Question: What problem were you trying to solve, and why was that problem strategically important to your organization?
Answer: Tucson is a community with big city amenities and small town values. Yet, even with a million-plus residents calling it home, Tucson is every bit a “college town,” with the University of Arizona serving as one of the region’s largest employers and a centerpiece for development, economic output and entertainment. The Arizona Wildcats have long been a community focal point.
The university’s NCAA Division 1 program also has long been a focus of reporting at the Arizona Daily Star, Southern Arizona’s most prominent news source for nearly a century and a half. One of the Star’s greatest modern journalistic achievements — winning a Pulitzer Prize in 1981 — was based on investigative reporting into alleged transgressions surrounding the school’s football program.
Fast forward to today, and the local community’s clamoring for anything and everything tied to their Arizona Wildcats has increased tenfold. So here’s one central question we at the Star would like to answer: If dedicated sports fans can’t be in the locker room or at field level themselves, is the next best thing to become even more connected to reporters who have that sort of access?
Our audience told us they want to be a more engaged part of the conversation. The Star sports staff set out to find a way to make that happen.
