You never know where your opportunity is going to come from…All you can hope for is that it comes sooner rather than later…And that you’ll be ready when it does…Mine came when i was a graduate student here at Boston University and i can , unequivocally, say i wasn’t ready but I did know enough to grab or the brass ring….I was a student volunteer…What was the worst thing that could happen, they’d fire me?…Forty two years later, I learn something new every day…
You never know…For Mike Flynn, born in Pennsylvania, raised in Agawam, Ma, playing football came naturally…Undrafted out of the University of Maine, Flynn signed on with the Baltimore Ravens, an opportunity all of its own, but when he proved to be a good interview, producers of the Ravens television show asked Flynn to be a co-host… It sounded good at the beginning but Flynn soon realized he’d be commenting on players he’d lined up alongside: “I had a responsibility to criticize a guy…It was difficult …But looking back I probably wasn’t as critical as I should have been…You learn…Just don’t make the guy look like a fool”…
You never know…Darwin Zook took a more circuitous route to his now job at 1510 AM Boston…Like many students he started at the college radio station but transitioned into production and eventually into television programming ,doing everything from being a location manager to being a contestant on the short lived “Love in the Wild” …That led to a gig on “Dirty Water TV” on the New England Sports Network and finally to 1510…Zook found that having relatives from the area brought a whole new kind of pressure he wasn’t quite ready for: “Oh boy, what’s my family going to think of this…and it’s still that way(after all these months).”
You never know…By the time Trenni Kusnierek got to Boston she’d worked in Eu Claire, Wisconsin, Pittsburgh and Milwaukee…You would think she’d have been ready to handle any negative comments about being the new kid in town and being a female as well…As it turned out it didn’t make much difference: “One thing I have learned and unfortunately Twitter has brought it to the forefront is that people just won’t like you regardless of gender.”…Like Zook, Kusnierek wasn’t always sure she’d make it in sports television…She’d had opportunities in other platforms but not even a Change of Heart could dissuade her from her dreams of reporting on sports…
Being a newcomer brings all kinds of challenges to young journalists…But nothing comes easy, right?…You’re ready, you’re able….just remember – You never know….
17 Comments
Nick Koop posted on November 11, 2013 at 10:13 pm
Each of our guests last week showed that it took a long, winding journey to reach the point where they are now, and each took advantage when an opportunity presented itself. You can never know when your big break is coming, but you can be prepared for it.
Those of us in this sports seminar class are about to embark on our own journeys in a short time, a daunting task. It’s easy to have high expectations upon graduation, but we should be prepared to have buy time until a greater opportunity presents itself. And when that time comes, we’ll be ready.
Like any job in sports journalism, preparation is key to excelling in a new role. Moving to Pittsburgh to cover the Penguins on TV like Kusnierek? You better know not only the sport but the history of the team as well. Doing homework like this will gain the respect of your audience.
What we didn’t discuss last week that I think is also important to realize is the consequence of not being ready for that moment. If you’re not prepared for that moment, you never know when another opportunity may present itself.
Lisa Erickson posted on November 12, 2013 at 7:57 am
No matter what, at some point, every person will be a newcomer to something. Whether it be new to a job, new to a city or new to the way certain things are done. It’s important to realize that when you are new, it will take time to learn and adjust. It’s also important to realize that you are not going to know everything right away (so don’t act like you do!). In terms of reporting, journalists likely switch newspapers and cities several times during a career. Each time reporters make that switch, they will have things to learn. They will have to learn the way the news organization functions, they will have to learn what their expectations are, and they will have to learn about their new beat.
One of the biggest things I took away from several of these seminars is the importance of immersing yourself in your work. You need to really understand every facet of the team or city you are covering. It takes a lot of time and a lot of research to do this, but you really do need to put in the time. If you don’t understand the history of the team or the local culture, you are going to miss nuances. You won’t be able to make broader connections and your work won’t be as strong. While it is always somewhat hard starting something new, the best way to get comfortable and confident is to learn everything you can.
My favorite speaker last week was Mike Flynn because I really thought he showed the importance of understanding that you don’t know everything. A lot of times, I think, when people start new things, it’s easy to try to cover up your inadequacies. We want to seem like we know what we are doing, even when we don’t. But sometimes, that does more harm than good. You shouldn’t be afraid to ask questions when you don’t understand something or seek advice from someone who is more experienced. Also, everyone brings something unique to a job. Whereas professional athletes bring their extensive background and expertise in nuances of the game, trained journalists might bring to the table a proclivity for more thorough research.
