Covering the Detroit Lions takes a lot of coordination by MLive staff members, and covering them in playoffs means more, more, more.
As in more reporters, more photographers, more coordination with news and features reporters and making sure our social team is up to speed on everything happening before, during and after the game.
At the center of it all is Josh Slagter, the editor who handles MLive's pro and college sports reporters. “Yeah, it’s a bit of air-traffic control,” he said, which increases in complexity when the dynamic switches from regular-season routine to high-stakes playoff intensity. In a typical regular season home game, Slagter staffs with our two main beat writers – Ben Raven and Kory Woods – along with a photographer/videographer and often one supplemental reporter. But last week’s final regular season game was a “dry run” for the playoffs, Slagter said, because both the Lions and rival Vikings were 14-2 and the winner secured the #1 seed and a bye in the playoffs. That meant deploying four sports reporters, two staffers for photos and video and multiple news reporters and social media producers. And they focused on more than the inside of Ford Field. “If you get trapped in what happens inside the stadium, then what? There’s only 65,000 people there. What’s our outside plan?” Slagter said. We work the tailgates and the throngs of revelers outside the stadium before a game. We also look broader, to the millions of fans tuned in via television and social media. “It’s like an iceberg,” said Gillian Van Stratt, who oversees social media, photo and video for MLive. “One small portion is visible inside the stadium. Way more is happening across the state of Michigan, where people are experiencing and reacting to the game in their homes and bars.” Van Stratt and her team, as well as Slagter, monitor the game broadcast and see how fans are posting and reacting on social media to glean story ideas in real time. Everyone can pitch in: During the Lions-Vikings game, Lindsay Moore, a news reporter for MLive, saw a social media post from Michigan native Kristen Bell that showed the actress and her husband, Dax Shepard, watching the game on a smartphone while attending the Golden Globes. She alerted Van Stratt, who coordinated with other editors to get MLive entertainment reporter Ed Pevos on the story in real time. It was a hit with readers. “That story did better than any straight Detroit Lions football story we had because it crossed over to all audiences,” Van Stratt said. Our team looks for depth and variety. In the football realm, Slager said, we walk a balance between the obvious stories that every outlet is covering and fresh, unexpected content. One source for that is posting a reporter in the visiting team’s locker room after the game. Last year, that produced a widely read story from Woods on former Lion Matthew Stafford’s reaction to an unhappy homecoming in a playoff loss. Last week, being in the Vikings locker room led to a great piece by Woods on the opposing coach lamenting being unable to stop Lions running back Jahmyr Gibbs. We also turn our cameras away from the field. Van Stratt said part of the plan for last week’s game was to have videographer Neil Blake record Vikings fans and juxtapose happy and sad reactions to game events. As it turned out, the Vikings scored zero touchdowns and were routed. The “sad fans” reactions struck a satisfying chord with Lions fans, apparently – the resulting video has had more than 1 million views so far. Slagter, who has been covering and coordinating coverage for major sports events since 2009, admits that a Super Bowl appearance for the Lions is a tantalizing notion. But like Lions head coach Dan Campbell, he’s going to keep his team focused on the task at hand for the sake of readers and fans. “In the regular season we have a blueprint, and we don’t really stray from it,” said Slagter. “Now, you’ve got to have the feeling that you are emptying the tank every time they play the rest of the way. I don’t want to keep anything in the back pocket.” # # # | 