Juan de Aracil, AreadePenalti:"the battle between digital and classic media is as David vs Goliath"

Juan de Aracil is the director of AreadePenalti, a digital sports medium that was created three years ago. He is a firm believer that digital media have enormous journalistic quality, and that if they do not have a larger audience it is largely due to the tools and power that only traditional media have, although he recognizes that they have much to improve. Despite this inconveniences, he believe that in the near future they can have the same relevance as traditional media.

Juan is a 23-year-old boy from Madrid. In 2018, he embarked on the adventure of creating his own digital medium, in this case about his passion, football.

He started on Instagram with weekly posts that covered the essentials of Spanish football, but it didn't take long to grow and create a website. It was then that his career partner and friend, Gabriel Buendía, with whom he has led the project since then, joined the project. Together they have made a larger medium and have formed a very complete team to cover more information.

AreadePenalti's logo

During these three years he assures that he has learned to organize and coordinate a medium, and gives us the keys to make it work properly: develop a complete team and be constant at work.

He also believes that it is very important not to be afraid of change and to be an open-minded person. He started with Instagram and the web, but right now he is more focused on YouTube and Twitch, and has delegated the other platforms to people he trust.

He considers that having your own environment gives you the possibility to work as you want and without anyone telling you what to do, and that is very important, to make mistakes and learn from them.

Juan does not believe that it is an idea to become a millionaire but he hopes that he will be able to make a living from this one day. He believes that if he achieves that it will be thanks to the internet, which is what provides an infinity of possibilities and the ability to reach any corner of the world.

Juan de Aracil covering a match for AreadePenalti. Image:@JuanDam6

Full interview

Today we have the pleasure of speaking with Juan de Aracil, director of the digital media AreadePenalti, who is going to tell us what it is like to create and run your own media outlet. Hello and welcome Juan!

Hello and thank you for inviting me Gabriel.

Can you explain how was AreadePenalti born?

AreadePenalti was born 3 years ago, at the beginning of 2018, as a need of mine to be part of a sports environment that would make me feel comfortable with the content and the way of working. I was not comfortable with the sports press that existed and I believe this to focus journalism on my passion, soccer, in the way that seemed most enriching for the audience. It was then that I thought of creating an Instagram account, which would include short stories for users who were looking for a brief summary of the matches of the day. It did not include rumors or anything like that, only results or news about the world of football. It was born out of dissatisfaction with what was there.

What changes have occurred since you started?

Well, many the truth. It all started with an Instagram account, but the team has grown and the need arose to professionalize the medium. So we created the web page, which includes more detailed and extensive content. Then came the YouTube channel, Twitch and others ... The differences are clear both in the number of participants, as well as in the content that we cover, platforms in which we work, etc.

You say that the team has grown and that at the beginning you were alone, how is the internal organization and coordination so that everything works correctly?

It's true that it was easier before (laughs). The internal organization is quite good due to the involvement of the people we have: they are all sports lovers and enjoy working here. From there everything is easier. When someone enters we do some tests to see their commitment that consist of the realization of two current sports articles. With that we see your commitment and if you have a minimum level to write with us, and people from social networks and video editors enter after trying editing a video or managing networks for a day. With that we already see if they comply, and in general it is not difficult to enter.

YouTube video cover

In addition, every week both Gabri (Gabriel Buendía, editor in chief) and I organize the week to cover all the events that we consider important and we set what content is going to be developed on each platform, always trying to think about the audience and the Give each editor the content they like the most, because in the end we treat this in a professional way, but it is important that the people who work are comfortable and feel comfortable with the content they create.

In addition to directing Areadepenalti, you are finishing your journalism degree and doing an internship at the newspaper As. What is it like to carry that workload and combine your own media with your normal life?

Well, the truth is that it is not easy, you need to trust your team and delegate certain responsibilities. At first you want everything to be perfect and for that you think you have to do everything yourself, and you don't want to trust anyone, but you end up realizing that this is impossible. There were several moments when I was overwhelmed to the point of wanting to leave everything, but I realized that what I needed was to delegate certain responsibilities to a trusted team, and that is what I have done since then, and everything has been better. and it has allowed me to combine my normal life with my own environment.

You have learned from mistakes, and I suppose that experience has helped you get through better and worse moments. What is the key to overcome adversity?

Well, since we created AreadePenalti there have been better and worse moments, of course. The key for me is not looking at the audience or the repercussion. One day an entry on your website has thousands of visits and the next day it hardly has any. The key is to be constant and not value according to the figures you obtain: not one day you are so good nor another day so bad. If you have that clear and do your work with the confidence that it is well done, in the end the moments go by faster and the good moments get longer.

