What exactly are sports journalists qualified to do?!

[Leaver?]

Seriously considering doing something different due to hours, holidays and security of it all.
I’ve decided that I want out but what’s holding me back is the fact that I’ve been doing this for ten years, and having worked as a journalist in Sports I’m unsure as to what exactly I’m qualified to do.
In the last year I’ve completed a Masters in an unrelated field.
So those of you who left, how did you go about?..
Excited by the prospect of doing something different, but its a bit daunting too!

 

[huntsie]

I'm wondering too. Thinking seriously of a career change, or at least a move out of a poisonous environment.

 

[Tucsondriver]

You're asking what everyone in this business is thinking, and best short answer I can give is nobody knows. Friends who've transitioned to PR seem to be doing well. But they made their moves a few years ago, and things have changed tremendously in the last few years, and those jobs are now very hard to get. I know of others who've thought about going to teaching, but don't know of anyone who's actually done it. Unless you expect to be laid off soon, I'd stay and try to ride out the recession. Time to think about a move, for sure, but not the best time to be making a move. The sinking tide's bringing almost everybody down with it.

 

[fremont]

We're qualified to be motivational speakers instructing people on how to be happy with what they do and accept the fact that you're going to be broke all your life. Since that's reality for a lot of folks, someone doing something like that could probably make a lot of money.

I think I smell a new gig....I'll even share all my Ramen noodle recipes as a bonus on my brochures....that'll put some asses in the seats.

 

[Tom Petty]

draw unemployment?

 

[fremont]

I'm damn good with a squeegee and can make anyone's car look like new. Anything you can spare I appreciate.

 

[2muchcoffeeman]

 

[fremont]

I am not qualified for that. I can't read that Portuguese or whatever is at the bottom of that sign thingy.

Bilingual es preferido.

 

[forever_town]

That's Spanish for "Careful: Wet Floor."

Think about some of the skills that are involved with writing gamers. Organizing writing is an important skill that can translate. Being able to bring one game event into historical context is an important skill. Interviewing people is a skill. Dragging answers out of them is a prized skill. If you're a desker, think about the kinds of things you do that can translate outside this business. Same thing for graphics designers or photographers.

As mentioned before, some of the same basics that go to writing a gamer also go to writing a news story (who and what in the lede, answering where, when and how.)

 

[leo1]

i quit journalism to go to law school. now i'm a lawyer. after a slow start with a crappy firm, i changed firms and i am enjoying practicing law. i still don't get the rush of covering a game on deadline or breaking a big story and hearing or seeing ESPN cite something i broke but i like it.

 

[FileNotFound]

If you have:

-- above-average written communication skills
-- initiative
-- a sense of urgency
-- the ability to make deadlines
-- solid research skills

you can learn the rest of whatever it is you want to do.

 

[fremont]

If you have:

-- above-average written communication skills
-- initiative
-- a sense of urgency
-- the ability to make deadlines
-- solid research skills

you can learn the rest of whatever it is you want to do.

Check, check, check, check and check.

Prior to this post at least, I do jest...

 

[RedCanuck]

Favourite NewsRadio scene when Matthew cuts his arm playing the "catch the cup on top of the light standard" game. There was some conversation between Jimmy and the staff about how to cover up the behaviour and the idea was he was assisting Joe with his duties.

Punchline: "Dave, Matthew is a reporter. He isn't qualified to change a light bulb."

 

[wisportswriter]

The world needs ditch-diggers, too.

 

[Nathan Scott Phillips]

If you have:

-- above-average written communication skills
-- initiative
-- a sense of urgency
-- the ability to make deadlines
-- solid research skills

you can learn the rest of whatever it is you want to do.

For some reason it seems difficult to get those points across on a resume. People don't really seem to get that I'd be used to working tough hours, meeting deadlines quickly and being as accurate as possible the first time through.

 

[Mizzougrad96]

I type really fast...

 

[Tucsondriver]

Title of this thread is a Top 10 list waiting to happen...

 

[Rex Harrison]

If you have:

-- above-average written communication skills
-- initiative
-- a sense of urgency
-- the ability to make deadlines
-- solid research skills

you can learn the rest of whatever it is you want to do.

For some reason it seems difficult to get those points across on a resume. People don't really seem to get that I'd be used to working tough hours, meeting deadlines quickly and being as accurate as possible the first time through.

They don't get it because the image of a sports writer is some lazy asshole who watches sports for a living instead of working a "real" job.

For the record, groceries are my trade. I am a grocer. My name is Roger the Grocer. I arrange, design, and sell groceries.

 

[WaylonJennings]

If you have:

-- above-average written communication skills
-- initiative
-- a sense of urgency
-- the ability to make deadlines
-- solid research skills

you can learn the rest of whatever it is you want to do.

For some reason it seems difficult to get those points across on a resume. People don't really seem to get that I'd be used to working tough hours, meeting deadlines quickly and being as accurate as possible the first time through.

They don't get it because the image of a sports writer is some lazy asshole who watches sports for a living instead of working a "real" job.

There is definitely a stigma attached to this. There was a similar thread a while back where someone talked about interviewing for a hospital PR job and being hammered on whether he would be able to handle "the pressure" of the job, the implication very much being that he had spent his life on easy street covering games people play.

 

[Pete Incaviglia]

I'm going back to school. Finishing my communications degree, finally. I'm going to start volunteering with either a) a political party/candidate of some type or b) a charity.

The school, plus the newspaper experience, plus the volunteer stuff should equal a decent resume I can spin into something.