Over more than 20 years of working in sports media, I have noticed an all too common theme among those who create content: Many have no idea how to follow a style guide.
On one hand, this seems inexcusable. How can someone who chooses to pursue a career that requires writing — articles, headlines, subheadlines, chyrons, scripts, rundowns, and more — not prioritize something as basic as adhering to the style of their field?
On the other hand, this is understandable. Sports coverage has reached oversaturation, to the point where quality and consistency may take a backseat to sheer volume and speed. Creating the most professional, highest-quality content often is not as valuable as merely being the loudest and fastest in the marketplace.
My mission with the Ben Watanabe Sports Stylebook is to provide The Definitive Online Sports StylebookTM so that every veteran sports writer, every intern, every production assistant, every editor and every student journalist has a shared resource so that online sports style isn’t just a best practice, but a habit.
Sincerely,
Ben