Even though I have essentially said this each of the past six weeks, the men's basketball season really, legitimately got underway this week. On Saturday was the first exhibition, on Thursday was the second and on Monday the team plays its first game. I wrote a couple basic stories this week and anticipating writing at least three for next week, so I am starting to get into the groove.
One thing that kind of concerned me, and John and I discussed this a bit on Thursday, is story ideas. I am glad that we are being pushed beyond writing the typical game stories that the other papers are writing, but at the same time I don't want to use all of the good ideas early. For my recap of the exhibition game on Saturday, I basically wrote a profile on guard JT. It was the pretty obvious angle, and I included most of the stuff available, so now I worry that it will be hard to focus on this player again. When John was looking for ideas for his story on Thursday's exhibition, we decided that it would be better not to do a profile-type game story. If we go down that road for every game, we won't have anything left by game 12.
So that is something that we have been talking about. That's not to say that the profile-angled game story is never going to happen again, but when they do they probably will be a little different than the story I wrote on JT. If we are going to focus on a player for the game story, I think it is more relevant and better to write the story with an overall focus on what he did in the game. A lot of these players have interesting backgrounds etc., but I think if we are going to do more personalized features we should do them right, which for the most part means running them separate from game recaps.
That is one thing that we are going to have to talk about now that the season is underway. It was sometimes challenging to think of good angles for these exhibition games, mainly because they are for the most part irrelivent, and that made it easy to yearn for the straightforward game story. Now that the regular season is underway and the games count and the stats are relevant, I think it will be a lot easier to find good angles and it will be acceptable to run them. This is something that John and I are going to have to look in the archives to see what they did last year, and we need to talk to Greg and see what he thinks and what some other angles are.
Speaking of which, it is probably getting close to that time to schedule a weekly meeting with Greg. Who just arrived, so I am going to stop writing now.
Friday, November 9, 2007
Friday, November 2, 2007
Week 11
Probably the two busiest weeks of my semester are now over and it is right in time for basketball season to really get started. Tuesday was the Black and Gold game and tomorrow is the first exhibition. Things have been going pretty well lately, so I hope we can keep that up.
One of the big things I have been working on this year is confidence. I realized that if I come back to the newsroom with a good idea of who I want to talk about, it is a lot easier to write a readable story. If you feel comfortable with your knowledge of the subject, then you ask better questions and the story flows out of you much easier. That is a big reason why the experienced beat writers have an advantage. They know so much about the team that they can fill in context so much better.
I think basketball will be easier to catch up to the other beat writers than football. In football, there are so many players and the whole game is so complex that just about anybody will have a fair share of catching up to do. In basketball, however, there are so few players and the game is much more straight forward. My biggest disadvantage is that I was abroad second semester of last year so I didn't get to see the team play much, but I already feel like I have a good understanding of what happened last year.
Other then that, Greg said on Thursday that we will be having at least one Tiger Tipoff special edition and the stories need to be in before the semester break. The special edition will come out in January, before the start of Big 12 season, so the stories will have to be for the most part not timely. John and I will have to sit down and figure out what we'll want to do, but I think we've already got some ideas that could work.
One of the big things I have been working on this year is confidence. I realized that if I come back to the newsroom with a good idea of who I want to talk about, it is a lot easier to write a readable story. If you feel comfortable with your knowledge of the subject, then you ask better questions and the story flows out of you much easier. That is a big reason why the experienced beat writers have an advantage. They know so much about the team that they can fill in context so much better.
I think basketball will be easier to catch up to the other beat writers than football. In football, there are so many players and the whole game is so complex that just about anybody will have a fair share of catching up to do. In basketball, however, there are so few players and the game is much more straight forward. My biggest disadvantage is that I was abroad second semester of last year so I didn't get to see the team play much, but I already feel like I have a good understanding of what happened last year.
Other then that, Greg said on Thursday that we will be having at least one Tiger Tipoff special edition and the stories need to be in before the semester break. The special edition will come out in January, before the start of Big 12 season, so the stories will have to be for the most part not timely. John and I will have to sit down and figure out what we'll want to do, but I think we've already got some ideas that could work.
