By Dave Hughes

The latest headlines on Orioles.com include recent breaking news from Brittany Ghiroli, the Orioles beat reporter for MLB.com.

In 2009, she started covering the Orioles for MLB.com, and she made a permanent move to Baltimore in January. She officially started covering the team's 2012 season in February.

"Baltimore -- I love it," Ghiroli said. "It's much more than I thought it would be. It has a blue-collar feel. Fans here are more rabid than other areas."

Ghiroli did an internship with MLB.com in 2008, serving as an associate reporter, which involved being a backup beat writer covering the Tampa Bay Rays. She has also been freelancing for publications such as USA Today and ESPN The Magazine.

Now she's in Baltimore, leading Orioles coverage on the ever-popular Twitter and interacting with almost 12,000 followers via @britt_ghiroli.

Even though Twitter is a more informal avenue of communication, Ghiroli said she tried to use the same journalistic standards that she would use in all other means of reporting.

"I was one of the first local sports journalists using Twitter," she said. "I like the back and forth between fans. It's a great avenue of media. The benefits clearly outweigh the cons, and it's a good way for me to promote my blog articles and contact fans."

When not Tweeting or blogging about the Orioles, Ghiroli sometimes appears on the "Norris & Davis" morning show on sports talker 105.7 The Fan, plus pre- and postgame shows on the Mid-Atlantic Sports Network.

"Radio is more fun, more laid back," Ghiroli said. "TV is more formal. You present information, no taking back what you say."

Her MLB.com blog at brittghiroli.mlblogs.com is like a notebook, she said. She usually posts three to five stories per day.

Ghiroli said she tried to keep posts specific to the Orioles, but she does occasionally touch on other sports topics, such as her beloved Boston Bruins.

In addition to traveling with the team to all of its away games, Ghiroli hangs out with beat reporters from other Baltimore news organizations.

"We like to have fun -- have a good time with it," she said. "I have a good relationship with them."

Ghiroli grew up in Connecticut with her three sisters; she is the second oldest. Her sisters were also heavily interested in sports, especially softball. Two moved on to the military.

Living midway between New York City and Boston, Ghiroli's dad was a big Yankees and Rangers fan. Ghiroli, though, became a big Boston Bruins fan.

Ghiroli said she had yet to receive backlash from readers because she is not a Baltimore native, nor had she had problems with the players, the access or with any team personnel. Other local reporters have been welcoming, she said.

Ghiroli said she had received 90 to 95 percent positive input from area sports fans, but she was aware of the problems many female reporters covering Baltimore teams have had.

"When a woman is wrong, we're wrong because we're a girl," she said. "Men just make mistakes. Even though I'm not from here, I take it upon myself to learn the history. I didn't grow up here, just take it."

Ghiroli went to Michigan State, where she was a journalism major and a competitive swimmer.

What future work is she eyeing at age 26?

"I really like reporting, long-form reporting -- feature writing," Ghiroli said.

For now, she's just having fun covering the Orioles.

Issue 173: May 2012