My biggest reflections after the seminar had to do with understanding that no matter what, we are all going to be new to something, at some point. With that, I think the biggest thing is to be open to learning from those who are more experienced and being willing to put the work and effort in to understand as much as you can.
Katarina Luketich posted on November 12, 2013 at 10:31 am
I think the biggest thing I took out of this group of seminars is that you’re never going to be able to please everyone and you shouldn’t try to. People aren’t going to like you for different reasons. Flynn faces scrutiny because he’s an athlete without journalistic training. Kusnierek faces it still because she’s a woman (not to go back to the women in sports seminar, but however far women have come I think it’s something that will never go away in entirety http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/11/08/damon-bruce_n_4242210.html).
Regardless, this industry requires you to have tough skin. You have to be able to shake off the negative feedback and just keep doing your job. The minute you start to let those things get to you, the more susceptible you are to failing. If you’re covering a sport you’re not familiar with like Kusnierek did in Pittsburgh, you have to work that much harder and prove that you’re capable of doing it. It may require extra homework, but if you want to be successful it’s necessary.
I think that story is one that we can all benefit from because when you land that first job, who knows where it’s going to be. It’ll most likely be in a small market with teams and perhaps even sports that you aren’t familiar with. You have to take the time to learn them and do everything you can to cover them the best you can. Showing you learned the sport and the athletes won’t go unnoticed and is sure to win you credibility with your audience.
Going back to facing criticism, I don’t think it’s something you should let bother you. No matter how knowledgeable you are and how good you are at your job, there is always going to be someone that doesn’t like you. That’s life and you can’t spend your time trying to please everyone because then I think you lose your identity and as a result, probably your following.
That being said, if you did something to deserve the criticism, then maybe you should take a step back, reevaluate the situation and make yourself better because of it. We’ve talked about it in previous discussions, but Erin Andrew’s reporting at the World Series is an example of well-deserved criticism (although I still see her appearing on shows where people are commending her coverage which I don’t understand, but that’s a different story).
Main takeaway: do your homework, be prepared and the rest comes with practice.
Edward Murphy posted on November 12, 2013 at 11:36 am
This was the first seminar where I stopped and thought “oh wow this can really happen.” I always knew this is what I wanted to do, but to see people who actually worked their way up or got a chance unexpectedly made me feel at ease for the first time.
I think the main thing I took away from this was that you need to jump on every opportunity you get. You can only learn through experience and getting better from mistakes. If someone gives you a chance you need to take it. You also always need to keep in contact with those you have worked with in the past because you will never know when they can come in need.
Another thing our guests had in common was passion. Whether it was the field you started in since day one, a field you left for another job, or something you started after the first part of your career was finished – they all wanted to do it because they really enjoy it. Not everyone can be in broadcast, it takes a certain kind of talent and drive which they all had. I learned that no matter how convoluted the path may be, if you do have the will power to be in the business and you work hard you will succeed.
I don’t necessarily think all newcomers are ill-prepared for this. I think plenty have talent and just need a platform. In fact I believe some of the best media members out there now are the youngest ones, whether its print, radio, or television. I think there’s an unfair stigma that you need to pay your dues in order to be on tv or on air, but plenty of the newer guys are just as good.
Tim Healey posted on November 12, 2013 at 1:46 pm
These were extremely valuable seminars because in addition to the “You Just Never Know” theme in the blog post above, they thrice exhibited just how winding the path to an ideal job is.
Too often — in this class and elsewhere — questions to sports journalism veterans along the lines of “How did you get the fantastic/cushy gig you have now?” are met with variations of “right place, right time.”
Not so much for the guests last week.
Yes, Mike Flynn had the advantage none of us will ever have in that he was a professional athlete, but even he had to work his way up to the job he wanted: with a major outlet in a major (and home) market. His situation is different than ours are/will be, but maybe there is something to be said for team-run shows/websites/media. I imagine there are constraints, which force you to consider how much of “journalism” it really is, but if it gets you legitimate on-camera experience and big-time exposure, what’s the harm? It could be a launching pad to bigger things, even if the journalistic ethics are questionable.
