Mark Fainaru-Wada, Shannon Spake, and Jeff Gluck.

Episode 40 of the Sports Media Podcast with Richard Deitsch features three great guests: ESPN senior investigative reporter Mark Fainaru-Wada; Fox Sports NASCAR host and NFL reporter Shannon Spake, and preeminent NASCAR writer and reporter Jeff Gluck.  First up is Fainaru-Wada, who discussed his recent piece on how Bob Costas went from fronting the NFL to being excised from last year's Super Bowl; how the story came to fruition; how often he spoke with Costas; why he thinks Costas talked to him; how he approached NBC Sports and what their response was to his inquiries; whether an in-game broadcast of the NFL can ever tell hard truths; calling me out for saying ESPN would no longer do investigative work on third rail NFL issues; how he navigated this story with his superiors, who negotiate NFL media contracts; ESPN’s commitment to this kind of reporting, and much more.   Spake discussed being named hostof FOX NASCAR’s race coverage, including all the anchor duties for the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series; how that assignment came about; how she plans to forge chemistry with the studio group; the numbers of women working in NASCAR; how to navigate covering the sport from a studio in Charlotte; why NASCAR has hemorrhaged television viewers; working on the team of Thom Breneman and Chris Spielman on NFL games this season; the differences and similarities between NFL and college football sideline reporting; whether players and coaches curse more in pro football or college; the differences between working at Fox and ESPN; her superfandom of The Howard Stern show; her training as an endurance racer and racing in multiple half Ironmans  1.2-mile swim, a 56-mile bike ride and a 13.1-mile run, and much more. Gluck discussed covering NASCAR via crowdfunding and how he supports his career and life via his Patreon page; why he opted to leave USA Today for this new style of independent reporting; who is patrons are and why he thinks they fund him; his current relationship with NASCAR; how he views the state of the media covering NASCAR today; why media outlets have scaled back on NASCAR coverage; whether ESPN leaving the sport has had an impact; the declining television ratings of the sport; how to get more people of color and women interested in NASCAR; whether the crowdfunding approach could work for writers in major sports, and much more.  You can subscribe to this podcast on Apple Podcasts, Google Play, Stitcher and more.

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