What stood out to me most about our class visit to The Washington Post were the mounting expectations for journalists today as compared to just a few years ago. More specifically, the sports editors referred to the Nationals beat writer Adam Kilgore and his daily routine. Up to five blogs, a quick game synopsis immediately following the conclusion of the game then a full recap including post-game interviews seem to be routine for The Post’s baseball beat writer 162 games a year.
Another example of this would be Mark Feinsand of the New York Daily News. Feinsand began tweeting during the Yankees-Rangers playoff matchup from an hour before to the game to the conclusion, providing thoughts, analysis and key plays. He is also interacting with his followers in between tweets. When the game ended, he provided the quick summary, almost instantaneously, then followed up on the story at 3:08 a.m. That’s right – 3:08 in the morning!
Some people may not to be able to handle that amount of work in a week, let alone in one day.
I believe it takes a special kind of a person – one who is passionate about their beat – to do what these writers and bloggers are doing in today’s world of journalism. It’s a lot of writing, yes, but there’s always a story to be told, a piece of news to be broken or a move to be analyzed.
When the topic of “burnout” for these writers came up at the meeting, I thought to myself about the challenges of finding stories each week of the football season as I cover the Maryland football team. Of course there are times where you struggle to find a compelling story, and there are times when I feel like I’m revisiting a previous theme. But overall, each game, each week, each practice tells a new story.
Using this week as an example, the Terps lost once again on the road (their 10th straight road loss since beating Clemson in Death Valley in 2008), Torrey Smith continues to be hobbled due to an ankle injury on kickoff returns and the team continues struggling with frustrating penalties which is limiting offensive production and converting third downs.
Same story, different week, you might say.
But yes, I will continue to mention these problems – it’s something the fans want to know about. Why do the Terps keep losing on the road? Is there a common theme? Will Smith be healthy? Is Ralph Friedgen considering replacing in All-ACC wideout on kickoffs? What’s contributing to these penalties? How will they fix the third-down problem?
You can address those with news, quotes and analysis, but a good reporter finds more – something deeper, if you will. How will these issues play out against Boston College this week? What are some of the trends with these patterns? Talk to Smith and find out how his ankle is coming along, or if he would be disappointed with being taken off kickoff returns.
Regardless of what day it is, where you are in the season or how the team fares in the standings, there is always a story to be told. If the Nationals are 41-100 and they’re playing a meaningless game against the Pirates on Sept. 2, write about the effort Livan Hernandez is continually putting forth on the mount, despite being 15 games out of first place. If the Yankees wrapped up a playoff berth a week ago, find a story about how a September call-up made a spectacular catch and could make the postseason roster.
If there’s a game, there’s a story. That’s why they play the game.
