Sports news reporting is a tough job and journalists are paid very little to do it. In the UK, they get between one and two pounds per hour for sports reports. The level of professionalism and skills required can be pretty high, which explains why there are so few sports journalists in this country. They can do other things, though. A sport writer’s job is to put their expertise and understanding of a given sport into words to help fans, colleagues and even media professionals to understand and appreciate it.
So how do you get started in the news? You need to decide what sort of sports news interest you want to pursue. Do you want to report on your local town or city, national teams or even the big European leagues? Or do you have an interest in more exotic sports, such as sailing, cricket, horse racing or skiing? If so, then you will have to learn the specifics about that sport. It might even help if you have experience of that subject matter or a particular aspect of it, which will make you an interesting and credible source of information for that field.
Once you decide what sort of sport you would like to be reporting on, you will have to learn about that subject and how to become an expert in that area. This will take some time and effort but will pay off well in the long run. Being a great sports journalist doesn’t happen overnight, but if you are committed to doing it, the rewards will be tremendous. There are many different avenues to consider in the path to becoming a sport news reporter; this includes taking journalism classes at a university or community college, enrolling in college journalism programs at both the community college and university, or signing up for freelance jobs online.
If you don’t have any connections to anywhere to learn from, look for opportunities on sports reporting websites, blogs and message boards. Most professional sports leagues have news outlets that they keep abreast of the goings on of their teams and players. You can also subscribe to news feeds from your favorite team’s official site and learn as much as possible there. As well as keeping you informed of any changes to the team and players, these websites will also allow you to meet people who work within the organization and build rapport with them.
When you start out in a news sport reporting career, you may start out covering a single sports arena or league. As time goes on, you will find that you are covering more arenas and leagues. This is why it’s always a good idea to keep your options open. You never know where your career will take you, but it never hurts to have multiple avenues. If one avenue doesn’t pan out, you can always move onto another news story that will give you another angle.
Another way to get news on the go is through your mobile phone. Try reading local news on the flight status for your destination or trying to find out if your favorite basketball or NFL team will be heading to the Super Bowl. These are examples of things that happen outside of the home or office and you may need to rely on portable news sources at times. As long as you have a reliable news reader, you should have no trouble staying up to date. The best news readers today allow you to scroll news stories from different news outlets side-by-side so you can read the breaking news as fast as possible.