Greg Howard is leaving Deadspin to join the New York Times’ David Carr Fellowship

Few sportswriters have had as impactful a presence in the last couple years as Deadspin’s Greg Howard.  While his biggest impact in the sports media world was in his reporting on the inner workings of Jason Whitlock’s Undefeated (which was so illuminating that it might be fair to say without it Whitlock might still be at ESPN), he’s also delivered a number of thoughtful columns on sports, race, and culture in particular.

Ever since he came on to the scene, it seemed like bigger things were in store for Howard.  That has come to fruition today as the New York Times announced he was one of three writers to receive the prestigious David Carr Fellowship.  The fellowship was instituted to honor the longtime Times media columnist who suddenly passed away in 2015.

The New York Times announced on Tuesday that it had chosen three journalists to spend two years in its newsroom as part of a fellowship named for the media columnist David Carr.

The Times had initially said it would select just one person for the fellowship, which was created after Mr. Carr’s death in 2015. Instead, John Herrman, a co-editor and media reporter for The Awl; Amanda Hess, a staff writer at Slate; and Greg Howard, a reporter for Deadspin, will all join the Times newsroom on March 15.

The three were chosen from more than 600 applicants, from countries all over the world, by a panel of Times editors.

“We found these three candidates so compelling that we decided to select all of them,” said Dean Baquet, The Times’s executive editor. “They are thoughtful, deep reporters. We will learn as much from them as they will from us.”

The paper says that Howard will work with the Times magazine and other sections.  Howard confirmed on Twitter he was leaving to join the Times:

https://twitter.com/greghoward88/status/702132686614360065

https://twitter.com/greghoward88/status/702133637903417345

Howard is the second Deadspin alum to join the New York Times in recent years following John Koblin, who left the ESPN beat at the Gawker outlet to cover media for the Times.

[New York Times]