“If you can not only build a beautiful tray of content, but…create an experience, create a habit—that is golden in this day and age.”
This is just one of the many insights offered by Kendall Baker, senior writer at Yahoo Sports, who was welcomed to Seton Hall’s campus on Tuesday by the Center for Sports Media (CSM).
Baker, who got his start with Bleacher Report and later at ESPN, sat down for an exclusive “masterclass” with rising stars of SHU’s CSM. He discussed the process and mindset behind delivering a sports newsletter consumed by millions each day.
At Yahoo Sports, Baker is responsible for the Yahoo Sports AM daily newsletter, which he calls a “SportsCenter in an email.”
Baker drafts, organizes and delivers the newsletter directly to sports fans’ inboxes, compiling the biggest news across numerous sports and leagues.
“Our goal with it is to help make it easier for sports fans to be sports fans,” Baker said. “If you're a fan of sports, you want to hear about the big stories, you want to be able to talk to your friends about what happened last night…and we're able to help you do that and make it easier.”
Students in attendance observed that because the Yahoo Sports newsletter does not cover breaking news, Baker has a unique role in bringing something new to the table: perspectives on events that readers may have seen in notifications or headlines, but may not have gotten the full gist of.
Through his newsletter “Baker’s Dozen,” Baker offers breakdowns of the top plays over the weekend, which allows him to add nuance to “the big things” (or stories) people are already aware of.
Something students were curious about was how Baker organizes his newsletters, from selecting headlines to creating a content hierarchy. The newsletter makes it possible for readers to, according to Baker, “choose their own adventure”—even the busiest reader is able to take in the story at their own pace, through hyperlinks that lead to both the Yahoo Sports ecosystem and beyond.
“He’s not afraid to link to other websites,” observed Manuel Pereira, a freshman sports media student and writer for The Setonian’s sports section. “The goal is to make the best and most efficient content that is accessible for readers, even if that means linking to an ESPN article.”
Pointing back to Yahoo’s origins in the 1990s, Baker noted that Yahoo has been a “center of distribution for others,” like ESPN, and that this partnership in the media landscape allows them to work with other companies rather than compete with them. Baker enjoys this aspect of his job because it allows him to “highlight the best work every day,” even that which didn’t come from Yahoo.
“Working at a place that encourages me to highlight that stuff if it's from another media company…versus saying to me, ‘No, you need to promote just ours’ is really nice,” Baker said.
Pereira was not the only attendee who took note of the newsletter’s practical layout. Gino Granato, a senior visual sound media major, said the organization of Baker’s newsletter and its creative process was what he found most interesting.
“[Baker] is able to really efficiently write those newsletters, and he writes it simply for people to read,” Granato said.
It’s not always cupcakes and rainbows in the media industry, especially in the fast-paced, ever-evolving world of sports media. For Baker, challenges can be combatted by making his newsletter a daily habit for both himself and his readers.
“If you want to build a habit, you have to be consistent,” Baker said. “If you are sending [the newsletter] at different times occasionally…it’s not reliable, but if it's there every day, ready for you and consistently high quality, people will come back.”
As a 2013 University of Pennsylvania alumnus, Baker keeps in mind his time as a college student when sharing his knowledge with them nowadays.
“I think, ‘What would have been helpful for me to hear?’” Baker said. “I love helping out and imparting any knowledge I may have learned.”
Outside of offering his insights to students, Baker said his favorite aspect of speaking with college students is hearing how they think, adding that “it’s legitimately helpful” to hear direct feedback from that demographic.
“When I come here, I feel like I’m learning just as much…[from] getting that unique perspective,” Baker said.
For students aspiring to embark on the sports media journey, Baker said it is important to consider your skills beyond content creation—to ask, “How do I provide value?”
“I tried to show through my newsletter the value proposition, the value that people get from it,” Baker said. “As more content continues to be created, as the world gets noisier and noisier, how do you stand out by actually creating value versus just adding to the current noise?”
After working his way up in the sports media industry and finding success at a young age, Baker offers advice to students aspiring to achieve greatness in any field, encouraging students to “keep an open mind in terms of opportunities.”
“Don’t close any opportunities that might not be exactly what you want at that time because that job might actually be the path that will send you down a different path that you would never have found otherwise,” Baker added.
Lakyn Austin is the head features editor for The Setonian. She can be reached at lakyn.austin@student.shu.edu.
Christian Hui is the assistant sports editor for The Setonian. He can be reached at christian.hui@student.shu.edu.
