Sports Journalism
For my career research paper I have chosen to delve into the world of the sportswriter, and take a closer look at what that occupation may hold for myself. I have chosen to research this form of journalism because I consider myself to be a sports fanatic, and would very much enjoy spending the rest of my working days writing about the conditions in the world of sports. During the last year or so I have taken a period of time everyday to relax and read over sports articles from baseball and football at some of my favorite websites, such as espn.com or nesn.com, or to sit down and watch Sports Center on ESPN. I also seem to have an ability to remember statistics and rosters of players and teams from almost 10 years ago (which is when I started paying attention to sports) and I believe that would be a tool useful in my vocation of choice. I believe the fields of sports journalism I would be most adept at are baseball and football, since I understand the concepts of the game while also being able to make valid opinions on decisions of coaches that I can back up with knowledge of the games if a disagreement occurred.
Considerations that are most important to me in choosing a career would be what skills I had available, whether I believed I would enjoy this career until retirement (pending a career change), and if I believed I could help people in whatever way that occupation would allow. The sportswriter career seems like an easy choice for myself, as I am very interested in the career itself and the ability to enlighten people on my opinions of sports (which I do on occasion by word of mouth). Sports, in any way, shape of form have probably been my favorite hobby since I was old enough to understand them. So the interest in the career is there, and so is my willingness to be involved in it. I believe I can help people in some small way by opening their eyes to different outlooks on certain items that may come up, such as if a new hitter can push a team over the top, or if the new coach isn’t doing his job correctly. I truly believe that sportswriters today have helped me better focus on sports and take a great deal more understanding with me as I watch and study them.
The sportswriter career has many responsibilities that go along with writing the stori...
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...entative, and a timed news writing test (The Associated Press 1-2).
In conclusion, researching this paper has only fueled my passion for sports journalism. I am absolutely positive that this is the occupation I want, and I only hope that I have the talent to go along with the will to write. My ultimate goal is to achieve a spot on the espn.com baseball or football pages, and I believe that I have found the information needed to prepare myself for this dream. I now know what it is I need to do to gain the experience needed to join the ranks of the sportswriters that I admire.
The Associated Press. Personal Interview. 4 February 2002
Heitzman, Ray. Careers for Sports Nuts and other Athletic Types. Copyright 1997. NTC/Contemporary Publishing Company. Chicago, Illinois.
McGlothlin, Bruce. Careers inside the world of Sports Entertainment. Copyright 1995. The Rosen Publishing Group, Inc. New York, New York.
Career Zone. 5 November 2001. United States Department of Labor. 16 January 2002. <http://www.nycareerzone.org >
Britton, Jamie. Sports Information and Communication Home Page. December 1998. Ithaca College. 2 February 2002. <http://www.ithaca.edu/hshp/ess/estaurow/>
There can be no question that sport and athletes seem to be considered less than worthy subjects for writers of serious fiction, an odd fact considering how deeply ingrained in North American culture sport is, and how obviously and passionately North Americans care about it as participants and spectators. In this society of diverse peoples of greatly varying interests, tastes, and beliefs, no experience is as universal as playing or watching sports, and so it is simply perplexing how little adult fiction is written on the subject, not to mention how lightly regarded that little which is written seems to be. It should all be quite to the contrary; that our fascination and familiarity with sport makes it a most advantageous subject for the skilled writer of fiction is amply demonstrated by Mark Harris.
Rick Reilly, in his ESPN column (2007), contends that sports competitions are more than simple games, instead, they are events capable of bringing people together in unique ways. He reinforces his contention by integrating inspirational anecdotal evidence, bold syntax, and unvarnished diction. Reilly’s purpose is to point out the importance and humanity of sports in order to convince a college professor and readers of sports magazines that sports writing is indeed an advanced and valuable profession. He assumes a humorous tone (“...most important- sports is the place where beer tastes best”) for an audience of sports magazine readers, but more specifically, a professor that told him that he was “better than sports.”
