The role of technology in United States' modern sports journalism

Zemskov Maksim Denisovich Postgraduate Student, Department of Theory and History of Journalism, Peoples' Friendship University of Russia 141007, Russia, Mytishchi, 2nd Shchelkovsky ave., 5 maks.zemskov.98@gmail.com

Modern technologies are an integral part of journalism. They help to process as well as spread the news. Thanks to technology, journalists can improve their interaction with the audience. Modern sport is a complex and often extremely contradictory socio-cultural phenomenon. ^{[1., p. 17]}

Today, most publications have their own online services that provide quick access to news and information. In addition, the Internet allows you to create interactive materials through which readers can interact with information. Another technology widely used in the media is social media. They help to build a direct dialogue with the audience and get feedback. Social media makes the media more accessible and understandable for new generations.

In addition, technology helps to improve the quality of journalism. For example, it has become possible to find errors and typos in texts using computer programs. And robotics and artificial intelligence can help in solving the routine tasks of journalists. Thus freeing up their time to work on high-quality materials.

Modern sports journalism in the United States actively uses technology to improve the quality and reach of its audience. Technological innovations such as mobile apps, social media and virtual reality enable journalists to deliver news, statistics and analytical materials to sports fans faster and more accurately. With the help of special Internet platforms and mobile applications, journalists can expand the reach of their audience. The emergence and spread of new media should be recognized as the most significant factor determining the current stage of the evolution of sports journalism. ^{[1., p.142]}

An example is the Bleacher Report application. It processes millions of statistical data and creates unique materials about sports events that are available to users even without a subscription to the magazine.

The site was launched in February 2008 by California entrepreneurs Dave Finocchio, Zender Freund, Brian Goldberg and Dave Nemetz. The purpose of creating this site was to provide a platform for bloggers and amateur journalists to have the opportunity to publish their work. The creation of this resource has opened up huge opportunities for the development and popularization of sports journalism both in the United States and around the world. Thanks to the application, absolutely any journalist can collect all the statistical data for their work, as well as find out the opinion of the audience about games in various sports or about a particular team or even about the work of a particular sports media.

Social media also opens up a great opportunity for the development of sports journalism in the United States. Instagram Facebook and Twitter are the first ones (*Meta Platforms Inc. is recognized as an extremist organization in the territory of the Russian Federation). They allow journalists to quickly spread the news and communicate with their audience. Some journalists use Periscope and Facebook Live (*Meta Platforms Inc. is recognized as an extremist organization in the Russian Federation) to broadcast live sports events on social networks. This allows you to attract new audiences and expand the reach of your materials.

Technological innovations also allow journalists to create more accurate and detailed materials that were not available before. For example, using special programs for analyzing statistical data, journalists can create materials with graphs and diagrams that help attract the reader's attention and reveal additional aspects of the game.

Also, speaking about the role of technology in modern sports journalism in the United States, it is impossible not to mention the use of virtual and augmented reality. Thanks to them, journalists can create new formats of materials. For example, Sports Illustrated created a virtual movie about how NBA basketball players start their day using a 360-degree view. This allows the viewer to get new impressions and see such material from new angles.

A big advantage of digitalization of sports journalism is the ability to create new interactive platforms that provide readers with the opportunity to ask questions, participate in surveys and post comments. This helps sports journalists learn to better understand the preferences and needs of their audience.

Next, I would like to consider how new technologies help in covering the main sports leagues in the United States.

One of the main features in the work of journalists at NHL matches is that the league provides journalists with their advanced video services that allow them to watch matches in real time using playback and re-recording capabilities. This helps sports journalists provide fans with accurate and detailed analysis of each game. The NHL app opens up great opportunities for analyzing hockey matches. The application works on the basis of artificial intelligence and collects all important statistics, meeting history, team lineups, list of injured players, percentage of accurate passes, number of shots and other important statistics. In addition, with the help of artificial intelligence, the application can even make predictions for both an individual match and for the entire season as a whole.

Also, with the help of technology, new interview formats and hockey reporting are emerging. For example, it was in the NHL that the practice of interviewing right during the match appeared. When a hockey player sitting on the bench at the moment gives a comment on the past moments of the game and sometimes comments on what is currently happening on the court. All this gets into the TV and Internet broadcast of the mast. Also an interesting innovation is the microphones on the judges. Thanks to this, after the match, journalists can directly hear the conversations of the referees and their dialogues with the players. All this involves the audience in the game and creates the effect of being present at the match. This practice has become very popular and has been used in all major hockey leagues around the world.

