What is a Sports Journalist?

Many people believe that someone who is a sports journalist has always known they were going to be a reporter for their favorite sports team since they were a young child and therefore solely focused on sports. But, after hearing the stories of many reporters there, this in fact isn't the case.  Most of the sports reporters there actually were involved with writing for business and politics before they began writing for sports teams and then after finding their likes and dislikes they became involved in sports.

This job is very different from a typical 9-5 because their schedule is dictated by the times of the games. For example if the start time for a game is 7:15pm, the media usually arrives at 3pm in order to prep for the game and can even stay as late as 12am in order to gather all of the necessary components for their stories.  But, the biggest change for many sports reporters today is the fact that social media has changed the way they put out their information. Almost all of the reporters are now required to use Twitter throughout the game in some aspect and can even face disciplinary action for not doing so.  Which shows how social media has truly changed the direction of journalism, as previously current information would only be displayed in the newspaper the morning after it occurred. Many of the reporters don't simply tweet what is easily found in the box score of the game, but they rather tweet out information that will be seen as "breaking news", such as if someone is suddenly injured and is out for the remainder of the season. 

As many people know, no sport is in season year around so therefore they believe that reporters don't have to produce stories during this time. But, in fact this is incorrect, during the off-season media outlets expect the same number of stories (around 3) to be posted each day. This can create a challenge for many reporters as they wish for something newsworthy to happen. For example, a trade, a signing, a contract extension, an injury, or a teaser for spring training the following year.

This biggest take away point I learned from speaking with many reporters, is that not everyone takes the same path to become a sports journalist but having determination to succeed will drive you your particular career. and what you truly need most is internships and to develop your skills as a stronger writer.