Katie Woo

But now as we've kind of grown and we keep recruiting some very high writers across the board, I think there's more of a demand for readership, which is great in a time and age where social media influencers and TikTok and aggregation rules rampant with sports media.

The fact that there's still such an interest in traditional outlets makes me happy, at least.

But it also increases the demand.

So I know for the Cardinals beat,

from year one to year five, I wrote a lot more.

And that coincides with three consecutive very bad down years for the Cardinals where there is less to write about.

But we're seeing that a lot where it's more about getting information out and getting information out in a continuous matter

I do think what The Athletic does really well is we make sure that we're not writing just to write.

There still is an increased demand that we should meet for our readers.

But we're not just putting something out there to put something out there.

We're putting something out there that hopefully has meaning and is definitely factual and can help drive the narrative about their favorite team.

That has stayed constant.

What I've learned very early on is if you are not quick to adapt, you will get left behind, especially in this industry.

I really like the storytelling, the behind-the-scenes moments that fans can't really get, that you can really only get as a sports writer if you have strong relationships with your clubhouse.

So I look back to the 2022 season, by far the best Cardinals season in a long time, with Albert Pujols coming back, Adam Wainwright, Yadier Molina, they win the division, Paul Goldschmidt's the MVP.

And being able to tell the stories behind the scenes, not just what these players did on the field, but

all of the work, all of the moments that went in behind that fans can't see.

That's the kind of detail that I really like to get into.

And I think that kind of value comes with being a beat writer.

I'm not sure if you can just necessarily fly into a team and spend a couple of days with them and get this kind of information.