By Andrew Johnson
What a wonderful experience it has been so far for me at the Fayetteville Observer.
I knew it was going to be a great summer from the first day after my co-workers welcomed me with open arms.
In my first week I have had the opportunity to write two game stories on the Fayetteville SwampDogs, a college summer league team that I will be covering for the next two months. My job is to cover every home game. So far it has been a very enjoyable experience, and one that makes me feel thankful for the preparation that I received at SJI. The classroom sessions at the Poynter Institute and the game coverage of the Tampa Yankees and Tampa Bay Rays have really worked to my benefit.
I am also excited about an upcoming feature that I'm writing about a retired first class sergeant Alfonso Smith, who was inducted into the North Carolina Boxing Hall of Fame on June 5. Smith is a former Fort Bragg boxing coach, and I interviewed him this week. The story will run in Sunday’s paper, and I cannot wait to see it!
Thursday, June 18, 2009
A very busy intern
By Ronnie Turner
Sports Journalism Institute
June 17 officially put my tenure as a sports writer at The Salt Lake Tribune at two weeks.
What a tenure it's been.
During these two short weeks, I showed up late for the first day of work (this was before SJI), got lost numerous times while driving around town, paddle surfed in the Great Salt Lake, once drove in circles around my newspaper's parking garage, covered a rodeo in freezing temperatures, drove around and up some mountains, got lost while looking for BYU's athletic administration building, mistakenly stepped on a waxed floor at Bountiful High School and made life miserable for three janitors, had an NCAA official call me at 6:15 a.m. and a college coach at 7:30 a.m., wrote a story that was the centerpiece of Wednesday's sports section, was turned down for an interview by a couple of oncologists and spent 13 hours in the office Wednesday, four of those working on breaking news coverage.
It's been two weeks of interviews, emails, voice mails, rainy days, long days spent by the phone, short nights of sleep, great expectations, minor disappointments and worthwhile achievements. Two weeks of intense fun.
Can't say that I'm surprised at the amount of work I've been given. My superiors and colleagues at The Salt Lake Tribune treat me as a regular employee, not as some know-nothing intern. My bosses give me assignments and expect to have them completed by deadline. No babying and no excuses accepted. Plenty of feedback. Just the way I like it.
I've had four stories published since arrival, with two more set to hit the newsstands Friday. The signature story was the centerpiece, a feature on a high school cowboy who nearly had his career ended and life threatened by a mysterious illness that caused temporary paralysis. The latest story was a sidebar explaining a rare form of pancreatic cancer that has befallen BYU men's basketball coach Dave Rose. I had never heard of this form of pancreatic cancer, but after a few hours of painstaking research and interviews, I could probably write a book on it.
In any case, that was a breathtaking start in Salt Lake City. Lord knows what else they'll have me do that takes my breath away.
Friday, June 5, 2009
Get out of the middle
by David Ubben
Gary Estwick spoke to us Friday about how to deal with some of the unfortunate realities of the business today. You might have read about him earlier in the week in a post from Juan López.
Gary spoke from personal experience. He’s been laid off. He’s been furloughed. He’s even been fired. And yet, a decade after he was right where we are now, he’s still around, working hard on a beat and doing great work. He gave us one particular piece of advice I found really insightful:
“The best and the worst in the business will always have jobs,” Estwick said. “You’ve just got to get the hell out of the middle.”
It was a roundabout way of saying it, but since I don’t want to live in the local shantytown with a job, or in my parents’ basement without a job, I need to be the best. That won’t be easy. But it’s a task that I’m excited to take on when I enter this business.
It was really refreshing to learn from someone who can’t hide his enthusiasm to helping us learn. Gary’s a pretty low-key guy, but it’s easy to see how much he cares when he knows one of us is close to figuring something out. Whether we learned from mistakes in our writing, his speeches during the week, or the lessons he’s already learned over the course of his decade in the industry, his emphasis was on us.
To quote Mr. Carter, I’m sure I’ll “face some aaaversty” in my career. Hopefully, I’ll be able to handle it as well as Gary has and keep my passion for this profession.
