{"id":21234,"date":"2026-02-09T10:35:00","date_gmt":"2026-02-09T10:35:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sawahsolutions.com\/lap\/the-athletic-bets-on-live-blogs-to-stay-ahead-of-ai\/"},"modified":"2026-02-09T10:52:48","modified_gmt":"2026-02-09T10:52:48","slug":"the-athletic-bets-on-live-blogs-to-stay-ahead-of-ai","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sawahsolutions.com\/lap\/the-athletic-bets-on-live-blogs-to-stay-ahead-of-ai\/","title":{"rendered":"The Athletic bets on live blogs to stay ahead of AI"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/p>\n

\n

The Athletic is expanding its use of live blogs enriched with video as part of a broader effort to keep audiences on its own sites and to blunt the impact of automated content collection by AI systems.<\/p>\n

According to a report in Digiday<\/a>, the move, timed to coincide with overlapping major sporting events this week, reflects a belief inside the publisher that real-time coverage and short-form video are harder for machine agents to replicate quickly and compellingly.<\/p>\n

Publishers are under growing pressure from AI-powered aggregation that can siphon value from original reporting. By doubling down on formats that reward immediacy and personality, The Athletic is testing whether editorial distinctiveness can still translate into audience loyalty and commercial leverage.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe one thing that AI isn\u2019t as good at is the live experience. And so we can be that expert for you in the moment. Humans will always be faster,\u201d said Sarah Goldstein, editorial director at The Athletic.<\/p>\n

Laura Williamson, editor in chief of The Athletic UK, told Digiday the publisher only recently began adding video to its live feeds and that the aim is context and personality rather than verbatim play-by-play. \u201cI\u2019m mindful that in today\u2019s AI world, the one thing [AI] can\u2019t generate is [real-time] information. So that push to break news and nuggets of information, [such as] what you\u2019re hearing, what you\u2019re seeing, make it really vibrant. It comes alive,\u201d Williamson said.<\/p>\n

The Athletic has scaled staffing to support the approach. Digiday reports roughly 30 staff assigned to Winter Olympics coverage and 55 to Super Bowl reporting, with about 20 and roughly two dozen reporters respectively contributing video to those live blogs. The publisher is also distributing short clips via Instagram, X, Bluesky and Facebook to funnel readers back to its live pages, and is running a daily Olympics newsletter that launched on February 6. According to Similarweb, The Athletic recorded 16.9 million unique visitors in January 2026, a 59% increase year on year.<\/p>\n

The Athletic\u2019s investment in live, video-heavy coverage also forms part of a shift away from dependence on search referrals. The publisher says its newsletter subscriber base has grown to more than 10 million across 11 titles, up from five million in May 2025, and that flagship mailings attract large audiences. Sponsorships for Olympic coverage include Amazon, Deloitte and Jeep, the company said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe biggest thing is just trying to show everyone what it\u2019s like to be here and be part of that moment,\u201d Goldstein said. \u201cNot everyone wants to sit and read a full story. Not everyone has time. But you do have time to become smarter in a 90-second video. Or as you\u2019re watching the game, if you have a question about something, a live blog is going to help answer that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Source: Noah Wire Services<\/a><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

\n

Noah Fact Check Pro<\/h3>\n

The draft above was created using the information available at the time the story first
\n emerged. We\u2019ve since applied our fact-checking process to the final narrative, based on the criteria listed
\n below. The results are intended to help you assess the credibility of the piece and highlight any areas that may
\n warrant further investigation.<\/p>\n

Freshness check<\/h3>\n

Score:
\n <\/span>10<\/p>\n

Notes:
\n <\/span>The article was published on February 9, 2026, and reports on recent developments at The Athletic, including the addition of video to live blogs and the hiring of a global head of video. No evidence of recycled or outdated content was found.<\/p>\n

Quotes check<\/h3>\n

Score:
\n <\/span>8<\/p>\n

Notes:
\n <\/span>The quotes from Sarah Goldstein and Laura Williamson are attributed to the Digiday article. While the quotes are specific and relevant, they cannot be independently verified through other sources. This lack of independent verification slightly reduces the score.<\/p>\n

Source reliability<\/h3>\n

Score:
\n <\/span>9<\/p>\n

Notes:
\n <\/span>Digiday is a reputable publication known for its coverage of media and technology. The article is authored by Sara Guaglione, a journalist with a history of reporting on media industry trends. However, the article relies heavily on information from The Athletic’s representatives, which may introduce bias.<\/p>\n

Plausibility check<\/h3>\n

Score:
\n <\/span>9<\/p>\n

Notes:
\n <\/span>The claims about The Athletic’s strategic focus on live blogs and video to combat AI scraping are plausible and align with industry trends. The hiring of a global head of video and the addition of video to live blogs are consistent with efforts to enhance content engagement and protect against AI content scraping. However, the effectiveness of these measures in preventing AI scraping remains uncertain.<\/p>\n

Overall assessment<\/h3>\n

Verdict<\/span> (FAIL, OPEN, PASS): PASS<\/span><\/p>\n

Confidence<\/span> (LOW, MEDIUM, HIGH): MEDIUM<\/span><\/p>\n

Summary:
\n <\/span>The article provides timely and relevant information about The Athletic’s strategic initiatives to combat AI content scraping. While the content is original and sourced from a reputable publication, the reliance on internal sources without independent verification introduces some uncertainty. The effectiveness of the measures discussed remains to be seen, and the potential impact of AI scraping on The Athletic’s content is an ongoing concern.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Athletic is expanding its use of live blogs enriched with video as part of a broader effort to keep audiences on its own sites and to blunt the impact of automated content collection by AI systems. According to a report in Digiday, the move, timed to coincide with overlapping major sporting events this week,<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":21235,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[118],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-21234","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-publishing-news"},"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sawahsolutions.com\/lap\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21234","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sawahsolutions.com\/lap\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sawahsolutions.com\/lap\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sawahsolutions.com\/lap\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sawahsolutions.com\/lap\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=21234"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/sawahsolutions.com\/lap\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21234\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":21236,"href":"https:\/\/sawahsolutions.com\/lap\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21234\/revisions\/21236"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sawahsolutions.com\/lap\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/21235"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sawahsolutions.com\/lap\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21234"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sawahsolutions.com\/lap\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21234"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sawahsolutions.com\/lap\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21234"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}