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When Emmanuel Morgan was employed as a sports activities reporter masking the N.F.L. and fight sports activities for The New York Times in 2021, the job felt acquainted. After all, Mr. Morgan, who grew up taking part in soccer, had been writing concerning the sport since highschool. He went on to cowl the N.F.L. for The Los Angeles Times for almost two years.
“I knew the N.F.L. and the U.F.C. and all these different sports activities so effectively,” mentioned Mr. Morgan, 27, who additionally coated highschool sports activities and basketball for The Los Angeles Times, together with serving to report on the dying of Kobe Bryant in 2020.
So when The Times disbanded its Sports division final 12 months, he took the chance to stretch himself and pitch a brand new beat: the intersection of sports activities and popular culture.
“I’m not a film critic or a Broadway-goer, however I observe popular culture, I watch Netflix and I hearken to music continually — within the bathe each day, on the subway,” he mentioned. “I had my pulse on it.” Over the previous eight months, Mr. Morgan, now on the Culture desk, has written concerning the popular culture phenomenon of Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce, the rising relationship between the N.F.L. and streaming providers and the rise of athlete podcasts.
In an interview, he mentioned how his each day information consumption has modified and what his favourite reporting expertise thus far has been. These are edited excerpts from the dialog.
You’ve been within the function for a bit over eight months now. How is it going thus far?
I’ve undoubtedly needed to be much more inventive in relation to discovering story concepts. When I used to be with the Sports desk, I knew the N.F.L. and the U.F.C. so effectively — masking sports activities could be very formulaic. You know it’s important to have previews for giant occasions just like the Super Bowl and the N.F.L. draft, and because the season goes on the key story strains and the targets for profiles and options turn out to be fairly clear. But with this new beat, I’m reporting on stuff you don’t see on TV or Twitter, and there are much more choices, since I’m not simply specializing in the N.F.L. and U.F.C. anymore. I’ve to make much more telephone calls and discuss to extra folks.
In March, a gathering with a publicist led to a well timed story about how Flau’jae Johnson, probably the greatest girls’s school basketball gamers within the nation, balanced her sports activities obligations together with her music profession.
What are a few of your favourite articles you’ve written thus far?
I labored on plenty of items across the Super Bowl this 12 months in Las Vegas — I adopted a retired participant round Radio Row for a day for a narrative about the way it’s remodeled right into a colossus for the N.F.L. I wrote about how events on the Super Bowl have turn out to be a enterprise and use the occasion as a taking part in floor for model activations. It was cool to indicate different folks on the Culture desk that there’s extra to cowl than simply the halftime present.
I additionally wrote about Joel Embiid, a basketball participant who began a media manufacturing firm, which is a giant factor within the sports activities area now. And I landed a front-page story on how the N.F.L. is attempting to department out and do extra long-form initiatives for streaming providers like Netflix, Amazon and Apple.
Did you play sports activities rising up?
I performed soccer in highschool. I used to be a working again and a linebacker. I additionally wrestled. I’ve at all times been an athlete, however I beloved to write down, too. So placing the 2 collectively made sense.
What’s probably the most enjoyable factor you’ve had the possibility to do for an article?
I received to observe the U.F.C. announcer Bruce Buffer round for a combat. I used to be in a position to observe how he ready, together with color-coordinating index playing cards he reads within the octagon, which have the fighters’ names and stats on them.
What’s been your greatest problem?
Trying to detach myself from the video games. My intuition is to wish to cowl what’s taking place on the sphere or on the court docket. I’ve to step again and search for issues that aren’t concerned within the precise sport itself. I’m coaching myself to suppose in a different way.
What are your targets for future protection of sports activities and tradition at The Times?
To preserve constructing it out — it’s been cool to have the ability to experiment and check out new issues; to say, “The New York Times wouldn’t have coated that story earlier than, nevertheless it’s essential.” I’m not even a 12 months in but, and I preserve discovering new tales to cowl. There’s an viewers for this crossover between sports activities and leisure, and my purpose is to seek out it and inform tales that resonate with them.
