Here’s Why I Joined: Introductory Letters From New Hires to The Athletic and the Framing of Paywall Journalism

Abstract

The transition of newspapers from traditional revenue models to digital advertising-based models has been fraught with financial peril, with many formerly strong news organizations laying off journalists or closing entirely. The launch of The Athletic, a subscription-only digital site for sport coverage and opinion, has been watched with great interest within the sports journalism world, as it represents a new method of financing journalistic endeavors. The majority of hires at The Athletic over its first few years have been marketable writers from traditional newspaper backgrounds. This study utilizes a qualitative methodology to examine introductory stories written by new hires to The Athletic (N = 88). Through open coding, the study evaluated these stories for common themes relating to the authors’ newfound employment and transition to a supposedly new model of journalism. The study found three overarching themes, centered on the writers’ explanations of their own biographical backgrounds, attempts to convince the audience of the superiority of the new editorial model being employed by The Athletic, and communicating to the audience what they should expect and deserve. Framing theory is utilized as a guiding theoretical perspective as themes from the stories, and their underlying implications are discussed.