Wide World of Women

https://www.si.com/media/2023/08/11/dia ... per-report

ESPN tried to keep her even offering her a raise. Guessing the Athletic was too good to pass up or she wanted to do something different.

Dianna also ran a blog talking most things NFL and general things about her life under The Diary label since 2020.

Here is some more information, thanks to the man who enjoys scooping sports media stories for a living in Andrew Marchand of The New York Post:

https://nypost.com/2023/08/11/dianna-russini-leaving-espn-to-become-the-athletics-top-nfl-insider/

According to Marchand, "ESPN wanted to retain Russini, even though it is in cost-cutting mode...Negotiations between Russini and ESPN were said to be going well, but she decided to leave for The Athletic.

With Russini leaving, Lindsey Thiry (ESPN reporter covering the Los Angeles Rams) is expected to transition into being a full-time NFL TV reporter for ESPN, while Kimberley Martin and Jeff Darlington could see an expansion in their air time."

As a loyal subscriber for the last three plus years to this pay site, just beware of the many horrible/sick comments--but there is a way to report if they are abusive/harmful or trolling.

Also of note--many writers do occasional podcasts:
NFL--The Athletic Football Show
Until Saturday--College football, Stewart Mandel (and Andy Staples before he left to join On3) joined by many correspondents from around the country
The Athletic Baseball Show--Ken Rosenthal, Jayson Stark, Doug Glanville
The Teardown--most things NASCAR related

Plus they have a separate podcast from the UK involving popular soccer teams.

The nice thing is, you don't have to be a subscriber to listen to the podcasts (and many podcasts you can view on YouTube.) Just search using Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to podcasts.

But something else to keep in mind with their business model, since they were purchased by the New York Times in January 2022:

https://awfulannouncing.com/newspapers/new-york-times-athletic-financials-revenue-gain.html

At the very least, this was the first instance in this round of layoffs where one decided on their own terms and appeared to be in great financial standing--but clearly was not even in the same ballpark as Pat McAfee, Stephen A. Smith, and Scott Van Pelt with his late night show (and there are rumors that SVP may be taking over for the recently departed Suzy Kolber.)

Just fyi--at the end of each article, just simply click or tap the colored faces featuring:

MEH Solid Awesome

Good for her.

The ironic thing looking back is that she gave birth to Michael one month before signing a multi-year contract on September 10, 2021.

In an ESPN press release announcing the move at that time, Seth Markman, ESPN vice president in charge of production mentioned:

“Dianna is so passionate about covering the NFL, and it shows in every assignment she works on. From an All-State athlete in four sports to an All-Star teammate here at ESPN, she is a terrific example of how hard work pays off.”

If you want to hear something really cool and funny, check out an Awful Announcing podcast from February 7, 2020 when she was getting ready to do sideline reporting in the second iteration of the XFL. It runs about 51 minutes:

https://awfulannouncing.com/nfl/awful-announcing-podcast-espns-dianna-russini-talks-life-at-espn-women-in-sports-media-the-xfl-and-much-more.html

A very classy X/tweet on Monday announcing her departure from ESPN:

https://twitter.com/DMRussini/status/1693666131171475905?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1693666131171475905%7Ctwgr%5E484ce2d732a36e079c946432517da00b71091d91%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fathlonsports.com%2Fnfl%2Fdianna-russini-espn-athletic-message-classy

For readers of The Athletic pay subscription website, she penned her first article in covering all things, you guessed it--her love of all things NFL:

Look for it under the headline of "A new chapter for NFL news and intel"

Hopefully, she will educate herself quickly to delete any trolls or reply on certain comments to help educate the many thousands of devoted readers.

Anyways, best of luck to Dianna. Look for her also on The Football Show podcasts, of which you do not a subscription to see the content on YouTube.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/nfl/di ... b2d6e&ei=6

I'm like really? ESPN could've had her back in the Sportscenter rotation or at least had her host NFL Live.

From the main paragraph in Peter King's PFT article on Monday, these statements caught my eye:

“On paper,” Russini said Friday, “it’s like wait, she just left the worldwide leader? The biggest sports network on the planet? For The Athletic? I think when you read that headline, the reasoning honestly isn’t there.”

