What makes sports headlines? For Marcia Neville and Sam Adams, the answer is easy: BRONCOS!
Neville, sports reporter for KCNC News 4, and Adams, sports reporter and columnist for The Rocky Mountain News, agreed on what Denver fans consider important sports news. The two journalists were a part of a panel of sports media professionals who met with DU students, faculty and alumni to discuss the politics of sports media during last week’s School of Communication Summit.
The panelists discussed what makes sports headlines. Adams and Neville agreed, in Denver the Broncos lead the sports news and the rest follow. Denver fans talk about football and lead stories focus on the things fans are going to talk about.
Adams said, “With the Broncos, every little thing is news.”
Neville added, “When Brian Griese trips over his dog, that is a news story.”
Neville, one of the first sports reporters to develop high school sports as news, has had to work hard to do so. She said that in order to have a high school sports story top a professional sports story, it really has to be “way above the bar”.
At DU, it is no different. Sport stories focus on Division I hockey, and continue down from there. DU is known for its successful hockey program; and when DU sports are covered, hockey is the sport that gets the most attention. DU students also focus on hockey; the DU hockey team draws the largest crowd.
Neville said that stories are made up of things people talk about. In sports, people talk about the most prominent teams. If you are wondering what is going to be in tomorrows sports pages, it is a good bet that it will be the Broncos.