Running a sports section

[BTAJournalist]

I’ve recently landed the job of Sports Editor at a small daily, and I’m seeking advice on running a sports section.

I’m coming over from being a full-time reporter covering both news and sports at a different paper. I ran the sports section at my weekly college paper then served as executive editor, but obviously this is a whole new ballgame.

I’ll be a one-person department, and our coverage area contains seven high schools and one NAIA college with just a few sports. I’m looking to hear from people who have experience in similar situations.

What are some reliable regular types of stories I can do to fill space when not much is going on?

What are some challenges of running a sports section, whether that’s lack of resources or push-back from coaches, players and readers?

Being just one person responsible for a section, what do you take into decisions about time management and where to best spend that time?

I’ll appreciate any other advice or info that a newbie might not think about without having lived it.

 

[Justin_Rice]

I’ve recently landed the job of Sports Editor at a small daily, and I’m seeking advice on running a sports section.

I’m coming over from being a full-time reporter covering both news and sports at a different paper. I ran the sports section at my weekly college paper then served as executive editor, but obviously this is a whole new ballgame.

I’ll be a one-person department, and our coverage area contains seven high schools and one NAIA college with just a few sports. I’m looking to hear from people who have experience in similar situations.

What are some reliable regular types of stories I can do to fill space when not much is going on?

What are some challenges of running a sports section, whether that’s lack of resources or push-back from coaches, players and readers?

Being just one person responsible for a section, what do you take into decisions about time management and where to best spend that time?

I’ll appreciate any other advice or info that a newbie might not think about without having lived it.

There's always time to plan.

Plan. Plan. Plan. Plan.

 

[Regan MacNeil]

Some variables there. How many pages, do you have a photog or stringer budget, do you have wire access, etc.?

 

[SoloFlyer]

Regardless of your budget, the number of freelancers available, or anything else - you can't cover everything. Someone, somewhere, will always be unhappy with your coverage.

Find out what makes your area unique. See if you can get data on the content people are reading most. Is there a sport that gets a high return rate that previously wasn't covered much? Is there something that has lots of coverage that isn't bringing in readers? Look at the numbers, talk to people in the newsroom about previous feedback, and then prioritize. Then you can maybe swoop in and do a feature here and there on the stuff that doesn't move the needle as much.

 

[Fredrick]

Frankly, if you have to lay out the pages as well as write I don't see how you can do much with one person. To manage your time, you probably should devote 3 hours to writing a feature per day and the other 5 to laying out the pages and typing in important results. I'd assume there's no AP wire. I don't know what you do with a one person staff. It won't be pretty.

 

[BTAJournalist]

Thanks everyone for your feedback so far!
To answer a few of the questions asked:
The paper does have a full-time photographer and AP wire access. I've been told I can utilize stringers some during heavier parts of the year. I'll assist in laying out pages, but we have a dedicated layout editor that will handle a lot of it.

 

[Regan MacNeil]

All of what you just said is good news, as far as making your job more doable.

 

[jla74m]

See if the NAIA college has journalism classes and try to recruit interns from it.

 

[Justin_Rice]

Like I said: Plan.

When it comes to a "mostly high schools" section, there are very few surprise stories. You know when a game is going to be played. You know when you need a preview. You know what days you need to have features lined up.

When I was planning the day-to-day, I published a three-week schedule every Monday for our staff, with what we were expecting for each day. Obviously you adjusted for breaking news, but that's going to be the exception.

Also: Standing Items (a recruiting notebook, sports-specific notepads on specific days) help you maintain your sanity, and help train your readers on what to expect in a given day.

 

[Inky_Wretch]

I never worked in a one-man shop. So I'll keep my advice very general.

Have a thick skin. Somebody is going to be pissed that you didn't show up at their grandkid's game and went to their rival school that day. Some kid's mom is going to be hacked off if you mention their kid missed the game-winning free throw with no time on the clock. Somebody is always pissed. You will never make them all happy.

Like Justin said, plan, plan, plan. I imagine this is especially true when you want to take days off or a real, honest-to-goodness vacation since you are the entire sports department.

When it's slow, look for human interest stories. I don't know where you are, but there's probably some 70-year-old who still runs marathons or a highly-ranked Crossfitter or somebody who has bowled multiple 300 games. Go find the person who regularly wins the local charity 5Ks.

 

[SoloFlyer]

Another thought - see if there's room to pay a freelancer or a part-timer to come in and serve as an agate clerk for 15 hours a week. Three hours a night, Monday thru Friday. They can man the phones/email for when coaches/statisticians call box scores in. That frees you up to either focus on layout or - if it's a night you have your layout editor handling things - you can be out covering a game (during the postseason especially). That might help stretch your resources a bit more.

 

[3_Octave_Fart]

One of the first things you should do is put together a community calendar. It will give you story ideas and certain things to focus on.

 

[Patchen]

In that job, it sounds as if you will need to make difficult decisions on what to cover regularly. Plan them well and be prepared to be questioned by readers. Some of them will be angry and clueless about the limits of your resources - remain polite and firm. Some of them just need to be heard and then they can turn into good sources of information. You don't need to listen to a bunch of abuse, but there's no upside to getting in a brawl with readers. Polish those customer-service skills and it will, in the end, help.
Beyond that, good reporting opens all good doors. Meet people, even if you're not working on a story, develop relationships, get your facts right, learn what's an 8-inch story and what deserves more. Good luck and have fun.

