By: Christine Sparta Edes Will Join FoxSports.com
(Mediaweek) Veteran sportswriter
Gordon Edes has been drafted by FoxSports.com, the New York and Los
Angeles-based internet division of News Corp.'s News Digital Media, as
the sports site's exclusive national Major League Baseball writer
beginning May 22.
'I'm working right up to the bitter end,' said Edes, who finishes up
his four-year stint covering the Boston Red Sox for The Boston
Globe on May 20.
Edes, who will remain at his home base in Concord, Mass., will write a
variety of columns, news, and feature stories. His job will run year-
round and will include coverage of off-season dealings, such as free-
agent signings and player trades.
Edes said that his decision to leave the Red Sox beat was a difficult
one, because the team is 'much a part of the daily fabric here. That
was not an easy thing to give up. It gave me a connection to the
community that I'm going to miss.'
But he saw a good opportunity in the dot-com move as a high-profile
transition to his much-coveted beat at the Globe. The key
selling point: another chance to work with Rick Jaffe, who will be
executive producer of the site, overseeing the New York and Los Angeles
newsrooms. Edes worked with Jaffe at three other publications,
including the now-defunct National Sports Daily. 'He's a
brilliant editor, one of the best people in the business,' Edes said.
In addition to the reunion with Jaffe, this new job is a virtual
baseball smorgasbord for Edes because he will be covering more than
just the Red Sox. His beat extends to almost every team in the league
and the potential to report on a different team on any given night.
He also liked the idea of working for an online publication because the
Internet transcends traditional newspaper deadlines. No longer will he
have to file an incomplete story if a game runs late to satisfy an
early deadline. But, he admitted, 'there is a bit of a fear you're
going to disappear in cyberspace.'
Edes said the trend toward online publishing fills a much-needed hole
in journalism. He remembered a time 10-15 years ago when the number of
newspapers had shrunk dramatically, a time when 'journalism didn't look
like the most attractive option in the world.'
He has now seen some of his peers migrate to online jobs and said that
the Internet has created a lot more opportunities for writers. 'If
you're a journalist, you've got to be standing on your chair cheering
about that,' he said.
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