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.
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.
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!
Friday, September 28, 2007
Week 6
Finally something to report. John and I went to our first basketball practice last Saturday - an hour long open gym session before the football game - and got the first men's basketball story of the season out. John wrote the story, so he should get most of the credit, but I felt like we did a good job working together and his final product turned out quite well.
We weren't really sure of what to write about, since the season doesn't start for a long time and this was a really informal practice, but the perfect story just walked in. Former Missouri basketball player Kareem Rush - arguably the best Missouri player in decades and now playing for the NBA's Indiana Pacers - walked onto the court and started shooting on an unused basket. After a few minutes he joined in the pickup game and soon after John and I approached him for an interview.
John and I both asked questions, first about what he was doing in Columbia, then about his season in Lithuania last spring and then about the upcoming NBA season. He was a very good quote and I think John and I got all of the information that we needed to. John also talked to some other players about him and then wrote the story. I thought the story in Sunday's paper was very well written, straight to the point and interesting for the readers.
Since we have two people on the beat, I can't take much credit at all for John's article. The only thing I did was come to practice with him and ask a couple questions in the interview. Nonetheless, I think this was a good sign for the upcoming season because John and I communicated very well at the practice, found a good story idea and then John executed it very well.
I'm excited for the next open practice so I can get my first clip of the year too.
We weren't really sure of what to write about, since the season doesn't start for a long time and this was a really informal practice, but the perfect story just walked in. Former Missouri basketball player Kareem Rush - arguably the best Missouri player in decades and now playing for the NBA's Indiana Pacers - walked onto the court and started shooting on an unused basket. After a few minutes he joined in the pickup game and soon after John and I approached him for an interview.
John and I both asked questions, first about what he was doing in Columbia, then about his season in Lithuania last spring and then about the upcoming NBA season. He was a very good quote and I think John and I got all of the information that we needed to. John also talked to some other players about him and then wrote the story. I thought the story in Sunday's paper was very well written, straight to the point and interesting for the readers.
Since we have two people on the beat, I can't take much credit at all for John's article. The only thing I did was come to practice with him and ask a couple questions in the interview. Nonetheless, I think this was a good sign for the upcoming season because John and I communicated very well at the practice, found a good story idea and then John executed it very well.
I'm excited for the next open practice so I can get my first clip of the year too.
Friday, September 21, 2007
Week 5
I think I finally have some news to report! After a couple weeks waiting for my beat to start, things are finally starting to take shape. The men's basketball team is now having open practices over the weekends and the season-opening Mizzou Madness event has been officially scheduled. The open practices kind of took me by surprise, but John and I are going to meet today to get some ideas of what to do there.
At this point - more than a month before the exhibition games even start - it is hard to know exactly where to go with these stories. On one hand, I don't think we should go too in-depth on the players yet unless there is something important. Since official practice doesn't start until Oct. 12, I think it is too early to say "Player A is looking really good in practice." From my understanding, these practices are more just pick up games and conditioning.
John and I will narrow it down at the Missourian this afternoon, but I figure the kind of stories we could work on during this pre-official practice season are angles like: feature on transfer Zaire Taylor - who is he?; coach Anderson's conditioning program in the second year; DeMarre Carroll recovering from the gunshot wound over the summer.
So overall, we'll talk to Greg and see what kind of stories usually come out of these pre-preseason practices and hopefully get off to a fast start!
At this point - more than a month before the exhibition games even start - it is hard to know exactly where to go with these stories. On one hand, I don't think we should go too in-depth on the players yet unless there is something important. Since official practice doesn't start until Oct. 12, I think it is too early to say "Player A is looking really good in practice." From my understanding, these practices are more just pick up games and conditioning.
John and I will narrow it down at the Missourian this afternoon, but I figure the kind of stories we could work on during this pre-official practice season are angles like: feature on transfer Zaire Taylor - who is he?; coach Anderson's conditioning program in the second year; DeMarre Carroll recovering from the gunshot wound over the summer.
So overall, we'll talk to Greg and see what kind of stories usually come out of these pre-preseason practices and hopefully get off to a fast start!
Friday, September 14, 2007
Week 4
Again, with the basketball team's not starting until Novemeber, I have yet to do any "advanced reporting." That means that the goals assignment is about the extent of my journalism experience for the week!
The assignment was due on Monday and I turned mine in on Sunday. Only problem: I forgot Greg doesn't work on either of those days. He doesn't come in until late on Tuesday, so the first time I got to sit down with him was on Wednesday, two days after it was due. Not only that, but I (along with I think four other people meeting with Greg that day) failed! I couldn't even come up with goals for myself! The problem with all of our goals is that they weren't specific enough. Greg wanted goals that we could look at in three months and determine if they were met. Therefore, something like "I want to write good stories" didn't cut it, it had to be something more along the lines of "I want to write a feature story on the team's strength coach."