Trenni Kusnierek’s path seems like the most typical of the three, but one of the stepping stones to her national/Boston career raised a question: When is a “good” job not worth taking? She mentioned how she regretted taking the Penguins sideline (side-ice…?) reporter job because she was in way over her head. As far as I’m concerned, it is not bad to bite off more than you might be able to chew as long as your superiors trust you enough to give you the big bite. It’s possible to learn on the fly, and if you work hard — which you are presumably familiar with if you have gotten that far — I don’t understand why it would be so hard to bridge the gap. Nick pointed out that knowing the sport and team helps you gain the respect of your audience, and I’d argue the same is true when it comes to your subjects. Having the respect of the athletes makes your job easier and the quality of your work higher, which in turn leads to the respect of your audience. It will snowball magnificently.
I am not sure what to make of Darwin Zook’s career (path) so far since it was only relatively recently started — or re-started. But there was one big takeaway: It’s possible to get your start in your hometown market. That is encouraging. It’s a small start, of course, with Zook admitting 1510 AM is a significantly smaller station than WEEI or 98.5, but he seems far better off at a small station in Boston than at a small station in the middle of nowhere. If he is able to showcase his skills enough there, he is more likely to parlay that into a job with a larger outlet — and still be in his home market.
That brings me to another one of Zook’s points that I found particularly interesting: Working in the market you grew up in is a significant advantage. It seems obvious — you accrue knowledge and have a much better understanding of the long-term history of the local teams, so of course you will be able to do your job better — but is underrated at the times when the “start in a small market” line of thinking comes into play. If you can swing it, why not?
That said, Zook did indicate he often has a hard time taking his fandom out of it. As a radio host, I suppose that is passable and even desirable. But for the writers among us it is practically a death wish. There is undoubtedly emotion in sports, and it is important to tap into that when telling stories, but you should leave your own out of it. There should be a threshold for the radio hosts, too. Zook mentioned the “chemistry vs. pitching” debate with respect to the Red Sox’ success. He sided with the former. For a person who is paid to know what he is talking about, though, his fandom in that scenario makes him come off as uninformed and overzealous. That raises a new possibility: Maybe it is indeed better to start off in another part of the country, work into a routine while letting your fandom subside, before returning to a market where you would rather be long-term.
In the end, though, all of those questions pretty much lead back to the bigger-picture answer, which corresponds perfectly with “You Just Never Know”: early on, take what you can get.
Saba Aziz posted on November 12, 2013 at 7:34 pm
There goes that clichéd saying that there are no shortcuts to success. Never more have I come to realize its relevance than now, especially after last week’s seminar. Sports journalism is a competitive field which is why there is so much turnover. And while most of us already have one eye on our dream jobs once we’re done with university, we have to come to terms with the fact it’s going to be a long, bumpy road.
As the guests shared their experiences last week and as the blog above suggests, I have come to the realization that you really don’t know when a good opportunity will come knocking your way. It could be at a small local newspaper or even a big shot sports network. Most opportunities come your way in the oddest form when you’re least expecting them, which means it is always good to be prepared. And the best one can do is to keep giving yourselves those chances by developing contacts, by networking and crossing paths with people in this field. And in that respect, our sports journalism seminar series class at BU has been a been a great help.
As newcomers, one of the key things to accept is that we will make mistakes on our first jobs and LOTS of them. But that is only natural. And chances are there will be negative feedback and criticism thrown our way in the early days. But as any professional athlete would tell you, losing and making mistakes teaches you more than winning and being initially right. So it is best to learn from our mistakes and move forward. As Mike Flynn and Trenni Kusneirek showed, it’s good to be self-critical and accept that you stink in order to grow in this field or any job for that matter.
Talking about mistakes, former Celtics forward Cedric Maxwell made a big one in 2007. (http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/1792843/posts) While doing radio commentary for WEEI-AM for a Boston Celtics game, Maxwell passed a sexist remark towards a female referee, sparking a lot of criticism and outrage. He ultimately had to apologize on air the next day.
A level of comfort on the job, especially for someone just starting out, is important. It also helps to have a mentor or someone you can look up to, like Trenni had Mike Felger. It is key to keep asking questions and never stop learning on the job from the people around you. It is also beneficial to have a good working environment where people are willing to help you out and make you feel comfortable rather than sniping at you. We have to be prepared for both. Also, we don’t want to end up with a sport or a role in which we’re not comfortable. It won’t take long for us to get exposed.