 

[Bamadog]

As a former lone gun SE at a small daily in Mississippi, here's my 10 cents:

• Previous Proper Planning Prevents **** Poor Performance - Have a calendar and a plan for every eventuality. It also looks good to the bosses to know you're on top of things.
  
• Recruit some stringers, colleges are best, but if you can find a motivated high schooler, don't close yourself off to the possibility. Train your stringers. I had three guys, one of which I recruited and the rest I inherited. By the time I finished training them, they were excellent writers who turned things in on time.
  
• Carefully manage your time. Don't burn yourself out trying to cover everything, everywhere. Give yourself some time off to replenish. I didn't do that as a one-man band and it finally bit me when I quickly burned out.
• Build relationships with your coaches and parents so they understand your circumstances and help you whenever they can. I found that coaches were a lot more understanding when I explained my position. If I didn't have a stringer at a game, I'd call the coach after the game ended and they'd give me stats, a quote, even put the winning pitcher or someone else on the phone for a quote. People don't notice bylines, so staff reports are fine in that instance.
• Like first aid, you have to triage. Prioritize what readers want first.

 

[jr/shotglass]

There are three things you can do as a sports editor: Write, work desk and administrative. You can only do two well. And one of those is already the definition of your job.

 

[icoverbucks]

Good luck, I did that with 5 high schools in the 1990s, it was a lot of work but a lot of fun. I had stringers so we staffed almost every one of their HS football games and a lot of their boys and girls basketball games. Those were the biggies obviously but league meets for cross country, wrestling and track are also huge and postseason too. There was always a game to go to from Sept. 1 to June 1. I'd work 50-60 hour weeks just to do it right. Going the extra mile goes a long way with ADs and coaches. If they brand you as lazy from day one or never see you, then you've made your bed.

We didn't have email or web back then (early 90s) so those tools make things (somewhat) easier, although now you have a 24 hour deadline with web and still publish the paper. Ugh.

 

[BYH 2: Electric Boogaloo]

The first year

Like I said: Plan.

When it comes to a "mostly high schools" section, there are very few surprise stories. You know when a game is going to be played. You know when you need a preview. You know what days you need to have features lined up.

When I was planning the day-to-day, I published a three-week schedule every Monday for our staff, with what we were expecting for each day. Obviously you adjusted for breaking news, but that's going to be the exception.

Also: Standing Items (a recruiting notebook, sports-specific notepads on specific days) help you maintain your sanity, and help train your readers on what to expect in a given day.

This last item is a particularly good bit of advice. Knowing you have an NAIA notebook one day a week and two TBD notebooks later in the week will really help with the planning. Once you get your feet under you, a local college athletes notebook is gold and easy to whip together. Good luck!

 

[Danwriter]

If there are journalism courses/departments at area schools, get to know the teachers/instructors -- they'll know the stand-out students from which you can develop a local stringer base. But also get to know the media/tech side of the schools. Many have broadcast and audio studios, and if your paper has an online presence that can be a fantastic resource. A typical HS junior knows more about social media than everyone on this thread put together.

 

[Dan Omlor]

We have the same situation. Some suggestions, a few of which have already been mentioned. l. Go to the Journalism ( or if none the English) classes at each high school and the college and recruit reporters. No, you can't pay them, but you can give them bylines, they can use it on their resumes and college applications, and you can promise to write them recommendations. 2. Include Boy Scouts in your sports coverage. You can create great features and news stories from local Troop activities (hiking, canoeing, skiing, etc.) and issues (girls in Boy Scouts, the recent bankruptcy, etc.). 3. Cover Little League and youth league games during dry spells. They allow great photos. 4. Is there a dirt track nearby? Dirt track racing is a great source of news and features and, again, allows for great photos. 5. Don't forget fishing. 6. Don't forget golf. There is surely a course within your coverage area, and every course sponsors leagues and a few annual tournaments. 7. Girls Volleyball has become huge. Colleges recruit the best players and the girls are competing on AAU circuits and going to summer camps. Most papers ignore volleyball. Cover it. 8. Cover local graduates who are now playing in college. If you can't get to their campi yourself, contact their sports information offices and ask them to do a feature on the player and add a few photos. Most of them will be thrilled to receive the coverage. 9. Depending on where you are, you might cover hunting. 10. Our rule is we run NO story without a photo. Regardless of who, where or how important, if we can't get a photo, we don't run the story. 11. Remember to establish working relationships with neighboring daily and weekly sports departments and exchange stories and photos. The local school has a game coming up with its rival from the next county? They should have stats and photos of their players you can use. Give them full credit and let them use yours with reciprocal credits.

 

[HanSenSE]

Dan has a couple of good ideas I'd like to expand on:

1) Contact the pro (or he/she might contact you) at the local course about a weekly or bi-monthly column. It could include what's happening in the local golf community (club championships, local youth events. holes-in-one and the like) and could even include a tip-of-the-week feature. If tennis is big, open that door as well

2) Outdoors coverage can be handled the same way. Seek out the game warden in your area or check the state fish-and-game website in your state. I found a great outdoors Q-and-A column on our state's site and got their permission to run it every week. If you're on any body of water, check the local bait and tackle shop or tour operator to see if they can supply a conditions report (without it turning into a free ad for their business, of course). Outdoorsmen love that kind of stuff.

3) If your community has a dirt track, get to know the people out there. Racers are very open and fans love reading about their guys, and that also leads to other stories. At my last stop, with a couple of tracks in the area, I'd find enough on their websites to do a weekly motorsports notebook, and would show up for some of the larger events, such as World of Outlaws.