Friday, October 26, 2007
Week 10
This has been a rather hectic week in terms of school and thus my time at the Missourian has been limited as well. Unfortunately that also caused me to completely forget about doing my blog.
As I said, this week was busy. I had tests and papers due in other classes and there was nothing new to report on my beat, so I haven't gotten anything in the paper yet. I should have a story in on Sunday about the attendance and scheduling for the upcoming season, but it's nothing earth shattering.
Next Tuesday is the Black and Gold Game and then the exhibition games start on the weekend. When those start we can start getting more regular stories in. For now, I don't think it is neccessary to use the really good feature ideas this far in advance of the season. And even with the limited coverage we have done, it has exceeded any of the rival newspapers.
So unfortunately this is another relatively boring week for my fans to read about but hopefully next week, after Black and Gold and with exhibition season on the horizon, it will be all smooth sailing!
As I said, this week was busy. I had tests and papers due in other classes and there was nothing new to report on my beat, so I haven't gotten anything in the paper yet. I should have a story in on Sunday about the attendance and scheduling for the upcoming season, but it's nothing earth shattering.
Next Tuesday is the Black and Gold Game and then the exhibition games start on the weekend. When those start we can start getting more regular stories in. For now, I don't think it is neccessary to use the really good feature ideas this far in advance of the season. And even with the limited coverage we have done, it has exceeded any of the rival newspapers.
So unfortunately this is another relatively boring week for my fans to read about but hopefully next week, after Black and Gold and with exhibition season on the horizon, it will be all smooth sailing!
Friday, October 19, 2007
Week 9
Doesn't it seem like a long time ago when every one of my blogs was saying, "I can't wait to get started?" It seems like it.
I think it was only two weeks ago that my advanced reporting duties at the Missourian were still on queue as I waited for the men's basketball team to start up for the season. Now, all of a sudden it is in full force and things are exciting again!
On Wednesday, John and I woke up and were on the road by 5:30 a.m. to get to Big 12 men's basketball media day in Kansas City. The date loomed on our calendars for a while; wake up, drive far, listen to people spew cliches, drive far, write much. Instead, it turned out to be a really fulfilling trip and, in my opinion, a successful one as well.
John and I have talked a lot about what we want to do with this beat already, but being locked in a car for four hours together we really got to pound a lot of stuff out. I think that showed in our stories from media day. Combined, I think we put about 60 inches on content into the paper on Thursday, and I thought our coverage was more complete than some of the other newspapers. Of course it wasn't perfect, but I felt good about what we did and know we can continue to build upon that.
Besides media day being in a posh hotel with catered food and lots of big-name basketball people walking around, it was also a really good way to introduce John and I into the league this year. I am at a slight disadvantage because I was abroad second semester of last year, so besides listening to the Kansas game on the radio and reading newspaper Web sites I was kind of out of the loop. I felt like I had a good understanding of Missouri's team coming into the year, but after listening to each Big 12 coach stump for 10-15 minutes about their teams, I feel like my understanding of everything increased dramatically. Now, I feel like I know who the big players are going to be, which teams to really look out for and all the major storylines to follow throughout the season.
What I have started to learn about writing lately is that it really shows if you have a good understanding about your subject. I wasn't too pleased with my first couple articles this year because I felt like I didn't do a good enough job reporting, so in the end it became more of a "Here are the quotes, now I find stuff to put around them." But after media day, I was able to write both of my stories with relative ease and felt like I had a real good understanding about the content. I think that was a really big boost in terms of my general knowledge of everything that is going on, and I see myself improving significantly now.
It is a shame that the Big 12 media day is not always in Kansas City. It is not a big or important enough event to send Missourian reporters when it is in Texas or Oklahoma, but when in close proximity I think it was a very beneficial event.
I think it was only two weeks ago that my advanced reporting duties at the Missourian were still on queue as I waited for the men's basketball team to start up for the season. Now, all of a sudden it is in full force and things are exciting again!