Starting out in a small market is something we’ve heard a lot this semester. And it makes sense on many different levels. Yes, this would mean we might have to do with crummy salaries at first but the experience and growth at these smaller markets will be invaluable. From an economics stand point, our opportunity cost of those lower salaries will be the long term earning potential in the future as we hone our skills.
Because each place has a history and a sporting background, it takes time to develop that emotional connection, relationships with players and workmates and to establish oneself. We have to accept that a lot of research, time and energy is required to settle into a new place. Also, a happy medium is needed as we want our personalities and passion to shine through without coming across as a show off and a know-it-all.
So a little more than a year from now, when, hopefully,we’ll be setting foot into the practical life of sports journalism and struggling to make a name, at least we won’t complain that we were never told about the potential challenges coming our way.
Rachel Harrington posted on November 12, 2013 at 11:46 pm
There’s more than one way to find a job in sports journalism, and that was one of the big takeaways from last week’s speakers, Mike Flynn, Darwin Zook, and Trenni Kusnierek. Though all three traveled down different career paths to get to where they are now, they shared similar fears in the early stages of their careers.
Self-doubt is something anyone who works in sports journalism will have to overcome. This can come from many places. Whether you’re worried about what former teammates have to say or your own family, you have to get over that initial fear to be a good journalist. If you don’t, you’ll never feel free to be yourself on the air and you’ll ultimately sound quite phony.
Any sports journalist can tell the newbies that you will be attacked. There have always been critics, thanks to talk radio shows and letters to the editor, but it’s even easier for others to call out your opinions or reporting now that sites like Twitter and Facebook exist. Having a tough skin is critical to working in the industry. All three speakers last week started in smaller markets, where they received less frequent criticism from their readers/listeners than a bigger city like New York. It’s likely that any of us who plan to work in the same field will need to start in a tinier area as well compared to, say, Boston, and perhaps that isn’t the worse thing. We’ll have time to hone our craft and practice handling attacks before we enter bigger markets later in our careers.
Earlier, we spoke about the specific challenges women face if they want to enter sports journalism. Trenni was a reminder that it is still harder to be a female working in sports. You’re criticized more harshly both for physical reasons (how you look) and not knowing as much as male counterparts (whether it’s true or not). Though anyone in the industry will face criticism at times, there is still an extra bias women will have to face if they plan to report or talk about sports for a living. Conditions are better than they were in the 1970s, but women still have some ground to cover before they will be seen as equals to their male counterparts.
Finally, it’s important for new sports journalists to try to remain above water and not take on any positions that are over their heads. When Trenni reported on hockey in Pittsburgh, a sport she knew very little about, she could have ruined her future career. Like in any aspect of life, if you don’t feel comfortable taking a job you think you might not be ready for, really weigh the pros and cons. Are you just worried about the job because you lack confidence and are feeling some nerves? Or are you missing the skills to do the job well? If it’s the latter, it might be worth passing on a position even if the pay is better. You’ll probably get the salary eventually if you climb the journalism ranks, but if you take a job you’re not suited for and flop, you may be out of luck trying to work in the competitive field of sports media.
Kevin Dillon posted on November 13, 2013 at 9:39 am
Opportunities do not come easy in the world of sports journalism. At least that is what I have been taught. However, with the career paths of Darwin Zook and Trenni Kusnierek in mind, my thought now is that opportunities are always available, but not always what one is looking for.
Take Trenni’s stint as a Penguins sideline reporter for example. She did not know anything about hockey, but the opportunity presented itself so she took it. Sure she was not perfect at the job right off the bat, but that is the way it is going to be for many young journalists looking to break into the field. I personally am more of a hockey expert than a basketball expert, but would I turn down a paying opportunity to cover the Philadelphia 76ers? No way.
I would do just what Trenni did, just perhaps work harder to learn the game of basketball before I was first called into duty. While I would certainly be a more effective reporter and produce better content if I was covering the Flyers over the 76ers, I would know what it takes to be a reporter in a professional locker room based on my previous experiences. Knowing how to be a reporter and how to write is the first step, and learning the finer aspects of the sport would come next. It would be hard work, but that is what it takes to be successful in this field no matter what I am covering.