Gary Estwick spoke to us Friday about how to deal with some of the unfortunate realities of the business today. You might have read about him earlier in the week in a post from Juan López.
Gary spoke from personal experience. He’s been laid off. He’s been furloughed. He’s even been fired. And yet, a decade after he was right where we are now, he’s still around, working hard on a beat and doing great work. He gave us one particular piece of advice I found really insightful:
“The best and the worst in the business will always have jobs,” Estwick said. “You’ve just got to get the hell out of the middle.”
It was a roundabout way of saying it, but since I don’t want to live in the local shantytown with a job, or in my parents’ basement without a job, I need to be the best. That won’t be easy. But it’s a task that I’m excited to take on when I enter this business.
It was really refreshing to learn from someone who can’t hide his enthusiasm to helping us learn. Gary’s a pretty low-key guy, but it’s easy to see how much he cares when he knows one of us is close to figuring something out. Whether we learned from mistakes in our writing, his speeches during the week, or the lessons he’s already learned over the course of his decade in the industry, his emphasis was on us.
To quote Mr. Carter, I’m sure I’ll “face some aaaversty” in my career. Hopefully, I’ll be able to handle it as well as Gary has and keep my passion for this profession.
Building relationships
by Anna Kim
There is no doubt that cultivating sources is an important part of being a successful journalist. But most of the speakers at SJI referred to the process the way they like to approach it: building relationships.
ESPN’s Joe Schad has a binder that marks the first day of spring practice for college football teams. On that morning, he texts the coaching staff to wish them good luck at the beginning of the season. “It shows you care,” he said.
Eduardo Encina, a high school sports reporter for the St. Petersburg Times, spoke of how he texts high school athletes to maintain relationships.
Tim Layden, a senior writer at Sports Illustrated since 1994, talked about a piece he wrote that focused on the recovery of Buffalo Bill Kevin Everett from a spinal injury he suffered on Sept. 9, 2007. Layden said he worked for 11 weeks to develop a relationship with Everett’s surgeon.
Layden finally was granted the access to sit down and tell Everett’s story in December. Nobody really knew about Everett’s progress and to Layden’s surprise, Everett walked in and shook Layden’s hand.
“I had to take 15 minutes for myself,” he said. “I was thrown back off my heels.”
The process had taken 11 weeks. The payoff was priceless.
There is no doubt that cultivating sources is an important part of being a successful journalist. But most of the speakers at SJI referred to the process the way they like to approach it: building relationships.
ESPN’s Joe Schad has a binder that marks the first day of spring practice for college football teams. On that morning, he texts the coaching staff to wish them good luck at the beginning of the season. “It shows you care,” he said.
Eduardo Encina, a high school sports reporter for the St. Petersburg Times, spoke of how he texts high school athletes to maintain relationships.
Tim Layden, a senior writer at Sports Illustrated since 1994, talked about a piece he wrote that focused on the recovery of Buffalo Bill Kevin Everett from a spinal injury he suffered on Sept. 9, 2007. Layden said he worked for 11 weeks to develop a relationship with Everett’s surgeon.
Layden finally was granted the access to sit down and tell Everett’s story in December. Nobody really knew about Everett’s progress and to Layden’s surprise, Everett walked in and shook Layden’s hand.
“I had to take 15 minutes for myself,” he said. “I was thrown back off my heels.”
The process had taken 11 weeks. The payoff was priceless.
Back to school
By Nate Taylor
It is always interesting when the discussion comes up on how to talk to high school athletes. I know usually during the conversation, there will always be someone quick to make a joke about how bad a high school athlete was during an interview.
Sure, some of the jokes are actually funny stories since some of these athletes are usually being interview for the first time. Earlier today, I thought Eduardo Encina made an interesting comment on his attempt to get better quotes from high school athletes.
Encina, a reporter from The St. Petersburg Times, said high school athletes will become better interviewers with reporters if the reporters make them feel more comfortable by communicating they way they do. That means reporters use texting and other new technology to contact the high school source.
It’s something I want to try to do when I cover the local high schools again this fall. It’s a good idea from Encina. As reporters, we have to use the new technology to get high school athletes to talk to us more and better about their stories.
