The larger implications of these findings relate not so much to journalists’
perception of change but to the evolution of journalism itself. There does seem to be
an emerging sports-journalism hybrid of which Twitter is a part—an instantaneous,
interactive, intermedia conglomeration that seems to be continually redefining
itself. Among other things, it is part traditional reporting, part blog, part Twitter,
part Facebook, part YouTube, and part text messaging. Sports journalists seem to be reacting to this hybrid in different ways. Although not necessarily critical or
resistant to new technologies like Twitter, older journalists and those at print-media
outlets seem more tied to the past. They prefer old-school journalism—report, write,
and then repeat the next day. By contrast, it appears that younger sports journalists
and those who work at broadcast outlets are more likely to accept and assimilate
Twitter as part of the natural evolution of the profession.