I mentioned that previous experiences in professional locker rooms would help me cover any sport, but where do those experiences come from? That is where the unpaid internships we are doing now and the first few jobs we get coming out of college come in. These are not glamorous positions. This is not being the Bruins beat writer for the Boston Globe. This could be working for a local newspaper covering Single-A baseball. But the idea is that by getting the experience and getting the clips in your portfolio, you are preparing yourself for any good job that comes your way. And being prepared is the most important thing.
So if a job good job opportunity comes my way, whether or not it is something I feel fits my skill set perfectly, it is probably a good idea for me to take it. For Trenni, her time with the Penguins meant that she got to cover the Pirates, which was something she was a lot more comfortable with. With that experience under her belt she was able to get an anchor/reporter job at Comcast SportsNet, which is certainly not easy to come by. Sometimes it is the job you least expect that jumpstarts you to the job you have always wanted. But you have to be willing and prepared to take the job you’re not as keen on to get where you want to be. Because like Professor Shorr said, you really just never know what can come from it.
Meredith Perri posted on November 13, 2013 at 10:29 am
In just a few months every person in this class will hope that they have a job that will put them on the right direction toward their ultimate sports journalism destination. As we learned last week, though, that path could have more turns and stops than any of us could ever imagine.
While each of the speakers had his or her own adventure story about making it into the Boston sport market, the one I keep thinking about is that of Trenni Kusnierek and her experience in Pittsburgh.
We all grow up following certain teams, and, even if you watch national sports networks frequently, you still know more about the organizations in your hometown than anywhere else. We’ve also all been trained at this point to accept that we could cover sports anywhere out of college.
Kusnierek’s experience covering hockey for the first time stands out because it shows that no matter how much you think you are prepared for a new environment, anything can happen. For a group of students who don’t even know where they will live in a few months, this is a very important lesson to learn. It also, as Tim pointed out, really drives home the idea of how much research you need to do about the teams you cover.
Even beyond having an historical knowledge of both the team and sport you cover, I think Kusnierek’s story also gave a valuable lesson about taking those jobs that we might not be qualified for. Once again, as Tim already mentioned, I think that taking a job that pushes and challenges you is great. In my experiences with internships, those are the jobs that really teach you a lot about yourself and what you can handle.
At the same time, Kusnierek’s situation definitely made me think about what I would do in that situation. Is it worth it to potentially risk your career because you may not have the best understanding of a topic and you take the job anyway? How do you prepare for not actually getting the allotted time you were assured you would receive to prepare for the position?
I don’t know the answers to these questions yet. In fact, I think they should be answered on a case-by-case basis. Hearing Kusnierek’s story, however, gave me a better viewpoint of how to handle such a situation. I believe that story alone was an important reason to have this seminar.
Adam Jakubiak posted on November 13, 2013 at 11:12 am
There is no question that chances and opportunities to catch your break or get your foot in the door are hard to come by, and can often involve a lot of luck. But I think a lot of these chances are “hidden” and you just have to try what you can. I remember I first fell in love with broadcasting back in high school, when our basketball team needed a public address announcer because the guy who usually doesn’t didn’t show up. I had never really held a microphone before or had announced anything in front of a large group of people, but I decided to give it a shot and do the best I could. Turned out I loved doing it, and by working harder than the other guy, it turned into a side gig for me. I then decided to keep pursuing other avenues in broadcasting, such as reporting, and now here I am at BU getting lots of great opportunities with fellow broadcasting students. But I really think it was that first opportunity that opened the door for me and I often look back on that moment quite a lot.
It’s important to take advantage of whatever chances you get that come your way. Even if it isn’t something that might sound appealing to you, you never know who you might meet in the process or what the job might lead to down the road. More often than not in broadcasting, our first job will likely never be our “dream job.” But that doesn’t mean an opportunity won’t jumpstart you to it.
In regards to criticism, I think it’s a key that all journalists should have tough skin and not let anyone bother them, especially in sports. Sports fans love to debate, and quite frankly, if a journalist doesn’t tick anyone off, then they probably aren’t doing their job to the best of their ability. There is a report out there today that Tim Tebow is likely going to become an NFL or NCAA Football analyst (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/11/11/tim-tebow-tv-career-nfl-agent_n_4255264.html). There’s no doubt he will face scrutiny like he always has, but it’s something he is used to and honestly I think he would do a decent job.
