Sports Journalism – A Day in the Life
The following is a typical game day routine for a beat writer who covers a Major League Baseball team. A similar routine can be applied towards other major sports such as basketball, football, and hockey.
Check-in at the newspaper offices and take care of administrative duties and sit in on meetings with editors, other writers, and other staff.
Arrive at the stadium and check-in at the media entrance about three hours prior to gametime. Proceed to the press box and set up laptop computer and notebooks at designated work area in the press box. (Each writer is assigned a space in the press box). Grab press clippings, visiting team media guide, media notes, and statistics packets for both home and visiting teams that were assembled by team media relations staffs.
Head down to the locker rooms/clubhouses and wait with other media to talk to players as they arrive and get dressed and prepare for the game.
Listen to manager’s daily meeting and question and answer session with the press.
Eat dinner in the press box and talk with other reporters.
The game begins…start taking notes and keeping statistics as the innings or halfs and quarters go by. Start writing about important highlights of the game that will eventually be pieced together to form the bulk of the story.
Game ends…head for the elevator to go down to the locker rooms/clubhouse. Hometown media go to the hometeam side and visitor media to the visitor’s side. Wait for the media relations staff to open up the clubhouse to the media and start letting them inside. Immediately race to the manager’s or coach’s office to gather quotes and comments on the game. Ask questions if needed. After listening to the coach/manager, wait by the lockers with other media and interview players who significantly contributed to the game as the players change clothes.
Head back up to the press box and get quotes from a media relations intern that were taken from the manager and players in the other team’s locker room. Start incorporating the coach and player quotes into the story along with previously written highlights of the game.
Finish the article and send it to print. Most press boxes have high-speed Internet access these days, so it’s possible to wrap up the stories while on location.