Continued King:
"This move doesn’t make traditional journalism sense. To think Dianna Russini will almost certainly make more money than Maggie Haberman or David Brooks—Times legends—and, crazily, might earn more than them combined, is a sign of the strange sports journalism times we live in. Stars who cover the NFL make crazy salaries compared to the money people make covering news that truly matters.

The Athletic hired Russini to be different, to be a subscription magnet, to tell good stories, to be a difference-maker on the NFL beat, and to break some stories. (Not a lot, but some. You’re not beating Schefter, Rapoport, Glazer, Pelissero with any regularity in this business right now.) The Athletic wants to be profitable soon (they have bleeding in red ink for a while), and the way to try to do that is to take chances. This is a chance. Russini’s rep at ESPN was as a football firebrand and good beat reporter with a growing list of sources. Tireless, tough, lover of the game. Her new employer needs American sports fans to buy Russini, and her traits.

“Buy” being the key word. With all the free content of NFL stuff flooding the web, will the Russini brand translate into current non-subscribers of The Athletic paying $71.99 a year to read this smart paysite? It’s a big ask. Very big. But it’s a gamble The Athletic was willing to take for a rising media person ESPN wasn’t willing to pay like a major star.

ESPN is scaling down, as you’ve seen. After paying stars like Adam Schefter, Adrian Wojnarowski, Stephen A. Smith and Pat McAfee, it’s clear ESPN had a bottom line—and wasn’t willing to put Russini’s compensation far above, if above at all, that of prized NFL reporters like Jeff Darlington and Sal Paolantonio.

Everyone wants to be wanted. In the end, that’s part of why Russini jumped ship.

Two other points. Russini has retained her television rights. So sometime soon (likely next year, but one never knows) you’ll see her on the sidelines or in the studio of an NFL rights-holder. “I’m a TV free agent for the first time in a while, and that was the gem in all of this,” she said. And regarding being a sportswriter: “Challenging, exciting, scary,” she said. “But words are words no matter where they live. Collecting information and telling stories still will be at my core.”

Since leaving WRC/NBC4 Washington D.C. in July 2015, she transitioned nicely after anchoring a few SportsCenter programs and even did some sideline reporting for women's college basketball.

But it is her work with the NFL that has made her one to be reckon with. Listen to one of the podcasts she was featured on March 21 with Adam Schefter. They both traded thoughts on how they desperately tried to lure down New York Jets free agent QB Aaron Rodgers. As tough an interview he is, the subject line definitely applied.

Having done a lot of sports journalism since my senior year in high school--I know exactly where Dianna and Adam are both coming from.

Here is the link:
https://open.spotify.com/episode/157Sm6FI2d9hSGarrMzFPI?si=3b4630badb8d4fde


In her letter to readers on August 21, she said:

"Like every other day, I sat in a quiet car in my driveway escaping the inevitable interruptions of two babies 14 months apart in order to pick the brains of the NFL’s most informed people. The only thing that changed on this day …was my job.

My first day as the new senior NFL Insider at The Athletic. After almost 10 years of working at ESPN as an NFL reporter, host, and insider as well as more than 20 years working in local news and national sports television, I headed back to my driveway."

She texted Hall of Fame coach Bill Parcells and was granted a 8 minute interview on this big time career shift (but in the end she spoke with him for 42 minutes mostly about if she was going to get a new washing machine ).

This is truly a bold move for one of the most credible and respected NFL voices who is honest and always gets the scoop that Adam Schefter, the recently retired Chris Mortensen, the late John Clayton, Ed Werder, and a few others usually have it down like adding butter to your favorite pancakes in the morning.

Concluded her introductory note:
"Words are words no matter where they live. Providing context and creating content will always be my job. Along with the rest of the team at The Athletic, we want to continue to discover NFL stories that allow you to learn more about the league you love. Transactions, injuries, trades and signings will be stories I chase, along with finding out the “whys” and “hows” along the way. I’ll be covering all the big NFL events along with attending the important matchups to bring you as many details and as much information as I can gather. The reporters at The Athletic are the best in the business, and I hope to find ways to add to their storytelling and reporting. I’ve never been more energized by an opportunity that allows me to tell stories about the sport I love."

