Perception is often reality but in the case of Beat Reporters, the public has no idea…Sure, there are nice hotels on the road and stockpiles of frequent flier miles but with the advent of the 24 hour news cycle, the hours are long and the competition is stiff…<\/p>\n
Being around the team as often as you are presents some very different problems….You need to get close, close enough for them to trust you, but not too close so that the readers\/viewers think you’re a cheerleader…Ben Volin<\/a> of The Boston Globe<\/em> is new to covering the New England Patriots and even though he spent three years in Miami doing much the same job with the Dolphins, he’s realizes it’s like being a rookie : “You can’t fake it (a relationship), it’s frustrating because I’m \u00a0starting all over again, i don’t have any relationships…you’re just building them up, being professional and respectful”…Volin was a guest at the Boston University Sports Journalism Seminar Series recently \u00a0along with Baxter Holmes<\/a>, who covers the Boston Celtics, also or The Boston \u00a0Globe<\/em>…While a relative newcomer himself, Holmes will be dealing with a new coach very soon, new to the area and new to the N-B-A…Baxter is aware that the dynamic will be worth watching…<\/p>\n Now all reporters run the risk of antagonizing the players and coaches they cover, something that can be deadly….The reliance on these people for information is paramount and you never want to get shut out…It makes for good theater but in reality, doesn’t benefit anyone…witness longtime H-H-L hockey coach John Tortorella and beat reporter Larry Brooks:<\/p>\n http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=ARhVC8uEbQU<\/a><\/p>\n Great TV but not very productive….<\/p>\n Boston University student reporters have had great opportunities here on campus to hone their skills with coaches like Jackie Parker and Joe Jones, Nancy Feldman and Kelly Greenberg…David Quinn enters his first year with the Terrier Men’s Hockey team and it’ll be interesting to see how the give and take develops, similar to the Brad Stephens<\/a> hire in Boston\u00a0 that Holmes faces….But Holmes has a word of advice for reporters heading out to parts unknown…”Take it as seriously as if you’re covering the White House. \u00a0Get to know the people, be there every day. \u00a0Look for great human stories, stories that are so good that when you’re reading the morning paper you’ll say “Hey Martha, you gotta read this.” \u00a0(Martha being your wife) \u00a0Everyone should aspire to find a “hey Martha” story that’s really incredible.”<\/p>\n It’s worked or Holmes, worked for Volin…It can work or you…<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Perception is often reality but in the case of Beat Reporters, the public has no idea…Sure, there are nice hotels on the road and stockpiles of frequent flier miles but with the advent of the 24 hour news cycle, the hours are long and the competition is stiff… Being around the team as often as […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":901,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bu.edu\/fshorr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/231"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bu.edu\/fshorr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bu.edu\/fshorr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bu.edu\/fshorr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/901"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bu.edu\/fshorr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=231"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bu.edu\/fshorr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/231\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":232,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bu.edu\/fshorr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/231\/revisions\/232"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bu.edu\/fshorr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=231"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bu.edu\/fshorr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=231"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bu.edu\/fshorr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=231"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}