Regardless of whether you are new to the business or a former athlete, everyone needs to work hard, be tough but fair, and take advantage of whatever comes across your plate.
Aaron Holden posted on November 13, 2013 at 11:16 am
The future is always a daunting, unknown idea, but we just need to make the most of it. In most jobs, people will move from place to place but usually not too frequently. In any kind of journalism, sports included, people move all over the place all the time. Clearly, a big message this week, is when this move presents itself you have to be ready for it. I think you don’t only have to be ready but you need to take it.
A new job leads to new opportunities, and even a new start. Most people have a stronghold on their position at jobs, until someone comes in and shows they can do it better. Taking a new position gives us the opportunity of showing that we can do it better. It allows us to leave our comfort zone and start climbing the ladder of sports journalism until we reach whatever position we want. Besides, there’s more opportunities and positions than we know, but they might not all fall in our lap. I’ve learned to not miss out on a chance to further a career just because you dont want to leave a certain city or are content with the job you have, because you probably could be doing bigger and better things.
With each opportunity comes a bit of risk. You could take a new job and not be prepared for it at all. You could be doing more writing than editing, or vice versa, when you’ve been doing the other for years now. Its probably a good idea to be very well rounded in each area you could be working, because, again, you may only get one chance.
Another risk, that a lot of students seem to be mentioning, is you could go somewhere with sports teams you know nothing about. Before I came to BU, I spent two years at George Mason University in northern Virginia. Obviously, Virginia has no sports teams, so colleges are everybody’s favorites, and then high schools. I’ve never seen people who have more pride in their high schools and hatred for the surrounding schools than at Mason. Everyone who grew up in that area knew all the great players from each school (some of whom are now pros, like Mike Glennon and the Upton brothers) and if they didnt go to your high school, you probably hated them. If I hadn’t gone to Mason and took a job at the Fairfax Times, I definitely would be overwhelmed with the different sports affiliations compared to my whole life of loving Boston’s professional sports. Clearly, you can do your homework and get on top of it with relative ease, but it takes time and effort which could hurt your work. Either way, taking an opportunity to go somewhere and make a name for yourself if absolutely worth any risk involved.
Andrew French posted on November 13, 2013 at 11:51 am
Unfortunately I was only able to attend the Mike Flynn seminar last week, but here’s what I took from it and why it’s important.
Former athletes are taking our jobs. Period. ESPN has a constant cycle of former athletes as “analysts.” So many that I can’t even keep track of them anymore. Mike Flynn has done exactly that. But unlike many of the analysts I see, Flynn does a good job at what he does. He proved to be a good interview and the Ravens gave him a chance to be a co-host and he hasn’t looked back.
However, despite Flynn proving he can do the job, so can a lot of people. Flynn only got the chance because he was a former athlete. Plenty of us up and coming broadcast journalists who are more than qualified to do some of the things he does, will never get the opportunity that he did to prove himself. It’s not fair.
It’s plain to see that there are things the we will never know about the game of football that former players like Flynn do know. Stuff they learned in the locker room and on the field that we could never begin to fully understand. That knowledge is obviously very important to bring to the table when it comes to radio or television. But what people forget is that there are things that we learn from school and prior journalism experiences, like our internships and past jobs, that former athletes will never understand either. But apparently that doesn’t matter. Ray Lewis can just mumble about something completely obvious or completely irrelevant on the Monday night postgame show and ESPN thinks it’s gold because they are putting a familiar face on camera.
Flynn mentioned that he felt more of these jobs will continue to be taken away from journalists as time progresses. But he also reminded us that there will still be openings for play-by-play jobs and Adam Shefter type jobs- jobs that ex-players don’t really do. According to Flynn, ex-athletes, while they love the game and love talking and analyzing it, they don’t like to put in the work. Jobs that require more reporting, more digging, and more effort will still go to the hard-working journalist.
It’s just a shame that ALL the jobs don’t go to the hard-working journalist. All of us will be looking for these dream jobs and they are going to people who have no work ethic when it comes to actually doing the job. Yeah, that’s totally fair. As Oklahoma State football coach said, this is garbage! Makes me wanna puke!
