Tag: teaching journalism

Here are several ways to improve sports coverage at college media

~ jgisondi
Screen Shot 2019-08-27 at 3.20.02 PM

This is the most important time of the year for college sports media: when editors and producers need to plan coverage for the next three to – ideally – six months. 

Too often, editors and producers rely way, way (way!) too much on game precedes and folos, which is both lazy and unimaginative. To compound problems, college newspapers and TV stations lean on, respectively, print/digital game stories and brief descriptions of game highlights for its primary coverage. To be fair, professional newspapers and TV stations frequently fumble through game coverage as well even though this is the lowest form of sports reportage.

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Some March Madness cliches are more wretched than others

~ jgisondi

I used to rail vs clichés like “Cinderella” and “bubble teams.” Those words, though, have been used so pervasively in discussions about the NCAA Basketball Tournament that they are now as endemic to coverage as March Madness. That’s what makes English perhaps the best language on the planet; words are blended and redefined, in part, through popular usage and changes in society. (God help us, though, if charity stripe eventually makes the cut.)

Sports language has been a big part of our vernacular for more than a century. Baseball, in particular, has a strong hold on how we describe our lives. We go to bat for others, strike out when we fail, and hit a home run when we succeed. Sometimes, though, we throw a Hail Mary pass in a desperate attempt to do well. At other times, a decision or action is a slam dunk.

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Here’s a rubric for evaluating sports columns

~ jgisondi

Columnists are reporters with an opinion. The best columnists are also keen observers, precise writers, and excellent storytellers. A sports columnist should offer meaningful insights, cover sports ignored by others, address cultural criticism, and analyze games in considerably more depth than the average fan. A sports columnist should, at different times, afflict and comfort us. Write with style and grace, have strong opinions (sharpened with facts), and offer fresh perspectives.

They should be as passionate as fans, but avoid acting like them by making partisan statements that are either implausible or simply laughably wrong. Sports columnists sometimes bring readers to places where fans cannot go, such as a locker room or the home of a player.

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Tweet like a journalist from live sports events

~ jgisondi ~ 1 Comment

Tweeting from sports events is no longer optional (nor is inserting links into online stories, but that’s another post for another time). I suggested some approaches last night on Twitter that focused primarily on the Clippers-Mavs game. You can also check out this other post on tweeting from sports events that I assembled a few years ago.

Let me know how else you use social media during game coverage by citing them below or by tweeting them to me @joegisondi. Hope this all helps.

1 Twitter

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