Certain news subjects make some readers/viewers grumble, “This again?” There’s fresh news in the Barry Bonds steroids scandal, reported by ESPN The Magazine on Friday. (Source: Conte indicates that Bonds knew about steroids.) According to the article, BALCO founder Victor Conte says Bonds knew fully well he was taking steroids, and knew which steroids he was taking. To this, Deadspin.com responds, “I actually can’t tell how big of a story this is. When I see the words ‘Bonds’ and ‘steroids’ and a headline, I can try to read it, but in my head, it will all just sound like the teacher in Charlie Brown.”
So, how would one make this story an interesting read? Here’s what I’d do if I were putting it as a lead story on my Web site, like ESPN.com did, barring money and resource limitations:
-Obviously, I’d update the story as updates came in. In this case, the story was updated several times between when it broke Friday and Sunday morning. With that, I’d add an RSS feed so people could receive updates on the story.
-If it were available, I’d get a soundbyte of what Conte said and put it on the Web site as a podcast.
-I’d include a tabbed chart of the total home runs in a season by Bonds, Mark McGwire, Sammy Sosa, Roger Maris and Babe Ruth.
-I’d try to get a quote from the Phillies’ Ryan Howard, who is on pace to hit 63 home runs at the end of the season. It’s not Bonds’ total of 73, but Howard’s only in his second year playing major league baseball and is presumed never to have taken steroids.
-A tabbed photo gallery of Howard, Bonds, McGwire, Sosa, Maris and Ruth in their home-run swings so people could analyze differences in their swings.
-File video of the steroid hearings in Congress in March 2005, when sluggers such as Sosa and the Baltimore Orioles’ Rafael Palmeiro denied taking steroids and ballplayers such as the Boston Red Sox’ Curt Schilling spoke out against steroid use
-Polls such as whether folks have had enough of the story; whether they think Bonds and the others have taken steroids; what they think MLB should do next. Also, perhaps a video survey (similar to Jay Leno’s “Jaywalking”) on what people think about Barry Bonds
-Links to other wire reports on the story, if there are any
-A timeline on the evolution of steroids in baseball and other sports
-A graphic comparing baseball to other sports regarding how pervasive steroid use is in baseball compared to, say, track and field events
i particularly like digging into the data on this story — since, it being baseball, there is so much of it. great opportunities not only for graphical presentation but also for new explanation and learning. goo stuff.