Great for her! Even better, she is taking over for Lindsay Jones, who shockingly left for a better position with The Ringer with you guessed it--covering all things NFL.

Bottom line, she will also appear on The Football Show podcasts during some weekday mornings--of which you don't need a subscription. Check it out weekdays on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or even better--just search for The Athletic on YouTube and you can watch and leave questions/comments there.

Finally, this might be answer to a future trivia question? Who replaced Dianna as NFL insiders?

Monday saw Erin Dolan appear on NFL Live, but Dianna's position will be taken over by Lindsey Thiry--who was the full-time ESPN beat reporter for the Los Angeles Rams.

Let's see how Dianna reports on the NFL in online print and most importantly, the comments should be insightful and hopefully no hurtful language or trolls will populate the commentary spaces.

Also, forgot to have her be a co-host on Get Up. They haven't had one since Beadle was forced out. I do agree about her in the Athletic, she can freelance at CBS or NFL Network maybe Fox Sports as well. We do see people who work for a newspaper and make appearances on TV.

Freelance gig for CBS/NFL Network would do for Dianna. She used to cover the Titans when she's on ESPN couple years back. Maybe she'll cover some Titans games for CBS.

You will never guess who said similar things like Dianna did in her interview with Peter King on Monday:

Longtime former CBS and ESPN college football analyst Todd Blackledge mentioned in some comments on the Sports Media Podcast with Richard Deitsch:

"I was very happy there. I was very confident that my work was well respected and well received there. And I was not looking to go anywhere. I liked the crew. I was there 17 years. I had different play-by-play guys, but I had the same director, Scott Johnson, for all 17 years. We’re great friends…It was a very family-oriented feel and I loved it.

I would put our games and our work up against anybody doing football at any level. And then doing a playoff game every year, I was comfortable with that. I realized that I was at a ceiling at ESPN that was not gonna change. It took me a while when I first came over from CBS, but I came to grips with that, that that’s what it was gonna be. But when NBC came and kind of started talking to me about what this project was going to be, what this new adventure was going to be and how they were going to try and present it, I was very intrigued.

He concluded by saying that it was an offer too good to pass up, similar to Russini did in leaving ESPN where she didn't have any leverage career wise and decided instead to bolt to The Athletic:

“At this point in my life and my career, the length of the contract, the compensation of the contract—I was very happy with both—and to be a part of something new and something different. I’m 62 years old, my partner Noah Eagle is younger (and also sounds and nearly looks like his father Ian Eagle of CBS) than two of my grown sons. It’s going to be an interesting challenge. And I love primetime football games. The idea of doing a primetime game for NBC, covering the Big Ten…I’m familiar with the Midwest and Big Ten football."

IMHO, wait until the ratings come out since the Peacock is going to be up against the juggernaut that is the SEC (their final year on CBS before ESPN takes over the entire package in 2024.)

On a CBS Sports Radio interview Friday morning, Dianna was briefly taken aback by one comment from Peter King's article earlier in the week--in particular about why mentioning anyone's salary is generally considered a no-no:

https://awfulannouncing.com/athletic/dianna-russini-peter-king-athletic-salary.html

That's why there is the Internet who industry leaders usually scoop that information and posts it freely on the Web for fans to see and interpret how they wish.

She did come back on ESPN via the Pat McAfee show.

She only appears on the YouTube portion once a week during the football season at 2 p.m. Eastern--shortly after Pat's portion takes up the early 2 hours on ESPN.

Generally speaking, it isn't a good idea to return to your former employer, even only after a few weeks in deciding to leave from The Worldwide Leader. Just ask any baseball or football beat reporter that moves across town to still cover the same team in that particular city.

Look back at what I mentioned at the beginning of the post, and you can see why she made the choice when she did. Sure, we can look back and say that the timing was a bit unusual--considering the over 20 on-air talent that was laid off on both the TV and the radio side in June.