Sports Columnists Lost in Digital Transition

Future is online, decides contrarian Chicago columnist

(NEWSER) - Jay Mariotti has resigned from the Chicago Sun-Times, the controversial sports columnist tells the rival Tribune, after observing the toll the Internet has taken on newspapers. “I don't want to go down with it,” said the 47-year-old known for his contrarian opinions and run-ins with colleagues and athletes alike, adding that his stint at the Beijing Olympics convinced him of the impending doom. More»

Sarah Phillips' real identity was questioned

(NEWSER) - ESPN has fired a writer who went from being a poster on the message boards at gambling site Covers.com to being a star columnist at ESPN.com without anybody checking her real identity. Sarah Phillips was sacked soon after Deadspin ran a lengthy expose questioning her identity and accusing her of involvement in a fraud and extortion scheme involving social media. Phillips, who said she was a 22-year-old West Coast university student and a hardcore gambler, never met anybody at ESPN in person and used photographs of several different people to accompany her writings at Covers. More»

'There's no way on the planet this should actually work,' says Huh

(NEWSER) - Ben Huh knows how to fail upward, and has a rather simple explanation for the success of his Web empire: “Dude, I think it’s funny.” The former journalist, 31, is the maverick behind at least 20 smirking sites, including I Can Has Cheesburger? and FAIL Blog, which showcases photos and videos of spectacular stupidity, like the billboard partly written in Braille and the guy who used a trash can as a bike helmet. The viral site has officially hit the zeitgeist, Time reports. More»

(NEWSER) - Ben Stein has been booted from his job as a New York Times columnist for shilling for an online credit report service, Gawker reports. Stein touts the value of FreeScore.com in television commercials, but the Times’ ethics policy states “it is an inherent conflict for a journalist to perform public relations work, paid or unpaid.” More»

(NEWSER) - If you're reading this with an NCAA tournament game streaming live in another browser tab, you're in good company: In 2008, nearly 5 million people watched March Madness online, reports the Chicago Tribune. The tipping point between novelty and mainstay came 4 years ago, when CBS made access free, setting an example that revolutionized online sports coverage. More»