In the early 20th century, as baseball’s national appeal expanded and its popularity exploded, there emerged a journalistic
From the age of folk games to the age of televised sports (5th ed.). (pp. 62-63).
Zimbalist, Andrew S. Unpaid Professionals: Commercialism And Conflict In Big-Time College Sports. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 1999. eBook Collection (EBSCOhost). Web. 27 Mar. 2014.
Weistart, John C."College Sports Reform: Where are the Faculty." 4 12-17.Aug. 1987. http://www.jstor.org/stable/40249956. Web. 22 Apr. 2014
Coakley (2009) starts off the chapter by introducing how participation in organized sports came about and how gender roles played a major role early on. He describes how most programs were for young boys with the hope that being involved would groom them to become productive in the economy. Girls were usually disregarded and ended up sitting in the stands watching their sibling’s ga...
Williams, Peter. The sports immortals: deifying the American athlete. Bowling Green, OH: Bowling Green State University Popular Press, 1994.. 30-31
Can women's sports establish itself as a topic of on-going media and journalism curiosity? Currently TV stations do minimal coverage of women's sports, while newspapers and magazines do just a little bit better. In a recent interview with Gary Webb, a sports writer for The Spectrum, he says that "the people have demonstrated that there is an audience that loves hearing about women athletes. After all, they are somebody's kids, sisters, and moms". I learned that these sports writers love to cover women's games, especially girls highschool basketball games. Gary said that he would rather watch a Parowan-Beaver girls game over the boys anyday. Karen Winegar, staff writer for the The Star Tribune of Minnesota said., "Portrayal of female athletes is improving, but despite increasing interest and participation, their sports are getting no more coverage than they got five years ago" (1A+). Women's sports participation will surely continue to grow in the future, so the media and journalists better be prepared to increase their coverage accordingly.
Crafting the national pastime's image: The history of major league baseball public relations William B Anderson. Journalism and Communication Monographs. Columbia: Spring 2003. Vol. 5, Iss. 1; pg. 5
Historical and sociological research has shown, through much evidence collection and analysis of primary documents that the American sporting industry can give an accurate reflection, to a certain extent, of racial struggles and discrimination into the larger context of American society. To understand this stance, a deep look into aspects of sport beyond simply playing the game must be a primary focus. Since the integration of baseball, followed shortly after by American football, why are the numbers of African American owners, coaches and managers so very low? What accounts for the absence of African American candidates from seeking front office and managerial roles? Is a conscious decision made by established members of each organization or is this matter a deeper reflection on society? Why does a certain image and persona exist amongst many African American athletes? Sports historians often take a look at sports and make a comparison to society. Beginning in the early 1980’s, historians began looking at the integration of baseball and how it preceded the civil rights movement. The common conclusion was that integration in baseball and other sports was indeed a reflection on American society. As African Americans began to play in sports, a short time later, Jim Crow laws and segregation formally came to an end in the south. Does racism and discrimination end with the elimination of Jim Crow and the onset of the civil rights movement and other instances of race awareness and equality? According to many modern sports historians and sociologists, they do not. This paper will focus on the writings of selected historians and sociologists who examine th...
Rosenberg, Michael. “This Changes Everything.” Sports Illustrated 117.2 (2012): 21-22. SPORTDiscus with Full Text. Web. 3 Apr. 2014
Forbes, 30 January 2014. Web. 29 April 2014. Gutting, Gary. “The Myth of the ‘Student-Athlete’.”
Over the past 20 years, college athletics has gained in popularity. College sports has become a household entity. Every child growing up has their favorite college team. Whether it be from family relations with alumni, geographic orientation or simply watching the sports colleges provide. In the world of college sports, there are three that stand out above the rest. Football, basketball and baseball are among the NCAA’s top-grossing sports. Billions of dollars are generated through marketing contracts, ticket-sales, and merchandising. Intercollegiate sports have boosted revenue as well as increasing the popularity and public image of their respective Universities.
The Web. Menke, Frank G. The Encyclopedia of Sports. South Brunswick and New York: A.S. Barnes and Company, 1987. Print.