UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — When professional athletes try to take control of their message are they better connecting fans to games and information? Are the athletes simply proving themselves as entrepreneurs? Are they disrupting traditional models of communications and journalism while protecting their interests?

Those questions and more will be addressed during a panel discussion titled “Disrupting Journalism: Athletes, Fans & The Players’ Tribune” at 7 p.m. April 17 in Foster Auditorium of Paterno Library on the University Park campus. 

The session is free and open to the public as part of Penn State Startup Week.

When former New York Yankees standout Derek Jeter launched The Players’ Tribune in 2014, the goal was “to ultimately transform how athletes and newsmakers share information, bringing fans closer than ever to the games they love.” The online news site quickly attracted a sizable audience, a growing roster of contributing athletes, and significant venture capital.

The Players’ Tribune is one of the more prominent examples of media startups disrupting both the traditional media business model and the notion of professional journalism itself. This panel discussion will focus on the process of bringing The Players’ Tribune from idea, to pitch, to reality.

Panelists include will Dan Treadway, deputy editor, The Players’ Tribune, and Anne Hoag, associate professor of communications and director of the minor in entrepreneurship and innovation at Penn State. The moderator will be John Affleck, the Knight Chair in Sports Journalism and Society and director of the John Curley Center for Sports Journalism at Penn State.

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