internet.
It is not the first time he has asked me, nor is it the first time I have complied with his request. My comments were also connected to my Facebook feed.
However, today, his email made me think twice about the request.
During the pre-Internet years, this journalist regularly wrote news stories, features and columns for his newspaper. During this time, I often read up to five newspapers a day, and often chuckled when I came across his stories.
During all of those years of reading his stuff, he never once asked me to comment on what he wrote. Maybe I brought it up when were were together or chatting on the phone, but that was it. it was not part of his job description.
Today however, is a different world. Everything is being measured. Savvy “old school” sports writers have been coached on what the impact means to their content and the comments and what type of impact it can mean to making a story more viral.
Today, we are all salesman. A sports writer in today’s world is selling his or her content as much as I am.
Speaking of which, if you like today’s take, pass it on. Make a comment. I’m in sales too.