There’s been a lot of discussion around The Athletic recently, from layoffs of nearly 20 people in June to parent company The New York Times’ decision this summer to close their own storied sports department and replace it with coverage from The Athletic to this month’s moves to end several local podcasts. But The Athletic now does have another notable new hire to note.
On Monday, veteran hockey reporter Chris Johnston (most recently of Sportsnet, also known for work with The Canadian Press, TSN, and The Toronto Star) announced that he was heading to The Athletic. And he did so with one of the standard “Why I’m joining The Athletic” pieces, but one that also even questioned the need for such pieces. One key quote from that:
Seeking those answers [as to “how things truly work in the NHL”] lies at the core of how I’ve approached every day of a career that’s now spanned a little more than half of my life, and it’s why I’m so thrilled today to announce that I’m joining The Athletic for what I hope is the most enriching professional chapter of them all.
We’re talking about a company that already employs my favorite writers and now sees its work published in The New York Times. Without a shadow of a doubt, this is the best place a sportswriter could hope to call home.
We’re long past the days when a new hire needs to explain “Why I joined The Athletic.”
If that isn’t already self-evident, you’re probably not paying attention to the declining state of the industry in literally every other corner.
We’re actually not long past the days of explaining “Why I joined The Athletic,” especially with the NYT’s leadership using that company (which they bought for $550 million in January 2022) to destroy the historic NYT Sports department (a move protested by the paper’s guild, as this is replacing union workers with non-union workers). And “the declining state of the industry in literally every other corner” is a bit rich to print in a publication that laid off almost 20 well-established writers in June and recently eliminated several local podcasts, not to mention the criticism it’s taken over its metrics-above-all focus. Yes, there are wider challenges in the journalism industry, but The Athletic’s layoffs are certainly part of those.
Still, The Athletic has made several notable additions lately. They brought in Dianna Russini from ESPN in August, and they added former NFL Media journalist Jim Trotter earlier this year. And now they have bolstered an already-notable hockey team, including the likes of Pierre LeBrun, Michael Russo, and Mark Lazerus. And Johnston is a significant addition for them, as indicated by this NYT press release from The Athletic senior managing editor (NHL) James Mirtle:
Chris brings a wealth of experience from his more than 20 years in the industry, including extensive broadcast work with TSN and Hockey Night in Canada and writing at the Toronto Star, Sportsnet and The Canadian Press.
He’s one of the most well-sourced and respected people in hockey media, with a dogged work ethic and eye for a great breaking story. He has covered 17 Stanley Cup finals, multiple Olympics, world championships and countless other N.H.L. and international events.
Chris will work with our national N.H.L. team and report to deputy managing editor Jake Leonard. He’ll be a key contributor to our breaking news coverage in hockey but also write columns and enterprise stories, as well as collaborate with our beat writers to expand our reporting in all 32 markets.
Johnston is definitely a significant addition for The Athletic. He’s a well-respected and prominent hockey reporter. And it’s interesting to see the publication further doubling down on NHL coverage, an area sometimes receiving minimal coverage even from rights partners.
But there is some merit to that strategy on a few different fronts. For one thing, there are certainly lots of hockey fans in the U.S., and they’re sometimes underserved. For another, unlike broadcast rights, digital/print coverage is something that works across borders.
And The Athletic has a strong Canadian presence, especially in hockey (with Toronto the second city it launched in after Chicago, and with them expanding to hockey markets across Canada in 2017; their coverage of sports other than hockey in those markets has often been minimal, but there’s been lots of NHL coverage). And Johnston is known for league-wide coverage, which fits in with The Athletic’s recent stated mission of emphasizing that. So he certainly seems like a logical person for them to bring in.
At any rate, it’s interesting to see Johnston go to The Athletic. And this further strengthens their stable of hockey reporters. We’ll see how betting on additional NHL coverage works out for them.
[The Athletic, The New York Times, image from Sportsnet on YouTube]
