Sports Journalism Center launches new Web site

The IU Sports Journalism Center at IU-Purdue University Indianapolis wants to make sports news easily accessible to journalists and sports fans alike.

Sept. 15 marked the commencement of the IU Sports Journalism Center Web site, sportsjournalism.org. The new Web site offers sports news stories, links to other news Web sites and insight from three experienced journalists.  

The site additionally offers information about the National Sports Journalism Center, which opened in January at IUPUI.

Tim Franklin, director of the National Sports Journalism Center, said the Web site will help make IU and sports journalism synonymous.

“It distinguishes us from other universities that offer sports journalism programs,” Franklin said. “If you want to have the best sports media program in America, you have to have the best Web site.”
Franklin said he wants faculty, students and professionals to visit the Web site every day. He said it’s constantly being updated, and he wants the site to be recognized on a national level.

John Oehser, who was a writer and editor for the Indianapolis Colts Web site for several years, is the official web editor of the sports site. He will maintain the site each day and pull content from other sites.

“We wanted to have a gateway to this new sports journalism center that has been established,” Franklin said. “Let’s build the nation’s most definitive resource for news about sports media in America.”

Franklin said the site offers unique features, including breaking news about sports media and a variety of content from other sports blogs and sites.

He said that he hooked three top-notch journalists to write columns for the site.

David Kindred, a former Washington Post columnist, writes a column about sports writing. Eric Deggans, a media critic for the St. Petersburg Times, writes a column about sports broadcasting. Jason Fry, former writer and editor of The Wall Street Journal Online, writes a column about new sports media.

“I feel like we have three of the best in the business,” Franklin said. “It will be a draw for people to read.”

Franklin said he wants the site to be a one-stop shop for sports journalists, academics, students and sports fans themselves. He said the base for the site has been made, and it will continue to grow.

Jim Brown, executive associate dean of journalism at IUPUI, said the site will hopefully bring more students to IUPUI’s campus.

“I think in the future, the program will bring as many out of state students here as IU-Bloomington’s campus,” Brown said. “If you have people coming to the site regularly, the reputation for the program will be enhanced.”

Brown said the site isn’t much different from the Chicago Tribune’s Web site, because it reports stories not specifically from IU’s news sources. He added that sports news has also survived through the shrinking of newspapers. Somehow, a sports section remains in even the smallest newspapers.

Brown said he is proud that Indianapolis offers a rich environment with various sports resources nearby.

The Web site, he said, enhances the environment a little more.

“It is advantageous to have a site people recognize, and any current student will find the Web site useful,” Brown said.