Covering high school, college and professional sports

Did you play high school sports? Were you ever interviewed? What was your view of the local paper in

terms of high school coverage?

You have two games to cover: Local high school field hockey tournament Washington Redskins football game

Gazette/Frederick News-Post: High school field hockey tournament.

Washington Post: Redskins game Why? Audience The Post has a much broader audience and

Redskins have larger following than HS FH News-Post and Gazette have more local

following and no one else is covering it. Their audience can always go elsewhere for bigger news, but can’t get FH at Washington Post

Game story – An article that states who won, what players stood out and explains the key moments.

Preview – A story that previews an upcoming game or tournament

Feature – A story that centers on an athlete or coach and gives a reader an inside glimpse

Trend – Where is the team going? Investigative – Stories that uncover unknown

details about a team, program, sport, athlete, coach, etc.

Interviews are typically given after a game, dictated sometimes by an information director depending on sport, team, etc.

Reporters often can go to practice or speak with athletes after to get a feel for the team

High School sports games – Reporters have to keep their own statistics and are in charge of tracking down players/coaches

College/Professional – Teams usually provide statistics after games and players to interview

A high school cornerback gets burned for a game-winning touchdown.

Do you print his name in the next day’s newspaper?

Does it change if it’s a college or pro athlete?

Why? Why not? How do you think coverage changes

between each level and sports?

Brother and Sister duo dominates http://www.fredericknewspost.com/sections/s

ports/display.htm?StoryID=127817 Oakdale girls soccer tops South Carroll

http://www.gazette.net/article/20111101/SPORTS/711019899/1019/oakdale-girls-soccer-tops-south-carroll-in-playoffs&template=gazette

Most high school stories focus on winning team and most prominent athlete – not the losing team or the play that lost the game.

Terrapins hit rock bottom in 28-17 loss http://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/

maryland-football-vs-boston-college-terrapins-hit-rock-bottom-in-28-17-loss/2011/10/29/gIQAraAQTM_story.html

Alex Ovechkin benched http://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/capitals/on-

hockey-bruce-boudreau-made-the-right-call-to-bench-alex-ovechkin/2011/11/02/gIQAtU8ffM_story.html

Stories more balanced and focus on regional coverage of teams, rather than winning teams

Class Discussion: How does high school coverage compare to pro and college?

Is it fair?

Pick up a newspaper and watch an ESPN morning SportsCenter

How much does each level of sports get coverage?

What is preferred?