Future Sports Journalist

Agreed with limiting yourself to sports journalism. Time doing news will help your writing. And the way things are in sports, it helps to know how to get and read a police report or school board agenda or even write an obituary.

 

Double major. I did it, and I am so glad I did. In fact, I sometimes wish i had did it without even picking journalism as one of the majors. If you actually immerse yourself in the student paper, plus freelance when you can and get a couple of internships, you'll be WAY ahead of the game. No journalism degree needed.

 

I've got a tip for you, son. RUUUUUNNNNNNNNNNNN -- into a career in computer science, engineering, accounting, anything!

And Mrs. Harry K. Parker would agree.

This field is no way to live your life: the crummy hours, the horseshit pay, the lack of appreciation from bosses, the alienation from your family and friends, the snickering from those who work in the "real world," the horseshit pay.

Latch onto a job that energizes you and at the same time gives you a complete life, absent of all the negatives that plague newspapering.

 

Just a few thoughts on the matter. Pardon the french and the rambling. I'm pretty exhausted, but I got to typing and, well, words kept showing up on my screen. I think they'll be helpful, or at least mildly entertaining, so, well, enjoy.

Do not do a sports-specific journalism major. Maybe don't do a journalism major at all. Minor in it. Journalism isn't easy, but it's pretty simple. Classes only get you the rules and maybe a few assignments you won't take seriously enough because only a dozen people read them. Get real world experience. Write for your local papers for free until they pay you. Knock those pieces out of the park. Then maybe you can start asking for a couple dozen dollars per story. Try to string for other papers. Just do whatever and as much real-world journalism as you can. That will teach you more than any lecture in any classroom, ever. Whenever I guest lecture, that's one of the first things I tell the students. Listen to me, please, because I care what I'm saying, but more importantly, GO DO STUFF.

Also: No matter how talented you are, NOBODY will just come along and "discover" you. Or your blog.

Sidenote: Don't waste time starting your own blog. Or, if you do, make sure it's just a fun side project, somewhere to practice. Nobody really cares what you have to say or your analysis. And they won't for a long time.

Take shitty jobs. I spent a year covering town hall meetings and bush fires in one of the smallest, most rural towns you can imagine. If you can make that shit interesting, then you've got a shot.

Find a few good story subjects every few months and write the hell out of those pieces. I mean, report the shit out of them. Write and rewrite until you feel like you've fucking Hemingwayed that bitch. You won't have, because you're only going to be 20 and nobody's that good at 20 if ever, but if you feel like you've done it, then you've improved. Then go out and do it all over again.

Take every single story you write as an opportunity to get better. Consider every assignment a possible portfolio piece, something you might send to ESPN or Sports Illustrated or wherever. That doesn't mean it's going to turn out good enough to do that, but maybe one here and there will. Over the years maybe you'll get a half-dozen really, really good pieces that you'd feel proud showing one of those editors. But if you don't bust your ass every piece, you'll never get there.

It's true that hard work doesn't guarantee you anything in this business. But if you're willing to work hard, if you have that passion, then you've got a shot. Otherwise, get the fuck out now. It's not worth it unless you live and breathe for this stuff. Journalism is absolutely brutal. I've been working on a piece for ESPN The Mag for three and a half months now and until about 1 a.m. last night, I thought I was about to go apeshit trying to figure the damn thing out. But after two solid weeks of fucking writing and rewriting and slaving and coffee I had a breakthrough and it was like the clouds parted and the angels were serenading me with the songs reserved only for the saints. Or some other purple prose bullshit that gets across how relieved I felt. I wrote until 3 a.m., passed out with my laptop on my legs, dreamed about writing the story, woke up at 8, cooked my wife and I some fried egg sandwiches, then was right back at it.

I'm not telling you all that to brag about how awesome I am. I'm telling you that unless you love this stuff, journalism and whatever you want to do in it, enough to put yourself through THAT, then it's probably not worth it. I hate saying this to people but it is the truth: For some people this really should just be a hobby. Maybe write about a local preps game here or there just for kicks.

But if you can't live for it, then why do it? And that's true of everything in life, really.

You've got to fucking love what you do. That's basically what I'm driving at here.

OK ... all done.

 

Corey, I'm entering my third year of college. I'm not going to pretend to know everything, or even very much. Quite frankly, I don't know much about the field and what I'm getting myself into. (Other than what I've read and heard.)

My piece of advice is to network with people. Get advice from people who you enjoy reading. Just send them a short email (stress SHORT; they're busy people), and ask if they have a few minutes to answer some questions.

I was told by someone at a high-level sports magazine that "95 percent of the people you contact will be happy to talk, and the other five percent are either assholes or really busy." He also told me that if I'm afraid to email someone whose writing I admire to get advice, I shouldn't consider journalism.

Never be afraid to ask questions -- in fact, ask a lot or else you won't learn -- and try to speak with people who are good at what they do. I've done that, and it helped me land a part-time gig at a semi-big paper. I'm mainly answering calls, doing box scores, etc., but I've had a few small writing assignments. Take everything in that you can, and be respectful of everyone who helps you (and even those who don't).

I've gone on for too long. Like I said, I'm no pro. But you should contact people who will help you learn (and could help land you a gig at a media organization). Just be concise and polite.

(This post wasn't concise, but do as I say, not as I do.)

 

This is totally true, all of it. Great advice.

 

Damn, IJAG, that was deep. Very well said.

 

I don't remember who, but someone here offered this advice on one of the threads: Work harder than the next guy. When you've done that, work fucking harder.

 

I don't think the value of reaching out for criticism from writers you admire can be overstated.

I was desperate a few years ago to move to a bigger paper, one that didn't burden the sports staff with page design. I knew I had to improve, so I reached out to about 25 writers, asking if I could send a collection of clips for them to critique. Almost all of them wrote back. I got a lot of valuable criticism, and enough compliments to keep me going.

About six months later, one of the writers happened to mention in an email that there was an opening at one of his former papers. I fired off an email to the sports editor, and about five weeks later I landed the best job I've ever had.

Unfortunately, that paper closed about two years later. I did turn that experience into another paper in the city — then they laid me off, with about six others. Still plenty of my former coworkers at the closed paper moved on to better jobs. Even after being unemployed again, I did find some work with a fledgling sports radio station, and I got to expand my skills.

I've had other, non-journalism jobs, and have tried to go back to school for a couple different degrees. But I often find myself missing sportswriting.

 

Dark_Knight, I'm pretty sure it may have been Jones back in the day. And I'm in the same boat as Corey. But I've been blessed with a full-time gig at a decent daily with a year of undergrad to go. I'm double-minoring in business and social science just to make myself more marketable.

And honestly, if this doesn't work out, I'm sure I can parlay what I've learned in newspapers into another job. I have a bunch of fraternity brothers who did absolutely nothing in college and they got jobs that had nothing to do with their major. I've been told it's all about networking and outworking everybody else. In theory, everybody's going to want to work really hard to get the jobs you want, but in reality, there's only a few who actually follow through.

 

Depending on how this advice is followed, it's a good way to frustrate any editor. I've seen kids come in and write 10-inch high school soccer gamers with lengthy anecdotal ledes. Don't do that.