The profession of a sports journalist – tell us what qualities a novice specialist should have, where to go to study and what salary you can expect

Profession Sports journalist – who is it and what does it do

Let's mentally go back to 2018, or rather in the summer. Remember what happened then? Probably, each of us at that time discussed the latest news of the home World Cup. Enthusiastic exclamations of people of all ages were heard from every window, yard or institution, and people watched live broadcasts even in the office.

Have you ever thought then that you can also earn money by covering the most relevant and reliable news from the world of sports? That's right, in our today's article we will talk about such a specialty as sports journalism. After all, it is the representatives of this profession who are responsible for all the latest information about the sport.

What do sports journalists do?

We recommend that you pay attention to the selection of professional courses in sports journalism

Sports journalism is in many ways similar to regular journalism, but it also has its own specifics. Sports journalists, like their counterparts in other areas, also work on television, radio, print media and modern Internet resources. But some have a very important requirement: they are deeply passionate about sports, they burn with it. Otherwise, you can very quickly cool down in relation to what you are doing. So what exactly do sports journalists do? I tried to put together in a single list the distinctive functions of such specialists, regardless of the type of media where they are employed:

• search for information is observation and monitoring of the information field, data collection, interviews, etc.;
• analysis of information, its processing, verification of reliability and relevance;
• writing a text or creating a media message, as well as editing – this item is often taken over by a specialized specialist;
• publication or distribution (depending on the type of media);
• collecting feedback from the target audience.

The analysis of world events, as well as the work of competitors or colleagues in the shop, also takes a lot of time from a sports journalist. After all, the success of such a specialist depends precisely on how relevant and fresh the information he covers is. This applies even to those sports journalists who work in a large team, where there are both editors and field correspondents.

What should a sports journalist know and be able to do?

In the case of sports journalism, previous experience in a particular sport can serve as a huge plus for successful employment. However, it is necessary to have an idea about the craft as a whole. Speaking about the professional qualities of a sports journalist, we should mention:

• ability to work with large volumes of information (from search to processing and qualitative analysis);
• competent written and oral speech;
• knowledge of the legislation of the country;
• professional ethics;
• excellent understanding of sports in general, or specific types;
• erudition and general education;
• knowledge of foreign language.

Looking at this list, one gets the image of a fairly easy and calm, but at the same time eerily interesting profession. This is not a completely correct conclusion. And now I will explain why.

What personal qualities should a sports journalist have?

In the modern world, in order to become a famous sports journalist, there is no urgent need to graduate with honors from the Faculty of Philology or the Faculty of Journalism in one of the best universities in the country. However, this profession is not suitable for everyone, and for a number of reasons. One of the factors that can become your entrance ticket to journalism is your personal qualities, your character and natural charm. I've separated them all into a separate list:

• eloquence, sociability;
• a broad outlook and interest in the life around you, observation;
• punctuality, discipline;
• in many respects perseverance and even obstinacy;
• initiative, craving for new things;
• courage, and sometimes courage;
• endless diligence;
• mobility, lack of acute attachment to one place or business;
• high level of stress resistance;
• unwavering objectivity.

In my opinion, not a single specialty described on our website has received such an impressive list of personal qualities that its ideal representative should have.

Pros and cons of being a sports journalist

People who are not very interested in sports are unlikely to like this profession. And for those who are close to this area, I have prepared the main advantages of the work of a sports journalist in a separate block:

• very interesting and eventful workflow;
• wide opportunities for self-expression and self-realization;
• travel and business trips;
• the opportunity to attend those events where access to ordinary visitors is closed or limited;
• popularity, fame;
• the opportunity to meet and personally communicate with outstanding sports figures.

However, this work also has its drawbacks:

• stress and high loads, both physically and emotionally;
• irregular working hours (more relevant for traveling journalists or correspondents);
• professional burnout.

By the way, thematic blogging about football or mixed martial arts, for example, is becoming more and more popular every day. This is also sports journalism, and in this case you can work from anywhere in the world.

Work by profession: salary and prospects

As mentioned earlier, a journalist whose specialization is sports can be useful in companies or publications related to this area.His place of employment can be regional or international media, as well as press services, for example, football or hockey teams, fight promotions, etc. However, regardless of your talent, most employers will definitely pay attention to work experience and portfolio. So it is worth taking care of this even in the process of studying a specialty.

Career prospects for sports journalists are very good. First of all, the more famous and popular you become, the more your fees will be. In addition, no one has canceled the traditional vertical career ladder. Having a successful and fairly long experience as a sports journalist, you can apply for a position, for example, the editor-in-chief of a large thematic publishing house.

Let's continue the topic of wages. The dynamics of the salaries of novice sports journalists in Moscow over the past year is as follows:

In Russia as a whole, the situation is quite stable, regardless of the region:

At the time of this writing, there were not so many current vacancies on the HH.ru website. Therefore, we recommend that you use not only this resource, but also many others, as well as social networks, for successful employment. By the way, a good start for a novice sports journalist can be, for example, maintaining a thematic blog.

Due to the fact that there are not as many open vacancies as we would like, I will give the general requirements of employers for novice sports journalists. As I said earlier, you do not need to graduate from high school and have a bachelor's degree in your backpack when you go for an interview. However, bringing along previously published work, even if it was written or filmed for a social media themed group, is highly recommended. Also, your gender doesn't matter at all. For some reason, in modern society there is still a stereotype that sports journalism is the lot of guys, but this is not so. In addition, the employer may pay attention to:

• previous work experience;
• your sports past (if you come to get a job as a press service of a hockey club, then it will definitely play into your hands if, for example, a stick, skates and a puck were your best friends in your youth);
• initiative and desire to develop in journalism;
• understanding of the field as a whole and interest in sports.

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How to become a sports journalist

Becoming a sports journalist is much easier these days than it was 20 or 30 years ago. You do not need to study at least 4 years at the university if this profession interests you. Although a diploma can be an advantage in employment, the success of a novice correspondent largely depends on his talent, charisma and ability to present his thoughts in a cocktail of current sports news.So what about those who do not want to go to university? To date, there are two most effective ways:

• start your own blog (text or video) on a social network that will be dedicated to sports;
• take online training courses in sports journalism.

The first option involves certain investments for the successful development of the blog, both material and temporary. As a hobby it's good, but as a career it can be unreliable and unstable. But don't despair! In the case of online courses, you will get both reliability and stability. In addition, by deciding to master the specialty sports journalist in this way, you are guaranteed to receive initial work experience and be able to fill your portfolio. Online courses have other advantages:

• Mastering the specialty in a short time – classes are held at a convenient time for you, and you can choose the pace of the course yourself.
• Clearly structured information – you study the information selected by professionals in a very convenient format.
• A well-established portfolio is something that all employers so often value. Homework will help with practice, and you can demonstrate all the work done to the customer as a portfolio.
• Ease of learning – the format of the classes gives you the opportunity to receive information anywhere, anytime and on any device.

If you are interested in a profession, put a plus in the comments, we will tell you how easy it is to start in it 🙂