Outdoor sports exist and thrive within their own vibrant communities and cultures, often even more so than mainstream professional sports. These action sports tend to have a much smaller general audience, meaning that the media surrounding these sports is often crafted in an intentional, hyper-niche way. As surfing, skiing, mountain biking, skating, competitions rise and fall, it’s their subcultures that endure, and those who produce the media are often making decisions directly based on those subcultures.
This kind of audience work is integral to those who write about these sports—something that Megan Michelson knows better than most. Michelson was the freeskiing editor for ESPN—hired as part of their foray into action sports—until turning to freelance nine years ago. During her freelance career she’s written for a number of different publications. Places like Powder and The Ski Journal, but also publications with general audiences like Outside and SKI magazine. Through this varied work, Michelson’s seen both sides of the fence, writing “postgame” articles for the X Games, but also in-depth profiles of professional skiers like Cody Townsend and Crystal Wright.
Writing these stories requires a completely different set of mechanics, and, often, different tones depending on the publication. In a phone interview, Michelson spoke about writing for a variety of different titles, knowing your audience, and the importance of community and culture for journalists covering the fringe of sports.