Yahoo's Star Sports Writer Adrian Wojnarowski Says Basketball Is Perfect for the Internet

Adrian "Woj" Wojnarowski left newspapers for the Internet when the print business started to turn south. Now the new company that signs his checks, Yahoo, is slicing down its digital media divisions. But Woj is confident that he will stay put.

On the latest episode of Re/code Media with Peter Kafka, he explained how he made the jump to the Web in the late 2000s, and why he just launched a new NBA-focused site within Yahoo called The Vertical. There, and in his podcast "The Vertical Podcast with Woj," he blends old-fashioned reporting with an attitude attuned to the high speed and high stakes of the Web.

"I want us to win. I don’t apologize," Wojnarowski said. "Either you’re going to compete, or you’re going to come up with excuses for why you got your ass kicked."

He also discussed what he thinks of aggregation journalism, the ethical debate over reporters mixing opinion with fact and why basketball is a good match for online media.

"The NBA was perfect for the Internet," he said. "Its star players drive everything, and there’s lots of conflict among teams and groups."

You can listen to or download the episode in the player above. As we mentioned last week, Re/code Media with Peter Kafka is now its own podcast, independent of Kara Swisher’s show Re/code Decode. That means you should subscribe to make sure you don’t miss future episodes. Click here to subscribe to the new show right now on iTunes.

Peter Kafka will be back next Thursday to talk to Danielle Weisberg and Carly Zakin, the creators of email newsletter theSkimm.

Want more podcasts? Okay! This Monday on Re/code Decode, Kara Swisher will interview HotelTonight CEO Sam Shank. You can also hear Kara tomorrow on Too Embarrassed to Ask, her podcast with Lauren Goode from The Verge. Click here to subscribe to Re/code Decode and here to subscribe to Too Embarrassed to Ask on iTunes.

And on Re/code Replay, we’re posting audio from last week’s Code/Media 2016 conference, so you can revisit your favorite interviews later. To subscribe to that, click right here.

You can follow @Recode on Twitter for the latest on upcoming guests.

If you like what we’re doing, please write a review on iTunes — and if you don’t, just tweet-strafe Peter. You can also suggest guests for the show, and we’ll do our best to nab them for an interview.

This article originally appeared on Recode.net.

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