On Wednesday, John and I woke up and were on the road by 5:30 a.m. to get to Big 12 men's basketball media day in Kansas City. The date loomed on our calendars for a while; wake up, drive far, listen to people spew cliches, drive far, write much. Instead, it turned out to be a really fulfilling trip and, in my opinion, a successful one as well.
John and I have talked a lot about what we want to do with this beat already, but being locked in a car for four hours together we really got to pound a lot of stuff out. I think that showed in our stories from media day. Combined, I think we put about 60 inches on content into the paper on Thursday, and I thought our coverage was more complete than some of the other newspapers. Of course it wasn't perfect, but I felt good about what we did and know we can continue to build upon that.
Besides media day being in a posh hotel with catered food and lots of big-name basketball people walking around, it was also a really good way to introduce John and I into the league this year. I am at a slight disadvantage because I was abroad second semester of last year, so besides listening to the Kansas game on the radio and reading newspaper Web sites I was kind of out of the loop. I felt like I had a good understanding of Missouri's team coming into the year, but after listening to each Big 12 coach stump for 10-15 minutes about their teams, I feel like my understanding of everything increased dramatically. Now, I feel like I know who the big players are going to be, which teams to really look out for and all the major storylines to follow throughout the season.
What I have started to learn about writing lately is that it really shows if you have a good understanding about your subject. I wasn't too pleased with my first couple articles this year because I felt like I didn't do a good enough job reporting, so in the end it became more of a "Here are the quotes, now I find stuff to put around them." But after media day, I was able to write both of my stories with relative ease and felt like I had a real good understanding about the content. I think that was a really big boost in terms of my general knowledge of everything that is going on, and I see myself improving significantly now.
It is a shame that the Big 12 media day is not always in Kansas City. It is not a big or important enough event to send Missourian reporters when it is in Texas or Oklahoma, but when in close proximity I think it was a very beneficial event.
Friday, October 12, 2007
Week 8
After eight weeks, I am finally a bona fida Missourian reporter now. I had my first story run last Sunday and my second today and I will be reporting on an event tonight that will eventually produce my third story next week. It feels good to be back.
Saturday was another open gym session at Mizzou Arena. The team basically just plays pickup games for an hour or so and the football tailgaters are invited in to watch. At first I was kind of skeptical as to whether this warranted a story. John and I went to the last one and we barely stumbled upon a story about a basketball alumni being there. I was pretty confident it would be pretty low key again this week and the team had it's media day on Wednesday, so that is when the real stories would come out, I thought. Greg disagreed though, and I am glad that I did go. He said that even if I can't find anything specifically noteworthy, the whole concept of open gym on football gameday is kind of interesting. That is what I ended up pursuing.
First, I think it ended up being a relevant enough story that it was a good thing that I went. Second, I think it was a good story to get me started back up for the year. It required me to walk around the crowd and talk to people and to talk to the team and make observations. It was kind of a hybrid of man on the street and covering a team, so I kind of jumped right back into reporting. The other big thing I got out of it is that since there wasn't a big media presence there I chatted up the sports information director for a good portion of my time there. I got answers to all of those basic questions, ones like "Why isn't Mizzou Madness at Midnight?" and "Explain the recruiting process." I felt like I left the arean that day with a really good understandin of the team I am getting involved with. That, in my opinion, is the most important aspect of being a good beat reporter. The story itself was nothing groundbreaking, but I felt like I got my point across in an efficient manner and I was pleased with it as a first clip of the new year.
Wednesday was the team's media day - meaning the whole team and the coach were just hanging out on the court for an hour and you could talk to whoever you wanted to for however long. More than anything this was a good opportunity for John and I to introduce ourselves to the players and let them get to know us so that they are more comfortable once the season starts and access is more limited. So we did that. We also had to do some stories, of course. John and I were going to share the first one, the "What did coach say is key this season" story that was bound to come out. I ended up getting a lead on another story though so I worked on that all night (and unfortunately I still don't have enough information to print that, but I am working on it). John's story in Thursday's paper turned out well. Friday was my turn. I wrote a preview/profile on tonight's Mizzou Madness event with an emphasis on forward Leo Lyons, who is expected to have a big impact this season. I thought it turned out OK - admittedly I liked the story better after Greg had edited it more than after the copy editors did, but that's life as a reporter.
