BLOG: Who wants to be a community sports reporter?
Logan Green, sports journalist, writes:
Following on from the outrageous success of my last blog, “LG’s A to Z of Benoni”, I have sat for nearly a month twiddling my thumbs and staring into oblivion about how I am going to top that piece.
I highly doubt that this blog will have the same impact as that one, but a writer’s gotta write.
It’s kind of like how Hangover 2 or Hangover 3 wasn’t nearly as good as the original film.
Writer’s block hit me like facing a bombardment of deliveries from Kagiso Rabada without wearing a ball box on a concrete cricket pitch.
Weighing up ideas and themes for a new blog I arrived at the realisation that since the start of July I have been a community sports journalist for three whole years.
Aha!
There was my topic…
Sport!
Well… community sports reporting in general.
What had I learned in my three years of community sports reporting and nearly seven as a journo overall?
What tips could I give to aspiring community sports journalists who may want to pursue the career?
Now that I have discovered my theme, like Billy the Puppet from the Saw movies, let’s play a little game shall we?
Who wants to be a community sports reporter?
Play this to get you into the zone.
Cue the Who Wants to Be a Millionaire theme music:
Question:
If you answered “All of the above” then well done!
You’re in it for the same reasons as me, especially the free food and drinks.
Just a heads-up though if you are looking at getting into this game get used to and accept the fact that you ain’t gonna be Scrooge McDuck swimming in a pool of gold.
Some tips:
1. Know your stuff
Guess what?
In community sports reporting you are going to face all sorts of different sports where you will not have the foggiest clue about what is going on.
Jukskei, barefoot water-skiing, dressage, bridge…
These are just a few of the sports that have made my mind work overtime in the past.
Make Google and YouTube your best friend!
Also, sit down with the person who loves their particular sport and make a valiant effort to understand why they love it.
2. Develop a backbone
Not just as a community sports reporter, but as a journalist in general.
In fact, a strong spinal cord will assist you hugely in dealing anything that life throws at you.
Why do I say this?
Well, there are times when you are going to have the finger waved in your face with people saying that you are biased towards a particular sportsperson or club or, even worse, when you are accused of being a racist because you couldn’t attend an event or place it in print.
Tisk, tisk, that’s South Africa for you.
You will also get into the smelly stuff for refusing to publish poor quality photographs in print, among other things.
Anyway, straighten up soldier.
The way you handle the above situations will either make you or break you.
Community sports journalism is not always as glamorous as it is made out to be.
3. Talk to people
As tough as things can get at the end of the day you are in this line of work for your community.
You need to understand that the community and community sport will live on long after you are gone.
By sharing a cold beverage with people at a sports club and by having a good old fashioned conversation with those in your community you will learn various new things and get ideas and leads for future stories.
The people you meet and the contacts and friends you make will stand you in good stride for future endeavours.
4. Get with the times
The media industry has had to keep up with the advances in technology and the rise of social media.
Get with the programme from a digital point of view.
The days of weekly deadlines are over in community journalism.
Take videos, Tweet, Instagram and, and, and…
The more you develop an online identity the better your readers will understand and resonate with you.
5. Have a jol
If you are not having fun with your job then why are you doing it?
I tell you one thing, being on the side of a soccer field or watching a tennis match beats any day of being cooped up in an office.
6. Wear sunscreen
Any sports journalist knows that you cannot make the amateur mistake of leaving the sunblock at home.
Believe me, writing on a Monday morning deadline is no fun when your skin is burning like a marshmallow in a flame and you are looking like the Red Guy from Cow and Chicken.
With that, I can officially confirm that the game is over.
So, who wants to be a community sports journalist?
As an extra touch I have created a gallery of a few of my favourite snaps from over the years:
* Please note that this is an opinion piece and that the views expressed here do not necessarily reflect the views of the Benoni City Times or Caxton Newspapers.
Check out some other blogs from this writer:
Transformation in sport? Get real!
Things I learned in the Kingdom of the Zulu and at Comrades (by a guy who didn’t run the Comrades)
Things I learned in the Fair Cape
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