Former WaPo reporter Ben Strauss says his new team at ESPN wants to do more ‘big journalism swing stories’

When Ben Strauss worked as a media reporter at the Washington Post, he often covered ESPN.

Now he has joined the company as an investigative reporter alongside a group of his former WaPo colleagues who were laid off last month, when the paper axed multiple entire desks. The arrival of Strauss and these other experienced journalists is just the latest move that many have hoped is a sign that the Worldwide Leader is once again making an investment in deeply sourced, investigative-style reporting.

In a new Q&A with Front Office Sports, Strauss confirmed these hopes, stating that starting at the top with ESPN chair Jimmy Pitaro, the company is working hard to expand its investigative and enterprise journalism department.

Strauss said that his recruitment by ESPN brass began at the Super Bowl, where Pitaro, content head Burke Magnus, and ESPN SVP Chris Buckle each expressed that “they want to do more” and “how much appetite they have to do big journalism swing stories.”

“It really felt like adding me and my colleagues… was something the whole company was pretty invested in. That goes all the way to the top with Jimmy Pitaro,” Strauss added.

Last year, ESPN made several moves that signaled a renewed commitment to real journalism.

It hired former USA Today executive Roxanna Scott as Editor-In-Chief. Scott is expected to oversee the entirety of ESPN’s news operation across all platforms.

ESPN also poached Yahoo Sports columnist Dan Wetzel, who in addition to tackling meaty issues through his opinion pieces, has reported deep investigations into important topics like the extortion of youth athletes.

The company also relaunched The Sports Reporters as a YouTube show, giving a larger platform to its staff of writers to cover broader social and cultural stories.

And in numerous press releases last year announcing new contracts for its digital reporting team, ESPN’s public relations department highlighted its own “commitment to journalism.”

Now it is bringing in Strauss and the rest of the former WaPo squad, seemingly with big plans for investigative work.

However, investigative journalism is notoriously difficult to monetize. Especially when the end product is free to access, like ESPN.com is. Investigative reporters often take months or years to finish stories they are exploring. Due to the nature of this work, it is often the first thing that publications and TV networks get rid of.

That is exactly what happened a decade ago when ESPN first began making cuts. As cable carriage revenue dropped due to cord-cutting, the company axed The Sports Reporters and Outside the Lines while cutting back on E60 and its documentaries.

If ESPN’s pitch to Strauss and his former Post colleagues is an indication, the Worldwide Leader may be pivoting again and embracing investigative journalism after all.