So as a whole I think my first week truly reporting went pretty well. I feel like I have a good understanding of this team, the personnel and how everything works - moreso then I do football - so I am confident that I can do a good job on this beat. I am really excited to continue reporting and to get deeper into this beat. It is going to be a lot of work, of course, but I am excited and ready to do it.
Saturday was another open gym session at Mizzou Arena. The team basically just plays pickup games for an hour or so and the football tailgaters are invited in to watch. At first I was kind of skeptical as to whether this warranted a story. John and I went to the last one and we barely stumbled upon a story about a basketball alumni being there. I was pretty confident it would be pretty low key again this week and the team had it's media day on Wednesday, so that is when the real stories would come out, I thought. Greg disagreed though, and I am glad that I did go. He said that even if I can't find anything specifically noteworthy, the whole concept of open gym on football gameday is kind of interesting. That is what I ended up pursuing.
First, I think it ended up being a relevant enough story that it was a good thing that I went. Second, I think it was a good story to get me started back up for the year. It required me to walk around the crowd and talk to people and to talk to the team and make observations. It was kind of a hybrid of man on the street and covering a team, so I kind of jumped right back into reporting. The other big thing I got out of it is that since there wasn't a big media presence there I chatted up the sports information director for a good portion of my time there. I got answers to all of those basic questions, ones like "Why isn't Mizzou Madness at Midnight?" and "Explain the recruiting process." I felt like I left the arean that day with a really good understandin of the team I am getting involved with. That, in my opinion, is the most important aspect of being a good beat reporter. The story itself was nothing groundbreaking, but I felt like I got my point across in an efficient manner and I was pleased with it as a first clip of the new year.
Wednesday was the team's media day - meaning the whole team and the coach were just hanging out on the court for an hour and you could talk to whoever you wanted to for however long. More than anything this was a good opportunity for John and I to introduce ourselves to the players and let them get to know us so that they are more comfortable once the season starts and access is more limited. So we did that. We also had to do some stories, of course. John and I were going to share the first one, the "What did coach say is key this season" story that was bound to come out. I ended up getting a lead on another story though so I worked on that all night (and unfortunately I still don't have enough information to print that, but I am working on it). John's story in Thursday's paper turned out well. Friday was my turn. I wrote a preview/profile on tonight's Mizzou Madness event with an emphasis on forward Leo Lyons, who is expected to have a big impact this season. I thought it turned out OK - admittedly I liked the story better after Greg had edited it more than after the copy editors did, but that's life as a reporter.
So as a whole I think my first week truly reporting went pretty well. I feel like I have a good understanding of this team, the personnel and how everything works - moreso then I do football - so I am confident that I can do a good job on this beat. I am really excited to continue reporting and to get deeper into this beat. It is going to be a lot of work, of course, but I am excited and ready to do it.
Week 8
After eight weeks, I am finally a bona fida Missourian reporter now. I had my first story run last Sunday and my second today and I will be reporting on an event tonight that will eventually produce my third story next week. It feels good to be back.
Saturday was another open gym session at Mizzou Arena. The team basically just plays pickup games for an hour or so and the football tailgaters are invited in to watch. At first I was kind of skeptical as to whether this warranted a story. John and I went to the last one and we barely stumbled upon a story about a basketball alumni being there. I was pretty confident it would be pretty low key again this week and the team had it's media day on Wednesday, so that is when the real stories would come out, I thought. Greg disagreed though, and I am glad that I did go. He said that even if I can't find anything specifically noteworthy, the whole concept of open gym on football gameday is kind of interesting. That is what I ended up pursuing.