I just started covering high schools last fall for The Kansas City Star. It was a new adjustment for me to talk to high school athletes who are not always interview-ready when they answer questions.
So much of the way these athletes communicate is through the Internet or in text message. I still found it hard to believe that one person can send more than 20,000 texts in a month, but it does show that this is the way young athletes want to be approached when they want to talk to people.
Catching up with Le Batard
by Jordan Mason
Radio show host Dan Le Batard said he never shies away from an uncomfortable topic. And he was no different in a conference call with the Sports Journalism Institute on Friday.
Le Batard managed to include a conversation he once had on the sex life of a UFC wrestler when he interviewed him for a story in his chat with the class of 2009.
The University of Miami graduate said he is fascinated by the interactions between different ethnicities in sports and the dynamics of these relationships. His views on these topics have earned him the title of an apologist for athletes from a few of his peers in the media. But Le Batard said his approach has had benefits in relating to subjects.
His most interesting example was his eye-catching feature on running back Edgerrin James when James played for the Indianapolis Colts. The story made national headlines as James admitted that on one particular play where he was told to fall down after he got the first down, he instead ran for a touchdown, saying he heard a cash register ringing the entire way.
Le Batard admits players may feel safer with him during such admissions because they believe they can relate to him better than the average reporter. “But that did not by any means mean that I had anything in common with him,” Le Batard said.
Le Batard does not see himself as an apologist for anyone—athlete or reporter. He said that what his peers often perceive as him justifying erratic behavior in sports is simply him trying to explain such behavior. He said he will attempt to do this rather than judge a person for his/her actions.
Does that endear him to the athletes he interviews?
On occasion. But he will still not shy away from the difficult subjects.
If you don’t believe him, just ask home run record holder Giant Barry Bonds, who Le Batard said resorts to crying nearly every time he interviews him.
Radio show host Dan Le Batard said he never shies away from an uncomfortable topic. And he was no different in a conference call with the Sports Journalism Institute on Friday.
Le Batard managed to include a conversation he once had on the sex life of a UFC wrestler when he interviewed him for a story in his chat with the class of 2009.
The University of Miami graduate said he is fascinated by the interactions between different ethnicities in sports and the dynamics of these relationships. His views on these topics have earned him the title of an apologist for athletes from a few of his peers in the media. But Le Batard said his approach has had benefits in relating to subjects.
His most interesting example was his eye-catching feature on running back Edgerrin James when James played for the Indianapolis Colts. The story made national headlines as James admitted that on one particular play where he was told to fall down after he got the first down, he instead ran for a touchdown, saying he heard a cash register ringing the entire way.
Le Batard admits players may feel safer with him during such admissions because they believe they can relate to him better than the average reporter. “But that did not by any means mean that I had anything in common with him,” Le Batard said.
Le Batard does not see himself as an apologist for anyone—athlete or reporter. He said that what his peers often perceive as him justifying erratic behavior in sports is simply him trying to explain such behavior. He said he will attempt to do this rather than judge a person for his/her actions.
Does that endear him to the athletes he interviews?
On occasion. But he will still not shy away from the difficult subjects.
If you don’t believe him, just ask home run record holder Giant Barry Bonds, who Le Batard said resorts to crying nearly every time he interviews him.
Creepy courtyard
David Ubben
I don’t like critters. There’s a story I’ll let you piece together involving me, a renegade cricket in my bedroom, and a scream with a pitch that seems to get higher as years go by.
The Poynter Institute campus, namely the enclosed courtyard, is overrun with dark brown, skinny lizards a little longer than the palm of your hand. They might seem harmless, but I know if people keep leaving doors open long enough, I’m going to be typing and all of a sudden my Word document is going to have a streak of 1111111111111111111s. I’ll look down, and one of those little creepers will be staring right back at me from the top of my keyboard, presumably trying to get published on the SJI blog.
Nice try, Mr. Lizard.
Let’s hope that doesn’t happen. If it does, I might have a hefty bill from Poynter for a laptop that somehow ended up shattered on the opposite side of the room from my workstation.
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