The homepage: of www.auburnundercover.com shows teasers for many stories covered by the Web site. Tiger fans can access the Web site to read about many events going on with Auburn athletics. Auburn Undercover
A new independent Web site, www.AuburnUndercover.com, launched July 1 and features round-the-clock Auburn athletics news.
Phillip Marshall is the Web site’s senior writer.
“It’s doing very well,” Marshall said. “Much better than most people expected. We still need to improve in some areas, and we will. But it’s only been up for a little while, and it’s been pretty remarkable.”
The site is an ESPN affiliate and is funded by investors.
“I got a call in May asking if I would be interested,” Marshall said. “The more we talked, the more intriguing it became.”
Marshall has been in the newspaper business for nearly 40 years. He has written sports for papers all over the state, in cities like Birmingham, Decatur, Montgomery and most recently in Huntsville, for The Huntsville Times.
Covering Auburn has been in his job description since 1969.
Marshall has two part-time writers that contribute articles to the site – Luke Brietzke and Scott Cameron.
Cameron, an Auburn student, helps Marshall with football recruiting stories.
“I’ve enjoyed it so far,” said Cameron, who turned 23 Sunday. “I like being able to get in touch with recruits. It’s definitely something cool to do.”
Although Cameron has no experience in journalism (he’s a kinesiology major), it’s always something he’s wanted to do, and he feels like working for Marshall is a good place to start.
“Phillip has helped me out a lot,” Cameron said. “He’s given me a ton of pointers in writing, and he definitely knows what he’s talking about.”
Cameron is set to graduate this fall, so he’s working for Marshall part-time for now.
However, he has considered it as an opportunity once he gets out of school.
“If the site catches on, I could see myself doing this after I graduate for a few years,” Cameron said.
Brietzke, 24, graduated from Towson University outside Baltimore, Md.
He moved to Auburn when his wife began her graduate studies here. Since then, he has freelanced for The Gadsden Times and the Florence Times Daily, covering Auburn football and basketball.
He was approached by Marshall at the end of June and agreed to work for him.
“There’s been a great fan interest in the site, and I think that’s a major tribute to Phillip’s readership,” Brietzke said. “The bulk of the readers feel like they have a connection with him. Any self-respecting journalist knows that he ought to be in the Sports Writing Hall of Fame and will be. He’s a living legend.”
Brietzke has enjoyed writing feature and human interest stories during the summer, when football news can be slow.
“It’s great to break news, but I pride myself on finding stories nobody else has,” he said. “Phillip gives me freedom to write about what I want. Good editors allow their reporters to chase the stories they want.”
Like Cameron, Brietzke also plans on working for a while, or at least “until (Marshall) kicks me out.”
Marshall said he is pleased with the work of both Brietzke and Cameron.
Taking the jump from newspapers to the Internet was quite a change for Marshall at first, but he has adjusted.
“I wanted to try this, but the state of newspapers, combined with my age, means there’s no going back. To change jobs at 58 is scary. It was a very difficult decision, and I still can’t believe I did it. It’s very demanding, and there’s a lot to do, but at the same time, it’s a lot of fun.”