First, I think it ended up being a relevant enough story that it was a good thing that I went. Second, I think it was a good story to get me started back up for the year. It required me to walk around the crowd and talk to people and to talk to the team and make observations. It was kind of a hybrid of man on the street and covering a team, so I kind of jumped right back into reporting. The other big thing I got out of it is that since there wasn't a big media presence there I chatted up the sports information director for a good portion of my time there. I got answers to all of those basic questions, ones like "Why isn't Mizzou Madness at Midnight?" and "Explain the recruiting process." I felt like I left the arean that day with a really good understandin of the team I am getting involved with. That, in my opinion, is the most important aspect of being a good beat reporter. The story itself was nothing groundbreaking, but I felt like I got my point across in an efficient manner and I was pleased with it as a first clip of the new year.
Wednesday was the team's media day - meaning the whole team and the coach were just hanging out on the court for an hour and you could talk to whoever you wanted to for however long. More than anything this was a good opportunity for John and I to introduce ourselves to the players and let them get to know us so that they are more comfortable once the season starts and access is more limited. So we did that. We also had to do some stories, of course. John and I were going to share the first one, the "What did coach say is key this season" story that was bound to come out. I ended up getting a lead on another story though so I worked on that all night (and unfortunately I still don't have enough information to print that, but I am working on it). John's story in Thursday's paper turned out well. Friday was my turn. I wrote a preview/profile on tonight's Mizzou Madness event with an emphasis on forward Leo Lyons, who is expected to have a big impact this season. I thought it turned out OK - admittedly I liked the story better after Greg had edited it more than after the copy editors did, but that's life as a reporter.
So as a whole I think my first week truly reporting went pretty well. I feel like I have a good understanding of this team, the personnel and how everything works - moreso then I do football - so I am confident that I can do a good job on this beat. I am really excited to continue reporting and to get deeper into this beat. It is going to be a lot of work, of course, but I am excited and ready to do it.
Saturday was another open gym session at Mizzou Arena. The team basically just plays pickup games for an hour or so and the football tailgaters are invited in to watch. At first I was kind of skeptical as to whether this warranted a story. John and I went to the last one and we barely stumbled upon a story about a basketball alumni being there. I was pretty confident it would be pretty low key again this week and the team had it's media day on Wednesday, so that is when the real stories would come out, I thought. Greg disagreed though, and I am glad that I did go. He said that even if I can't find anything specifically noteworthy, the whole concept of open gym on football gameday is kind of interesting. That is what I ended up pursuing.
First, I think it ended up being a relevant enough story that it was a good thing that I went. Second, I think it was a good story to get me started back up for the year. It required me to walk around the crowd and talk to people and to talk to the team and make observations. It was kind of a hybrid of man on the street and covering a team, so I kind of jumped right back into reporting. The other big thing I got out of it is that since there wasn't a big media presence there I chatted up the sports information director for a good portion of my time there. I got answers to all of those basic questions, ones like "Why isn't Mizzou Madness at Midnight?" and "Explain the recruiting process." I felt like I left the arean that day with a really good understandin of the team I am getting involved with. That, in my opinion, is the most important aspect of being a good beat reporter. The story itself was nothing groundbreaking, but I felt like I got my point across in an efficient manner and I was pleased with it as a first clip of the new year.
Wednesday was the team's media day - meaning the whole team and the coach were just hanging out on the court for an hour and you could talk to whoever you wanted to for however long. More than anything this was a good opportunity for John and I to introduce ourselves to the players and let them get to know us so that they are more comfortable once the season starts and access is more limited. So we did that. We also had to do some stories, of course. John and I were going to share the first one, the "What did coach say is key this season" story that was bound to come out. I ended up getting a lead on another story though so I worked on that all night (and unfortunately I still don't have enough information to print that, but I am working on it). John's story in Thursday's paper turned out well. Friday was my turn. I wrote a preview/profile on tonight's Mizzou Madness event with an emphasis on forward Leo Lyons, who is expected to have a big impact this season. I thought it turned out OK - admittedly I liked the story better after Greg had edited it more than after the copy editors did, but that's life as a reporter.
So as a whole I think my first week truly reporting went pretty well. I feel like I have a good understanding of this team, the personnel and how everything works - moreso then I do football - so I am confident that I can do a good job on this beat. I am really excited to continue reporting and to get deeper into this beat. It is going to be a lot of work, of course, but I am excited and ready to do it.
