Presser

The Daily Dot

At the Daily Dot, the crosshairs of race, social media, and sports are always on our radar. When the weight of the world is on Simone Biles for her activism. When the timeline is livid over Sha’Carri Richardson’s Olympic ban. When a Karen harasses a couple at a Houston Astros game. When helicopter parents at Little League spark a viral debate about the limits of sportsmanship. When an NFL player makes a controversial TikTok.

These flashpoints are always newsworthy and key coverage in service of our larger mission to dissect internet culture on a daily basis. But in Presser, we’ll be diving deeper than viral meltdowns. Here, we’ll be spending time with the minority figures shaping society, from creators to activists to amateurs to pros, untangling game-changing new issues and solutions.

These stories come from the web communities we’ve built trust in thanks to 10 years of existing as leading beat reporters for places like Reddit, YouTube, Twitch, Black Twitter, and more recently, TikTok. I’m thrilled to share our findings.

– Ramon Ramirez, News Director

Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf
How Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf paved the path for Colin Kaepernick and other Black athletes moved to protest
Tying shoe with rainbow laces
Tackling homophobia in soccer with online tools: Is it working?
Messi celebrating
Messi in Miami: How the legend (and social media megastar) might recalibrate the world’s expectations for U.S. soccer
People playing basketball
Use these analytics bloggers—and not Kenpom—to fill out your March Madness bracket
Men standing on field
How cricket found a critical moment to address its institutional racism
Men playing rugby
Changing the Chiefs: How an online campaign got a rugby team to ditch their racist branding
Hockey sticks and puck on ice
An ambitious NHL marketing campaign and the complicated case of Ivan Provorov
Men standing on field
Soccer players turned filmmakers explore when injuries challenge identity — with a ‘Ted Lasso’ connection
Man wearing hockey gear
Hubert Davis explores Black hockey player experiences in unflinching documentary, ‘Black Ice’
Hand holding phone near laptop with gambling site
Chinese smartphones and WhatsApp enable offshore betting, newfound income, and hope for young Zimbabweans
women playing soccer
How the digital public square contributed to NWSL’s great reckoning
Basketball shoe
2002: The year of the magical basketball shoe
Children playing
In an era of soccer cynicism, a legendary European club partners with a resort chain in Curacao to teach kids and clean the ocean
Senegal fans at the World Cup
A quest to reverse the African jinx at the World Cup.
We Believe in US
How English artists use digital and stadium spaces to intertwine soccer and art.
Elton Jantjies
South African rugby star Elton Jantjies’ arrest highlighted online tensions reflective of the nation’s Apartheid past.
Soccer jerseys
People don’t like the jerseys Nike created for the U.S. team going to the World Cup. A few of them decided they’d just make their own.
Soccer gambling site on laptop with ball
The 2022 FIFA World Cup will feel a little bit different to American sports fans. You can bet on it. Literally.
Allen Iverson
The Jadakiss-assisted clip is one of the first examples of basketball embracing Black culture in a way that wasn’t watered down. The game’s still catching up.
Ari Chambers
A professional cheerleader noticed women’s sports highlights were leftovers. She decided to change things
Adonai Mitchell
Black student-athletes continue to graduate at a lower rate than their white teammates
Tony Smith
Life after sports: The challenging transition from pro athlete to normal person
Luchador with phone
How an early internet niche created a new generation of lucha libre fans
NY Knicks
How Knicks superfans forged a new era of coverage for their favorite team
Zion Williamson
How NBA meme culture foretells an increasingly problematic present and future
Maduka Okoye
Can Nigerian soccer prince Maduka Okoye handle the weight of a nation?
Elana Meyers Taylor
How Elana Meyers Taylor became U.S. bobsledding’s barrier-breaking quarterback
#SaveMuny
The fight to #SaveMuny, the South’s first desegregated golf course
The Prancing J-Settes
‘Thrill of a billion eyes’: The Prancing J-Settes of Jackson State gracefully continue a rich legacy of sisterhood
Major League Baseball
Why Major League Baseball is losing Black players
Ben Simmons
The resignation of Ben Simmons, and why Philadelphia won’t accept it
Brain scan with Jumpman logo in the center
Why your brain is wired to think Jordan is better than LeBron
Jon Gruden
How Jon Gruden became a sacrificial lamb for the NFL—a league anchored in racism
Kyrie Irving
Why Kyrie Irving suddenly supercharged the NBAs anti-vax movement
Megan Reyes
Megan Reyes wants you to demand diverse voices in sports—on a T-shirt
Deion Sanders
Can Deion Sanders’ Instagram offensive save Black college football?
Soccer team sitting in circle on field
The Native American coaching philosophy changing MLS’ community work
ASU vs. Grambling Tigers football game
The future of HBCU sports
Sha'Carri Richardson
The Sha’Carri Richardson timeline
Draymond Green
What Draymond Green gets wrong about freedom
Black Players for Change
Black Players for Change assembled after George Floyd. They’re just getting started
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