Bro, it’s the Internet…

Yesterday I covered the Super Bowl for the Sun. But like most of what we do, I covered it with a local twist. The Super Bowl is a HUGE weekend for Vegas, and we wanted to capture some of that interest.

Outside of actually being at the Super Bowl, Vegas is probably the next most popular city to watch the game. The reason for that is simple–money. In recent years about $90 million is bet on the Super Bowl and all of the ridiculous prop bets, so people have an invested interest in the game.

To cover the Super Bowl, I went to a local bar that is known as a place where Steelers fans watch games. Another reporter went to a sportsbook and the ESPN Zone with a photographer, and one of our bloggers and another videographer watched the game from the Hilton Sportsbook (the biggest sportsbook in town). That’s some good local coverage of a Super Bowl!

So I’m at this bar with a bunch of Steelers fans, and I had the privilege of being “that creepy guy with a video camera.” I would film people watching the game, getting reactions and trying to keep them from noticing me so that I wouldn’t lose the real emotion of the moments. After getting some video of them, I would explain I’m with the Las Vegas Sun.

After explaining to one guy that I worked with the Sun, I got the question of the day… maybe even the year. He looks at me and says, “Now I have to ask this stupid question. How do you take video for a newspaper?”

I looked at him, and just thought, “Bro, it’s called the Internet.”

A little later a man came up and asked me what network I’m filming for. Again, I explained I’m with the Sun and it’s for the Internet. As I was leaving he told me he was going to watch the news on TV to see the video. Ohh boy.

That’s part of the challenge for newspapers. Even though everyone knows the Internet is there, people don’t necessarily think of a newspaper doing video, or having interactive guides, or texting you with updates from the game. People still think of it as… the newspaper.

I think that is changing, but encounters like yesterday make me wonder.

How do you make people aware of all a website has to offer? I’m not sure I know the answer. But I’d sure that to figure that out 🙂

Category: Internship Thoughts, Uncategorized