SI Poaches Top Columnist From the New York Times*
Media Gossip/Musings November 16th. 2007, 2:36pm
How’s this for a surprise: We’ve heard from two sources that New York Times columnist Selena Roberts has left the paper and accepted a job at … Sports Illustrated. We’ve sent her an email and are awaiting a response. Here’s where it gets even more interesting – we’ve been hearing for months that ESPN had been putting the full court press on Roberts, widely regarded as one of the top columnists (and wordsmiths) left in newspapers. She’s so coveted that even Yahoo was in the mix for her services. Perhaps this will further the heated behind-the-scenes battle between the one-time Sports Bible and the current juggernaut. And what does it say that Yahoo was in the mix? Why not Sportsline and Fox?
*We’re hearing that today was her last day at the Times, and she was brought onboard at SI to be part of a rotation that will fill the backpage void left by Rick Reilly.
19 Responses to “SI Poaches Top Columnist From the New York Times*”
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.
November 16th, 2007 at 2:51 PM
WatchDog pointed this out a few hours ago.
http://weblogs.newsday.com/sports/watchdog/blog/2007/11/ny_times_columnist_to_leave_fo.html
November 16th, 2007 at 2:53 PM
You all are tired of Bonds, but not the musical chairs that is sports journalism?
November 16th, 2007 at 2:54 PM
I wasn’t terribly impressed with her on the Sports Reporters this past week, but then again, maybe she’s a better wordsmith
November 16th, 2007 at 2:57 PM
This is a nice coup for SI, no? Maybe we should call off the funeral.
While it’s been said many times — and will be said again many more — how print journalism is dying, I think there is something to be said for well-written, well-thought out stuff. Maybe she’ll take Reilly’s spot on the back page.
November 16th, 2007 at 2:58 PM
Almost forgot to mention, I like the new banner. Much more professional looking than the black and yellow. I’m still not sure the whole thing is a huge improvement aesthetically over what you had before — this strikes me as busy, rather than the minimalist style I had grown accustomed to — but it’s certainly better than the first draft of the revision.
November 16th, 2007 at 3:03 PM
TBL:
Interesting pic of Lance. Here’s the alternate cover for that week which I found even more interesting:
http://img137.imageshack.us/img137/5226/0628largepl9.jpg
November 16th, 2007 at 3:15 PM
GMan and his alterations
Damn that watchdog. We’re hearing the money is MASSIVE in this deal. Had to be to keep her from going to ESPN.
November 16th, 2007 at 3:15 PM
Sportsline is non-existent. They call it CBSports now. They don’t have anything to offer anyone in the way of content. With the way its run, I wonder if CBS even knows they have a sports website. There is no direction or vision, they’re just there. They’ve gotta be losing money. I haven’t visited their site for almost a year.
As for FOXsports, I don’t know. The most high profile hiring they did was Whitlock. Since then, almost silent. Their journalists are ok, but I think they’re more interested in turning a profit (like most Fox entities) than having an online presence (that comes after they make a profit).
It appears that Yahoo has chosen to use their revenue from fantasy sports advertising to become a player in online sports journalism. You could ask Jason Cole or Mike Silver, but it seems they offer more autonomy for their journalists. They’re finding their footing, but very intriguing.
In a couple of years, we may be talking about the death of CBSports.com or SI — with the decline of ESPN.com and the ascension of Yahoo.
I’d also like to know about AOL. Their columnists usually retain their newspaper positions while writing online content; however, they’re not very interesting. They only reason I visit AOL is the Fanhouse.
November 16th, 2007 at 3:17 PM
From one irrelevant sports institution to another. Congrats on the lateral move, Selena. You’d be better off starting a blog.
November 16th, 2007 at 3:25 PM
Selena Roberts is the best sports columnist going. This is almost enough to make me subscribe to Sports Illustrated. They won’t even need to promise me a football phone.
November 16th, 2007 at 3:26 PM
I like how the Barry & A-Rod love festival has taken away some of the shine of my favorite sports weekend. You did remember the UofM v OSU game is tomorrow correct?
November 16th, 2007 at 3:27 PM
ESPN.com will not decline at any time.
SI.com is probably my favorite sports site to read, check it daily for Hot Mustard, like Stewart Mandel, Dr. Z is ok, and I like reading Peter King for the most part.
November 16th, 2007 at 3:30 PM
Magglio:
I’ll take Oklahoma State University over University of Maine.
G
November 16th, 2007 at 3:47 PM
TBL – Any idea when Dan Patrick and Selena actually start at SI? One of my annual gifts from my parents is a renewal of SI…..trying to to see if I should have them re-up it and would like a taste of the “new” first.
November 16th, 2007 at 3:54 PM
She is one of my least favorite Sports Reporters guests. I’ve read a few of her articles, they always seem to be about baseball, meh…
November 16th, 2007 at 4:06 PM
She’ll be sorely missed on the train in the morning. Dammit.
November 16th, 2007 at 4:09 PM
Definitely needs to stick to writing because her looks on camera . . . to be polite . . . not so welcoming to the viewer’s eyes.
November 16th, 2007 at 7:42 PM
So now even female sportswriters are objectified? Would anyone make this comment about Mike Lupica or Mitch Albom?
November 16th, 2007 at 9:26 PM
espn is going to catch a lot of flack for this. this woman is awful. she just got slammed in the new book _until proven innocent_, a bestseller about the duke lacrosse case.