Andy posted on November 13, 2013 at 11:55 am
I was very sad to have missed the chance to hear from these three professionals, especially Darwin Zook, who is doing the very job that I hope to someday attempt. Based on the tone of the post by Professor Shorr, I gleaned that the talk focussed on being prepared to take your opportunity whenever it arrises. This is in a way similar to what we have heard from speakers from earlier in the semester, but in this case the speakers were talking less about being prepared for the interview or the game or the show, and more specifically about being ready for career chance.
This is something that I have long thought about, and is one of the main reasons why I am here at BU. The fact is that in today’s sports media, you have to be able to do all different kinds of jobs, and need to know how to do them as soon as the opportunity comes up. The chances are that whatever our first jobs are out of school, we will be asked to perform multiple tasks beyond just the expected duties of the job. That means we have to be READY! If your boss asks you to edit a video for the company website, and you can’t do it, he is going to find someone who can, and you maybe out of a job. The more you can do, the more employable you are, and that is what is so great about BU. We are gaining the skills that will make us ready for the workplace.
There is more to it than just being taught how to perform tasks however. Opportunities often come from connections that you make, and sometimes those connections are made when you least expect them. This is why having the ability to be thick skinned, and not take negativity too seriously is a huge advantage. I like what Kusnierek said about Twitter, because I think it speaks to the climate that we live in currently, especially in the sports world. People are going to be rude, especially when they can be anonymous, and it is up to us to not let that bother us.
Again, I am very sorry to have missed this seminar. The advice that these three offered is invaluable, and if you can really take to heart what they were preaching your career path can be much smoother. Be ready for chances by being as professional a prepared as possible. Ignore negativity because the fact is that lots of folks just want to see you upset. And make as many connections as you can, because you never know when that person you met at the airport in Phoenix might mention your name for another opportunity.
At the end of the day, this advice is very similar to that which we have heard throughout the semester. Be professional. Be kind. Work hard. What they did to add to those lessons was to remind us to BE READY.
Andrew French posted on November 13, 2013 at 11:56 am
I don’t know why I didn’t put his name there, but yeah that was Mike Gundy who said that. Love that press conference. Priceless.
Nick Zelano posted on November 13, 2013 at 1:35 pm
I think that last week’s seminars were telling of one main thing, you have to be yourself and be tough. When you are new to this industry, you will be faced with a lot of scrutiny and “haters” for a variety of reasons. The trick is to not allow these people to bother you or change your passion.
Your ideal job will come through hard work and a long path. The “You Just Never Know” mentality of this industry is very apparent in all of our guests from last week as you point out. However they never changed what was important to them. In each case, they tried their best to find where they fit best and what they thought they were most passionate about. They followed their own path and were able to achieve the dreams and goals they had set out to.
Just like Katarina said, it will not come without haters and people will find just about any reason to discredit you, dislike you, and disrespect you. The trick is never straying from your path. If I learned anything from Trenni, it’s that people will literally tear you apart if you give them a reason to. But even when she did become knowledgeable about her coverage, they still tried to discredit her by saying she was just a female. As a newcomer into an industry with built in faces of fame, you need to make an impact, but also know your role. You need to have tough skin to put up with the disrespect and have the patience to let things come full circle.
The long roads that mostly all of our visitors have taken to throughout their careers were all challenging and sometimes disheartening. The trick is to take advantage of all of the opportunities given your way and never saying no. Being in the right place at the right time is essential and finding and establishing contacts can all go a long way. All of that has been the fundamental thing I have learned from all of the people that have come in this semester. Hard work, a little bit of luck, and being in the right place can go a long way in this industry.
Just because you are a newcomer doesn’t mean we have to feel out of place or even like we are doing a poor job. We can learn our craft, climb up the ladder and still feel confident as we go long the path that we desire. We need to do what is best for us. We need to find what we are passionate about and stick with it. We cannot leave our paths, no matter who is hating on us. Because when it comes down to it, “ you just never know” what could happen when, the key is to never close any doors or disrespect yourself!
Jeanna posted on November 13, 2013 at 11:18 pm
“But nothing comes easy, right?” I think one really important lesson to take out of last week’s seminars, as well as any other seminar this semester is that none of this will come easy. It won’t be easy to be a female in the sports industry. It won’t be easy to successfully cover crime stories in sports. It won’t be easy to climb the ladder from the bottom and eventually find your way near the top. Nothing in sports journalism will come easy, but learning from all of the people who have visited class will help us at least be prepared when we graduate from BU.
