The world of sports journalism is facing major challenges. From established names like Sports Illustrated and the Los Angeles Times to smaller outlets like The Messenger, media organizations are resorting to layoffs and even closures. This worrying trend has seen industry veterans express concerns about the profession’s changing landscape.
Count the recently retired Peter King among them.
In a recent interview on The Rich Eisen Show, the legendary sportswriter discussed his biggest career regret: his reporting on the DeflateGate scandal involving the New England Patriots.
Suzy Shuster, filling in as the host, then emphasized the importance of personal accountability in sports media, praising King for his apology and acknowledgment of his mistake. And that led her to ask King about his concerns with sports journalism in that particular manner.
“Well, I’d say I have two concerns,” explained King. “No. 1, just the fact that there were so many ways for people like me, 21, 22-year-old kids graduating from journalism school, I wasn’t necessarily going to be a sports writer. I didn’t care what I was. When I was at Ohio University, I wrote news. I was the managing editor of the paper, not the sports editor. And so, I had multiple opportunities for jobs when I left school. I mean, kids today, even the best kids at Northwestern, at Missouri, Syracuse, Ohio, the really top journalism schools, they’re all having trouble getting jobs. And so, I fear that a lot of the people who are good students and very good college journalists, five years into their career, they’re gonna get sick of batting their head against the wall, and they’re gonna go sell insurance for StateFarm or something. I don’t know.
“I’d say the only other thing is the fact that, look, media around the country is under attack and newspapers are closing down. Local newspapers are closing down. In many cases, they’re the only watchdog for small, local governments. And they don’t have any watchdogs anymore. And that’s bad for the country to not have watchdogs on public figures and our public institutions, so I think those are the things that probably worry me the most. So, I think those are the things that probably worry me the most.”
Stepping down from his iconic role, King raises some viable concerns about the sports media landscape. However, these aren’t necessarily the driving force behind his retirement. While he expressed concerns about the financial viability of his “Football Morning in America” column and the diminishing value placed on written content in the industry, he ultimately cited a personal desire for change and an uncertain future for both himself and the industry he helped define.
After dedicating 27 years to his weekly column, both interviews and his final piece reveal a sense of personal and professional reflection as he ponders his next steps.
