Discussing a Discussion

I don’t really blog, so I’ll be up front for any wayward eyes that come across this article: This is an assignment for class. If you’re a fan of basketball and/or journalism, if not, Medium has much better articles to read than this.

The Premise:

“Write a blog post reviewing a story that you read online/mobile/etc. Make sure to reference journalism/storytelling techniques, technology used to tell that story and how it enhances audience engagement.”

The Product:

I read Grantland daily anyway, so I might as well review an article on it.

The Review:

Andrew Sharp is probably my favorite writer on Grantland. This is despite other Grantland talent includes the likes of Bill Barnwell, Zach Lowe, Wesley Morris, David Shoemaker aka “The Masked Man” and the site’s editor and founder Bill Simmons. That said, I’m going into this a bit biased.

From an audience interactivity standpoint, there really isn’t any. There are 1,319 words, two pictures (it could be argued that only one is actually in the piece, as the first image is between the headline and the start of the column) and an embedded YouTube video. Sure, the video is a highlight reel of Derrick Rose from a game against the Spurs in February 2011 during his MVP-winning season, but that’s all there is for readers to touch and poke.

That leaves it up to Sharp’s words to carry the piece. The article isn’t as entertaining as a #HotSportsTakes piece, which features fabulous wordplay in an attempt to be the worst sports column of all time (of the week), but Sharp does a fine job waxing nostalgia for Rose’s skill before his injuries and analyzing how Rose has performed since returning to the court.

I don’t know if this piece is written in a way that someone not interested would read it, but at the same time, that’s not as big a deal for Grantland as it would be for something like ESPN’s main site (Grantland is owned by ESPN) or Bleacher Report. Grantland is a site for people who want longer stories, ones that flow in both word choice and the narrative as a whole. A quick retelling of the facts and a brief prediction that might generate more hits would risk alienating the audience that returns on a daily basis.

For a four-digit word count, it sure doesn’t feel like one. The layout of the page divides the text and only creates a wall of text in one spot. Even then, that wall is more akin to a curb than a fence. The longest word, “incidentally,” checks in at just 12 letters, and rarely do words stretch longer than three syllables. It’s a short-ish, long-ish piece that’s just long enough to convince skimmers to read carefully while not punishing those who were hooked on each word from the start.