So he sent us away to redo our goals. I thought at least two of mine were specific enough, they just weren't worded specific enough on my assignment. In the end, I basically came up with: I want to break a story, I want to write sports and sports news stories, I want to take too much play-by-play out of my deadline stories and I want to write with more of a voice in my stories (and Greg better not say that last one is too vague because somebody in class had the exact same idea and Tom liked it!)
So with my new, quantitative goals in hand, I will be meeting with Greg today for round two. Wish me luck!
The assignment was due on Monday and I turned mine in on Sunday. Only problem: I forgot Greg doesn't work on either of those days. He doesn't come in until late on Tuesday, so the first time I got to sit down with him was on Wednesday, two days after it was due. Not only that, but I (along with I think four other people meeting with Greg that day) failed! I couldn't even come up with goals for myself! The problem with all of our goals is that they weren't specific enough. Greg wanted goals that we could look at in three months and determine if they were met. Therefore, something like "I want to write good stories" didn't cut it, it had to be something more along the lines of "I want to write a feature story on the team's strength coach."
So he sent us away to redo our goals. I thought at least two of mine were specific enough, they just weren't worded specific enough on my assignment. In the end, I basically came up with: I want to break a story, I want to write sports and sports news stories, I want to take too much play-by-play out of my deadline stories and I want to write with more of a voice in my stories (and Greg better not say that last one is too vague because somebody in class had the exact same idea and Tom liked it!)
So with my new, quantitative goals in hand, I will be meeting with Greg today for round two. Wish me luck!
Friday, September 7, 2007
Week 3
Almost surprisingly this has probably been the least exciting week yet for me in terms of advanced reporting. We got our beats last week but since the men's basketball season doesn't start in earnest until November there isn't a lot we can do for that yet. I did talk to the sports information director Dave Reiter the other day though. I told him that John and I would be covering the team, talked a little bit about the upcoming season and he told me when would be good times to start coming down to practice etc. The first story idea, it looks like, will be when the team completes its schedule by announcing the regional draw for the CBE Classic. Dave said they are still waiting to confirm a fourth team, but that one of the other two teams is pretty good mid-major school and went 18-10 last year. He couldn't say who it was though.
On Wednesday after class John and I sat down and looked at the schedule and tried to figure out which mid-major team was 18-10 last year. We looked at last year's NCAA Tournament bracket and couldn't find any 18-10 teams so we assume it will be an NIT school. The NIT bracket didn't have the team's records though, and since we'll find out anyway in the next week or two we didn't put much effort into looking them all up. A few guesses though are Hofstra and Bradley.
We also talked about the scheduling and how things are going to work out. For the most part, the semester break committment isn't too extreme. We will have to stay a few days after finals week for some games and have to come back a week early for some games as well. We both plan on flying down to St. Louis for the Bragging Rights game against Illinois (since there isn't another game within a week either side of it). The only game that we are concerned about is Dec. 27 at home against McNeese State. Like Illinois, there isn't another game for more than a week, so that game will be kind of a pain, but that's why you do advanced reporting is to get experience so we'll be there.
Overall I am really excited for the season to start. If I wasn't doing the freelance work for St. Joseph I would probably be going crazy, because I have constantly been reporting at school since my second semester of freshman year. To not be writing, like I was the first week in Columbia, just feels wrong. This should be a good season to cover this team though because everybody is in their second year with the new coach and hopefully any kinks are worked out. John and I looked at the schedule and see three or four road games that we might be asked to travel to, which could be fun, Overall, I am babbeling but this will be a good year.
On Wednesday after class John and I sat down and looked at the schedule and tried to figure out which mid-major team was 18-10 last year. We looked at last year's NCAA Tournament bracket and couldn't find any 18-10 teams so we assume it will be an NIT school. The NIT bracket didn't have the team's records though, and since we'll find out anyway in the next week or two we didn't put much effort into looking them all up. A few guesses though are Hofstra and Bradley.
We also talked about the scheduling and how things are going to work out. For the most part, the semester break committment isn't too extreme. We will have to stay a few days after finals week for some games and have to come back a week early for some games as well. We both plan on flying down to St. Louis for the Bragging Rights game against Illinois (since there isn't another game within a week either side of it). The only game that we are concerned about is Dec. 27 at home against McNeese State. Like Illinois, there isn't another game for more than a week, so that game will be kind of a pain, but that's why you do advanced reporting is to get experience so we'll be there.
Overall I am really excited for the season to start. If I wasn't doing the freelance work for St. Joseph I would probably be going crazy, because I have constantly been reporting at school since my second semester of freshman year. To not be writing, like I was the first week in Columbia, just feels wrong. This should be a good season to cover this team though because everybody is in their second year with the new coach and hopefully any kinks are worked out. John and I looked at the schedule and see three or four road games that we might be asked to travel to, which could be fun, Overall, I am babbeling but this will be a good year.
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