Fanzines and Blogs
Through the 1970s and '80s, a rise in "citizen journalism" in Europe was witnessed in the rapid growth in popularity of soccer "fanzines" - cheaply printed magazines written by fans for fans that bypassed often stilted official club match programs and traditional media. Many continue today and thrive.
Some authors have been adopted by their clubs - Jim Munro, once editor of the West Ham United fanzine Fortune's Always Dreaming, was hired by the club to write for its matchday magazine and is now sports editor of The Sun Online. Other titles, such as the irreverent monthly soccer magazine When Saturday Comes, have effectively gone mainstream.
The advent of the internet has seen much of this fan-generated energy directed into sports blogs. Ranging from team-centric blogs to those that cover the sports media itself, Bleacher Report, Deadspin.com, ProFootballTalk.com, AOL Fanhouse, the blogs in the Yardbarker Network, and others have garnered massive followings.
Blogging has also been taken up by sportspeople such as Curt Schilling, Paula Radcliffe, Greg Oden, Donovan McNabb, and Chris Cooley.
Read more about this topic: Sports Journalism