After 3 years working at AreadePenalti, what would you say is the most important thing in a digital medium?

I think that as in any job, the time invested and the perseverance. If you invest time and take care of your work, people will notice and appreciate it. It is also important to be consistent. In the world of information, everything is immediate, the past loses interest. We are interested in the here and now, and that is why the importance of being constant, even more so in a digital medium, which has the advantage of immediacy over conventional media. It is also key to use different platforms so that each one has the content at their disposal in the way they like best, there are those who prefer to receive written information, others in an audiovisual way ...

You are talking about platforms, and AreadePenalti is a medium that uses all the means at your fingertips. You use the web, twitter, Instagram, YouTube, Twitch, iVoox... What does each of these platforms contribute and which one has the longest journey?

Well, each platform gives us different characteristics, and based on that we give a different approach to the content. On Twitter everything is more informative and focused on news and updates, on YouTube we upload summaries of the day and analysis of our experts, on Twitch we cover direct... They are all about the same, but each one gives us something to make AreadePenalti a complete medium . It is true that if we talk about travel I think YouTube and Twitch have a longer life expectancy than the web and the others. In the end it is logical, the audiovisual is more attractive and we are guided by the audience. Even so, we enjoy all of them and we believe that each one has its charm and its function.

AreadePenalti, like other digital media, has fewer resources than conventional media to obtain quality material, be it accreditations for matches, interviews, image rights on matches or players... Despite all this, do you think you can compete if not now, in the future?

Juan de Aracil and Gabriel Buendía broadcasting in Twitch

It is true what you say, the amount of resources and tools are much smaller than in traditional media, but we have something that they do not have: mastery and ease of technology. I think our generation and future generations have that advantage over older people. We are people who were born in the digital age, and we have a much easier time mastering new platforms and tools. Tools like Twitch for example, that differentiate you from the more conventional. If we can exploit that and take advantage, perhaps digital media can surpass traditional ones. It's like David versus Goliath, we have very little chance, but not any. Our desire to succeed would be the stone and the internet the sling.

People who think of a medium also think of the economic possibilities that it offers. Do you get any financial benefit with AreadePenalti?

No, and it won't be for trying (laughs). It is true that we put advertisements on the web, but the earnings are practically insignificant, they do not reach the monthly euro. If someone wants to get gold with their own medium, think of something else because this does not work like that. It is true that YouTube videos can be monetized and that there are donations on Twitch, but at the moment, we do not have enough audience to obtain financial benefit from the project. But come on, we are calm because we are not looking for that, although if it comes, even better of course.

Now your experience is much greater than in 2018. What advice would you give Juan from 3 years ago if you could talk to him?

Well, it wouldn't have hurt me (laughs). I suppose I would tell you to try to create the web as soon as possible and to find a good team, not just good copywriters. A good copywriter is just as important as a good community manager or a video editor. With that from the beginning everything would have been easier, but I guess I have learned this thanks to mistakes. Without a good team you are lost, and that Juan in 2018 did not know or did not give it the importance it really has.

AreadePenalti is a relatively young digital medium specialized in sports, but it is not the only one. How is the relationship with other similar media?

Well, as in all unions, there is everything. There are media that see you as a partner and that try to collaborate for the growth and progress of both, but there are others that see you as the competition and put all the difficulties so that you do not succeed. But this is so, this happens in traditional media as well, but it is true that being people who like the same thing and we do it out of passion and not out of obligation, it hurts me and I don't understand it. But in general I would say that there is camaraderie and that the relationship is good with the other digital sports media.

We have talked about AreadePenalti from its creation until today. Its creation, operation, organization, evolution and everything that surrounds the environment. After this, how do you see AreadePenalti in another 3 years?

Well, I honestly don't know. I would love to tell you that I see it with more impact and more professional, but I don't know. Now I am finishing my degree (Journalism and audiovisual communication) and I do not know what the future will hold for me in my new stage in the world of work. Nor do I know what will become of my team. In the end, all the members are here passing through and will continue their professional careers, probably far from here. Maybe the medium in 3 years is in charge of other people, it still ceases to exist ... But come on, I have no intention of any of that. I would like to continue being part of it, and manage to take AreadePenalti to the top. For that you need work, perseverance and a pinch of luck.

Thank you for your time Juan, until next time.

Thanks to you, goodbye.