It's been awhile since I've been on this blog. So much has happened that I thought now ,at the end of the school year, it was time to share some lessons learned from these last few months as a reporter.
1. Don't be afraid to ask the hard questions:
In December of last year I had the opportunity to cover the NCAA Division 2 West Regional Volleyball Tournament at Cal Baptist in Riverside. One of the regional semifinals pitted national number 1 and undefeated CBU against Cal State San Bernardino in Van Dyne Gymnasium. The Coyotes of Cal State San Bernardino pulled an upset giving Cal Baptist their first loss of the year. With three of us in the press room I only had time for one or two questions. I immediately jumped to the legacy that CBU's seniors would leave instead of asking about the adjustments CSUSB made from an early September loss in Anchorage,Alaska. Sometimes the hard question isn't popular but it's one that has to be asked to tell the story and that is the first duty.
2. Edit, Edit, Edit:
If you are writing make sure your punctuation and formats are on point. No one enjoys reading an article that is poorly written or punctuated. Make sure before you hit that send button you can say "I'm comfortable with that story." The one time I didn't was after a long day at the PacWest basketball tournament and just wrote the story to have one on day one's final game. It didn't get run and I'm glad it didn't because it wasn't my best work. Every story needs to be your best because you may only get one shot to hook that reader to your work.
3. Make sure your devices are fully charged before an assignment:
Seems like a fairly common sense one right? I was covering a CIF-SS baseball quarterfinal at Hemet High School and because of going extra innings my battery was a lot lower than I thought it would be. By the time I finished interviews I was down to about 10% and had to plug into the electrical outlet nearest the third base dugout before leaving.
4. Professionals:
I had the opportunity in April to cover an LPGA Symetra Tour event in Beaumont. Don't let the fact that you are covering professional athletes intimidate you. You're still there to tell a story, just of a higher level athlete. I was nervous walking into my pre tournament interviews on Tuesday but by the end of the week I felt like a veteran covering the tour.
5. Baseball & Softball-Learn (or relearn) how to do a scoresheet
In the Spring I covered a lot of baseball and softball despite not having done a scorebook in at least a decade. I came up with my own format for scoring but its a lot more work and writing than the book. Plus it uses at least a half dozen sheets of paper a game. My goal for next year is to re-learn the scorebook.
6. Pre-Game Research
Sometimes losing stories are the best ones to tell. Case in point was Moreno Valley falling in a second consecutive baseball title game this weekend after five years ago only recording a handful of wins. In the press room I just assumed that one of the seniors was there throughout Moreno Valley's rebuild and asked a question about the four year turnaround. Had I done more thorough research I would've known he wasn't there all four years and not asked the question that way.
1. Don't be afraid to ask the hard questions:
In December of last year I had the opportunity to cover the NCAA Division 2 West Regional Volleyball Tournament at Cal Baptist in Riverside. One of the regional semifinals pitted national number 1 and undefeated CBU against Cal State San Bernardino in Van Dyne Gymnasium. The Coyotes of Cal State San Bernardino pulled an upset giving Cal Baptist their first loss of the year. With three of us in the press room I only had time for one or two questions. I immediately jumped to the legacy that CBU's seniors would leave instead of asking about the adjustments CSUSB made from an early September loss in Anchorage,Alaska. Sometimes the hard question isn't popular but it's one that has to be asked to tell the story and that is the first duty.
2. Edit, Edit, Edit:
If you are writing make sure your punctuation and formats are on point. No one enjoys reading an article that is poorly written or punctuated. Make sure before you hit that send button you can say "I'm comfortable with that story." The one time I didn't was after a long day at the PacWest basketball tournament and just wrote the story to have one on day one's final game. It didn't get run and I'm glad it didn't because it wasn't my best work. Every story needs to be your best because you may only get one shot to hook that reader to your work.
3. Make sure your devices are fully charged before an assignment:
Seems like a fairly common sense one right? I was covering a CIF-SS baseball quarterfinal at Hemet High School and because of going extra innings my battery was a lot lower than I thought it would be. By the time I finished interviews I was down to about 10% and had to plug into the electrical outlet nearest the third base dugout before leaving.
4. Professionals:
I had the opportunity in April to cover an LPGA Symetra Tour event in Beaumont. Don't let the fact that you are covering professional athletes intimidate you. You're still there to tell a story, just of a higher level athlete. I was nervous walking into my pre tournament interviews on Tuesday but by the end of the week I felt like a veteran covering the tour.
5. Baseball & Softball-Learn (or relearn) how to do a scoresheet
In the Spring I covered a lot of baseball and softball despite not having done a scorebook in at least a decade. I came up with my own format for scoring but its a lot more work and writing than the book. Plus it uses at least a half dozen sheets of paper a game. My goal for next year is to re-learn the scorebook.
6. Pre-Game Research
Sometimes losing stories are the best ones to tell. Case in point was Moreno Valley falling in a second consecutive baseball title game this weekend after five years ago only recording a handful of wins. In the press room I just assumed that one of the seniors was there throughout Moreno Valley's rebuild and asked a question about the four year turnaround. Had I done more thorough research I would've known he wasn't there all four years and not asked the question that way.
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