Very interesting applications exist for journalists who cover NBA basketball games. The peculiarity of basketball is that this sport is distinguished by a large number of statistics. And it is often very difficult for journalists to track absolutely everything in order to conduct a complete analysis. This is where applications such as Stats LLC and NBA Stats come to the rescue.

Stats LLC and NBA Stats are applications that provide access to various types of statistics such as points, shots, hit percentage, etc. These applications can also provide access to information about the composition of teams, their coaches and other match-related information.

The peculiarity of the coverage of basketball matches on social networks in the United States of the United States is primarily the use of Twitter. It is used, as a rule, for live broadcasts and is in this regard a more convenient social media than other platforms.

Due to frequent stops at the mast and a large number of timeouts per match, journalists covering the NBA also practice interviews with the head coach of the team right during the match. A big plus of basketball reports is also the opportunity to hear on the air the whole setup of the coach, which he gives to his team during breaks and timeouts.

It is especially interesting to consider the impact of technology on the coverage of the major league of American football – the NFL. Each match is a major event covered by the largest TV channels in the United States. Therefore, to get a conceptual picture and full-scale coverage of such an event, absolutely every NFL stadium has innovative spider cameras that "glide" over the stadium. In addition, drones are used, and for filming the general plans of the stadium and the city from above, even a helicopter is being filmed. All this helps journalists to convey the maximum effect of presence to the audience and show absolutely every moment of the match.

While other sports leagues around the world are just starting to do experimental projects using virtual and augmented reality, this has already become a common practice in the NFL. For example, at the moment there are already programs in which you can watch the training of each of the league teams in virtual reality mode. You can also watch matches from different angles and create interactive games that viewers can play during the broadcast of the match.

         Virtual reality is also gradually coming to baseball, but not so fast yet. On the official Major League Baseball (MLB) portal with an extended subscription, users have the opportunity to watch the main match of the tour and all matches of the final world Series in virtual and augmented reality mode. It is in baseball that AR, that is, augmented reality, is used more often. It is used to create interactive and fascinating stories about the match.

         When talking about technology in sports journalism in the USA, it is impossible to ignore the topic of big data journalism. This is a relatively new field that has been developing rapidly over the past few years. Journalists working in this field use many different tools and technologies to collect and analyze large amounts of data in sports in order to find new trends, statistical patterns and interesting stories.

         One of the key tools for journalists involved in big data journalism is computer programs for data analysis, such as R and Python.

         Journalists can also use data visualization to present their research results more clearly. This may include the use of graphs, charts, and other graphical elements that help visualize the results of big data analysis.

         Big data journalism in U.S. sports journalism is becoming increasingly popular as it helps journalists create more in-depth, meaningful, and interesting evidence-based articles. Thanks to it, journalists can identify unique issues and highlight trends that can help them create more engaging content for their readers.

         I must say that big data journalism is a fairly extensive field to study. And of course, she and her influence on sports journalism in the United States will be considered and studied in future works.

         Summing up all of the above, we can highlight the main provisions on modern technologies that have changed sports journalism in the United States of America and other countries once and for all.

 Mobile devices.

Journalists use smartphones and tablets to shoot videos and photos, as well as to carry out live broadcasts from the event site.

Cameras

Journalists often use professional cameras to take photos and videos. This may include cameras with the ability to stream videos directly to mobile devices.

Social media platforms.

Facebook Instagram, Facebook (*Meta Platforms Inc. is recognized as an extremist organization in the Russian Federation) and Twitter are used by journalists to share news and photos of the event with millions of people around the world.

Virtual reality.

Increasingly, virtual and augmented reality technologies are being used in sports journalism in the United States. This is done to better understand the event and create additional visual effects.

Internet transmission.

Nowadays, online broadcasts are very often used to interview key players and other participants of the event.

Analytical tools.

Journalists can use analytical applications to verify facts and data related to an event, as is done in data journalism.

Installation software.

To create more professional videos, journalists can use editing software such as Adobe Premier or Final Cut Pro.

Unmanned aerial vehicles (drones).

Journalists can use unmanned aerial vehicles to create videos. This can be especially useful when covering large sporting events such as the Super Bowl, where you need to get a conceptual picture.

         All these technologies allow journalists to provide comprehensive and detailed information about the main events of the world of sports to a wide and accessible public.

      Technology plays a huge role in modern sports journalism in the USA. They not only allow you to expand your audience reach and create more accurate materials, but also provide new methods of interacting with readers. Journalists actively use innovations to be closer to their audience and give them new experiences.

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