Sep

24

Rich Hammond joins LAKings.com

Filed Under Blogging, Sports Media 

Rich Hammond will no longer cover the LA Kings for the Los Angeles Daily News. Instead, he will write for the team’s website LAKings.com. This is just another example of the trend we’re seeing as the newspaper industry struggles and reporters jump ship to the team side of things.

Hammond will continue his blog “Inside the Kings” at his new digs and will go about his business as normal. He will be an independent writer and have editorial control over his writings. None of his articles or blog entries will have to be signed off by anyone in the organization. Hammond will start writing exclusively for LAKings.com on October 1.

Hammond made the decision in part because it allowed him to actually go on the road and cover every Kings’ game. He had been limited to home games and practices over the past four years. He also was the Deputy Sports Editor at the Daily News and his new gig will allow him to focus solely on his beat.

The Kings obviously like this arrangement as they have a reputable beat reporter covering their team daily and generating content for their fans. LA struggled to get coverage when they went on road trips, sometimes asking freelancers to cover a game when the Kings played against the team in their area. Hammond’s presence will ensure that the Kings have at least someone covering every single game — home and away.

“In this changing world as it relates to the landscape and consumption of sports news content, we are making an organizational commitment to give our fans one place to go - LAKings.com - to satisfy their appetite for Kings news and information ” said Kings President, Business Operations Luc Robitaille. “We feel this is a landmark step for us as Rich will have full editorial control in his new position. Kings fans deserve the best Kings coverage, and we’re excited that LAKings.com will be the new home for Rich’s insightful, objective and thorough reporting and analysis.”

I think this is a good move for the Kings, especially since they had struggled for coverage on the road. But what do you guys think? Share your opinion in the comment section.

Comments

2 Responses to “Rich Hammond joins LAKings.com”

  1. Brad Marley on September 24th, 2009 11:25 am

    I am kind of surprised a team would give a former beat writer carte blanche on what they want to write.

    The articles I read on other team sites tend to be straightforward and pretty vanilla. It will be interesting to watch how this unfolds, especially if he writes something that has a hint of not being 100 percent pro-Kings.

    (Although, if he’s a former beat writer, he wasn’t tasked with uncovering big stories in the first place, so his coverage might be an extension of what he wrote before.)

  2. LA Kings Beat Writer Rich Hammond Lands Dream Job « Frozen Royalty on September 24th, 2009 5:58 pm

    [...] An End, A Beginning, A New Home (Inside the Kings) Kings Hire Their Top Blogger (LA Observed)Rich Hammond Joins LAKings.com (Sports PR Blog)L.A. Kings Hire Their Own Reporter; Start of Trend? (Paul Oberjuerge)Kings Hire [...]

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