My career in esports journalism - Jayden S. (Final Project)

    I’ve been a gamer my entire life, I love playing, watching, and learning about all sorts of different games. In middle school, I would get out of school and run straight to my xbox to hop online and play with my friends. I would play minecraft, or destiny, or skyrim late into the night. To relax, I would go to youtube to watch a video of the same game I was playing. In high school, I learned about the world of esports, and became hooked. Back then, esports was a dramatically different industry. It was fueled by passion, without concern about a paycheck. The modern esports industry is a thriving environment, where players and teams can make enough money to live. For my project, I wanted to look at the journalism industry in esports, and what it would be like to attempt to start a career in the industry.

    I decided to look at multiple esports journalists, including esports personalities who have done journalism work in the past. I primarily looked at 3 personalities, including Pedro Romero, an independent journalist. Pedro has worked as a reporter and journalist for 6 years. His career began after learning about esports in college, and transitioned from traditional sports journalism into esports journalism. Pedro focuses on delivering traditional sports interviews with esports athletes, as well as coaches from esports teams. He does 1 on 1 content with pro’s, as well as post match interviews and content with full teams. His career didn't start off very strong, but he worked hard to make a name for himself. After 3 years of grunt work, such as match results and reports on roster changes, he was noticed by the director of esports reporting by an outlet called Gamezo. This opportunity allowed him to travel to many different international esports events and get in contact with many esports pro players. This was the biggest take away from researching Pedro's career: In order to make it in esports journalism, you have to work hard and put as much content out into the world as you can. In 2024, he went independent, and continues to travel the world and produce interviews at international competitions. Although he is successful, he doesn't make much money, which is another important take away. Esports reporting is a passion project, and you shouldn’t expect to make much money. 

    The second journalist I looked into was Ashley Kang, who also does interviews. Ashley quit her job and moved from New Zealand to South Korea in 2019. She had been watching esports for years and decided to pursue a career in something she loved. Ashley sets herself apart from other journalists by bridging the gap between the Korean esports scene and a western audience. She talks about large differences in culture and norms between athletes in the west and east. In Korea, athletes are traditionally very reserved and respectful. During interviews, it's common for athletes to answer questions modestly, talking more about how they are focused on performing well for the team, and hoping to win as a team rather than as an individual player. Part of Ashley's niche is her ability to break down these barriers. She treats interviews if she were sitting down and talking to a friend, without a camera. One notable interview is with Nuguri, a professional Chinese player, where they are hanging out and eating food during the interview.

 -Ashley Kang: " Nuguri Exclusive 🎤 Is Ashley coming back to League?"

    This biggest take away from Ashley's career was how important it is to find a niche that lets you stand out and differentiates yourself from other journalists. Ashley bridges the gap to multiple audiences in a way that I am not able to, but I can still take away a lot of positives from her. For example, I love looking into the statistical data and analytics of different matches. In interview settings, I could ask coaching staff members about these numbers, and how much they have an impact on games.

    The last media member I looked at was a commentator and broadcaster, Sideshow. While Sideshow primarily does game commentary, he started his esports career as a tournament organizer and reporter. In college, he worked for a few different outlets reporting on roster moves and other basic topics. He used this experience to launch his career in broadcasting. Sideshow's career is a great example of success in esports, and how to effectively market yourself while generating enough income to make esports a full time career. Sideshow also creates content on his own, via Youtube and Twitch. While he isn't a full time journalist anymore, he still produces opinion pieces about the larger esports scene. Recently, he has released multiple opinion pieces about Saudi Arabia’s investment in esports. A large take away from Sideshow’s career is how to effectively monetize a career, while maintaining the passion of esports and journalism. Producing Youtube content and streaming on twitch to build a following allow Sideshow the luxury of producing content that he believes in, while still making enough money to live comfortably. He isn't locked into a box, like other content creators or journalists are. 

  -Sideshow Valorant: "Saudi Arabia is poisoning esports: We SHOULD Care."

    I believe that I could realistically begin a potential career in esports journalism. I have lots of passion in the video game and esports industry, and have been following many different games for years. I would need to take steps, such as creating Youtube and Twitch accounts specifically for esports journalism, as well as social media pages. However, I already have the equipment required to begin this journey. A great part about esports media is the low barrier of entry. Anyone can begin their career, if they are determined enough. I would need to fully define my niche, and what would separate me from others. Part of this could be match analysis, and statistical evaluation of different aspects of matches. While this is a good start, there is still a lot of work to do, but if I commit myself, I believe I can do it.