The internet has revolutionised many fields of human interaction, and has irrevocably changed the way we conduct out everyday lives. We use it to talk to one another, to sell our products and to research, and the fields of telecommunications, advertising and academia respectively, will never be the same as they were in the past.
To this list of crucial areas of commerce and learning, each profoundly affected by the evolution of the internet, we can also add the field of broadcasting. The mass media has blossomed and expanded since the dawn of the virtual era and it now encompasses television, print and, of course, almost every nook and cranny of cyberspace.
Media consumers are now utterly spoilt. Business, finance, current affairs and, significantly, online sports have become key features of the internet browser's itinerary, and the most up to date details in every one of these areas is available across the globe at just the touch of a button.
Sports results are in internet print even before the game has finished, and the details of new team signings can now be released as the ink on the contract dries. The internet has profoundly affected the way that sports journalism operates, and the time gap between event and its published coverage has disappeared. Writers need to draft their work while the game or match is happening and have it ready to upload as the final whistle blows.
All this immediacy is well and good but has it affected the quality of sports coverage today? Are journalists writing pieces that, with a little more time and effort, could be made even more insightful and accurate? This is a pertinent question, but one which is unlikely to allay the sports fan's craving for immediate write ups. In short, it seems that the internet has necessitated the birth of a new, superjourno, with the capacity to write, at the speed of light, pieces which meet the criteria of the slow articles from yesteryear.