Friday, October 5, 2007
Week 7
This week could have, well probably should have had my first bylined story in the paper. A former reporter told Greg and I that a current basektball players' brother might have been shot in his hometown (I am leaving details out just because I think this blog would show up on Google news if somebody typed his name in). A story like this is never good - reporting on death is not fun - but it is a relevant part of the job and I wanted to take it on and learn from the experience. Unfortunately I still don't have any details to follow up with so the story is not yet in the paper.
The obvious first place to check is with the athletic department. When the SID didn't answer either phone I spent the next couple hours frantically searching blogs and other newspapers for any mention of it. Then I started checking the newspapers of his hometown to see if I could find any records of a murder with a similar last name. Nothing. Eventually I got a call back from the SID who said the team was taking pictures all afternoon so he was unable to answer earler. Then I asked about the tip he acknowledged that something had happened but said he didn't know any details and hadn't talked to the player yet. A little while later he called back saying he still didn't have any information, whether it was a brother, cousin or just friend, whether it was stabbing or shooting, finally if it was even fatal. Then he said I was the only one to even call about it so he would get more information and call me right away.
Since I am new to a story like this, I was trying to ask Greg for tips on how to go about it throughout the day. After this last call, he said to call the newspapers in hi hometown. This is a very relevant practice that I had never even thought of. I had to go through a big bureucracy to find the right person (it is a big newspaper) but then the guy I talked to was very helpful considereding how little I had to offer. I told him the players name, the area he went to high school in and the alledged tip, but unfortunately he couldn't find anything matching.
The next day I had trouble reaching the SID again but eventually got in contact with him midday. He said he was home and sick but waiting on a call for more information. To me, the fact that he was sick pretty much said that he was not really trying very hard. Likewise, by the end of the day he still didn't have the information, and that's where I am right now.
Overall I am kind of disappointed that I don't have any information to report yet. Granted it's not a big story or even a super important story for our audience, but it is something that should be reported on because it affects a public figure, and I could have broken the news ahead of the Tribune, which would have been good. Technically, I still feel like I am going to be the first one to report it. I am going to work today to keep trying to find information so hopefully I finally get something and really get my semester of advanced reporting rolling!
The obvious first place to check is with the athletic department. When the SID didn't answer either phone I spent the next couple hours frantically searching blogs and other newspapers for any mention of it. Then I started checking the newspapers of his hometown to see if I could find any records of a murder with a similar last name. Nothing. Eventually I got a call back from the SID who said the team was taking pictures all afternoon so he was unable to answer earler. Then I asked about the tip he acknowledged that something had happened but said he didn't know any details and hadn't talked to the player yet. A little while later he called back saying he still didn't have any information, whether it was a brother, cousin or just friend, whether it was stabbing or shooting, finally if it was even fatal. Then he said I was the only one to even call about it so he would get more information and call me right away.
Since I am new to a story like this, I was trying to ask Greg for tips on how to go about it throughout the day. After this last call, he said to call the newspapers in hi hometown. This is a very relevant practice that I had never even thought of. I had to go through a big bureucracy to find the right person (it is a big newspaper) but then the guy I talked to was very helpful considereding how little I had to offer. I told him the players name, the area he went to high school in and the alledged tip, but unfortunately he couldn't find anything matching.
The next day I had trouble reaching the SID again but eventually got in contact with him midday. He said he was home and sick but waiting on a call for more information. To me, the fact that he was sick pretty much said that he was not really trying very hard. Likewise, by the end of the day he still didn't have the information, and that's where I am right now.
Overall I am kind of disappointed that I don't have any information to report yet. Granted it's not a big story or even a super important story for our audience, but it is something that should be reported on because it affects a public figure, and I could have broken the news ahead of the Tribune, which would have been good. Technically, I still feel like I am going to be the first one to report it. I am going to work today to keep trying to find information so hopefully I finally get something and really get my semester of advanced reporting rolling!
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