I thought that Trenni brought a lot to the table with her discussion on being a newcomer. Newcomer or not, criticism is always going to be heavy when you’re in the middle of the media. When you look at some of the problems that Trenni had in Pittsburgh, preparation and experience helps. If she had prepared herself better for the NHL and sports town like Pittsburgh, she might have had a better experience. However, it is important to recognize that you are always going to be subject to criticism, especially if you are doing on camera or print work. You’re providing people with information that they find important to them. You are providing people with your opinion that they may or may not agree with. New or old, you’re always subject to criticism. One example of this, in the same station as Trenni, is with CSNNE Bruins specialist, Joe Haggerty. If you take a look at his twitter handle (www.twitter.com/hackswithhaggs) you can see that he constantly takes heat from readers and fans. He has been around for a while. He is also a white male who really knows the details about the Bruins. That goes to show that no matter who you are, you must be prepared for criticism.
On that note, I really agree with something that Katarina said: “Going back to facing criticism, I don’t think it’s something you should let bother you. No matter how knowledgeable you are and how good you are at your job, there is always going to be someone that doesn’t like you. That’s life and you can’t spend your time trying to please everyone because then I think you lose your identity and as a result, probably your following.”
I think you need to keep a tough skin and a tough mindset. The all time great coach Vince Lombardi said of football: “It does not matter how many times you get knocked down, but how many times you get up.” I think this idea stretched across all areas of life. If you make a mistake, admit where you went wrong, use it as a lesson, and do not accept defeat. There is no way that someone is going to make it in sports journalism if they don’t have tough skin. I think both Trenni and Darwin were able to prove that to us.
“You never know where your opportunity is going to come from.” It might be something different than what you expected, for better or worse. The most important thing that we can take away from seminar discussion and the guests’ advice is to do your best to be ready. Prepare yourself as much as you can. Know your material. Know your audience. Learn from people around you. Ask questions. Be tough. Especially in a field like sports journalism, you never know where you will start, go, and end up. This means that you always have to be ready to make decisions on your toes and the best way to do that is by being as ready as possible. This particular seminar, with the help of ones in the past, will help us be able to do that.
Raphaelle Steg posted on November 14, 2013 at 12:11 am
In last week seminars, we had the chance to meet three journalists with very different backgrounds. They showed us that there are no right path to this business, and no easy one either.
Athletes are always going to have a better chance of having the opportunity to be on air, television or radio, after their career because it is what the public want. The industry of sports journalism has become more and more of an entertainment, and therefore the public needs entertainers. They want to see faces they can recognize, and of course the networks are eager to give them a try because they attract the audience. But Mike Flynn showed us that it is not always sufficient to make a second career out of journalism. Of course, I have more in mind examples from France, and they all have one thing in common. Even if they have an impressive sports background, they sure know what they are talking about. In soccer, many former players turned journalists won the World Cup in 1998, this gives them credibility, but the ones that are still on air today showed their qualities as journalists.
From all the different seminars we had over the semester, there is one key principle that comes back over and over again: preparation. Whether you are a former athlete, a beginner journalist in a small town, or starting your radio show, you always have to prepare on your subject. People watching you, listening to you or reading you will not let any mistake or hesitation pass by, because it is a very unstable market. And as Trenni Kusnierek said, this happens especially if you are a woman.
What was interesting about these seminars is that they prove that there are no given in this career we chose. Opportunities can rise from anywhere, and having the right connections are important. I am looking for summer internships right now, and it is easier when I already have contacts from previous internships and if when I left a good impression of professionalism.
These people have shown me that the sports journalism industry is a hard one, with a lot of hours, and a lot of competition. Many people try to make it, one way or the other, and you need to have many qualities to succeed.
– As we said, always be prepared, and work hard.
– Do not be too sensitive, because people will always criticize you, especially with the new technologies like Twitter.
– Be humble, you are not doing that job for the money or fame, do not consider that certain opportunities are not worthy of you, it might be the opposite.
– Never give up if it is your passion, there are so many ways to get there.
Finally what I have learned from the last seminar is: do not do reality TV shows.