Work with your counselor or teacher to find a local sports reporter you would like to interview. Prepare questions in advance, but be ready to have a conversation! What would you most like to ask them?

Career

Interview a local sports reporter!

Find someone in your community that you admire and contact them for an interview. Gain practice preparing and conducting the interview, then write a blog post about it!

Practice interviewing someone.

Try your hand at journalism by researching and writing articles for your school paper! What issues would you like to cover? 

Advice

Write for your school newspaper!

Reporters and Correspondents

Collect and analyze facts about newsworthy events by interview, investigation, or observation. Report and write stories for newspaper, news magazine, radio, or television.

Artistic occupations frequently involve working with forms, designs and patterns. They often require self-expression and the work can be done without following a clear set of rules.

Artistic

Second Interest High-Point

Enterprising occupations frequently involve starting up and carrying out projects. These occupations can involve leading people and making many decisions. Sometimes they require risk taking and often deal with business.

Enterprising

Investigative occupations frequently involve working with ideas, and require an extensive amount of thinking. These occupations can involve searching for facts and figuring out problems mentally.

Investigative

Conventional occupations frequently involve following set procedures and routines. These occupations can include working with data and details more than with ideas. Usually there is a clear line of authority to follow.

Conventional

First Interest High-Point

Social occupations frequently involve working with, communicating with, and teaching people. These occupations often involve helping or providing service to others.

Social

Third Interest High-Point

Realistic occupations frequently involve work activities that include practical, hands-on problems and solutions. They often deal with plants, animals, and real-world materials like wood, tools, and machinery. Many of the occupations require working outside, and do not involve a lot of paperwork or working closely with others.

Realistic

Job Zone Four: Considerable Preparation Needed

News Analysts, Reporters and Correspondents

Arts, Design, Entertainment, Sports, and Media Occupations

Media and Communication Workers

Report news stories for publication or broadcast, describing the background and details of events.

Arrange interviews with people who can provide information about a story.

Gather information about events through research, interviews, experience, or attendance at political, news, sports, artistic, social, or other functions.

Investigate breaking news developments, such as disasters, crimes, or human-interest stories.

Receive assignments or evaluate leads or tips to develop story ideas.

Discuss issues with editors to establish priorities or positions.

Check reference materials, such as books, news files, or public records, to obtain relevant facts.

Revise work to meet editorial approval or to fit time or space requirements.

Develop ideas or material for columns or commentaries by analyzing and interpreting news, current issues, or personal experiences.

Transmit news stories or reporting information from remote locations, using equipment such as satellite phones, telephones, fax machines, or modems.

Present live or recorded commentary via broadcast media.

Conduct taped or filmed interviews or narratives.

Edit or assist in editing videos for broadcast.

Write columns, editorials, commentaries, or reviews that interpret events or offer opinions.

Write reviews of literary, musical, or other artwork, based on knowledge, judgment, or experience.

Research a story's background information to provide complete and accurate information.

Establish and maintain relationships with individuals who are credible sources of information.

Review and evaluate notes taken about news events to isolate pertinent facts and details.

Review written, audio, or video copy and correct errors in content, grammar, or punctuation, following prescribed editorial style and formatting guidelines.

Report on specialized fields such as medicine, green technology, environmental issues, science, politics, sports, arts, consumer affairs, business, religion, crime, or education.

Determine a published or broadcasted story's emphasis, length, and format and organize material accordingly.

Take pictures or video and process them for inclusion in a story.

Communicate with readers, viewers, advertisers, or the general public via mail, email, or telephone.

Write online blog entries that address news developments or offer additional information, opinions, or commentary on news events.

Assign stories to other reporters or duties to production staff.

Participate in community events, make public appearances, or conduct community service.

Compact digital cameras

Desktop computers

Digital audio workstations

High definition HD video cameras

Laptop computers

Laser facsimile machines

Microphones

Mobile broadcast units

Multi-line telephone systems

Personal computers

Satellite phones

Television cameras

Video editing equipment

Adobe Systems Adobe AfterEffects

Adobe Systems Adobe InDesign

Apple Final Cut Pro

ESRI ArcView

Facebook

FileMaker Pro

Hypertext markup language HTML

IBM SPSS Statistics

LexisNexis

Mapping software

Microsoft Access

Microsoft Excel

Microsoft Office

Microsoft PowerPoint

Microsoft Publisher

Microsoft SQL Server

Microsoft Visual FoxPro

Microsoft Word

Online databases

Quark Xpress

Social media software

Statistical analysis software

Twitter

Video editing software

Web browser software

YouTube

Sports Writer

<p>The Roadtrip Nation team spends time in New York, interviewing graphic designer Stefan Sagmeister. Then they head across town to meet with Thomas Kale and Anthony Veneziale of theatre company Backhouse Productions and get to freestyle rap. In Boston, sportswriter Joe Haggerty reminds the team that paying your dues plays a big role in getting to do what you love.</p>

New York City - Boston

Was it like your ultimate goal was to be where you are right now? >> I didn't think that this was at all possible. >> Really? >> When I graduated from college, no way. >> [LAUGH] >> No, you're writing. You're covering stuff, high school sports, doing features here and there. You don't think for a second that you're gonna be covering the most beloved team in the entire city of Boston at some point and hanging out at this park every day. And it's an awesome, fantastic surprise every single day. You're realizing that you are doing it. [MUSIC] I actually started at Northeastern University here in Boston. And I went for a semester, realized I wasn't gonna be able to go back because of kind of financial hardship. And took two years off from school and was working. At night I would work at a supermarket, and I was shagging carriages for two years. I was I can't do this forever. This is not where I wanna be. I felt my talents were kinda not being utilized. And I felt a lot of sort of creative energy was there, and it wasn't getting expended. So around 20, 21, I had just gotten back into school. I was either second or third year in and at that point, had started getting involved in the newspaper up there. And was starting to write for a daily newspaper in the suburbs of Boston, covering sports and all that. So I had already sorta started laying down the groundwork for what I was gonna be doing later. But it was an interesting path. I mean, there was a couple years there, where all of my friends were in school and a lot of people I knew were almost done with school or three-quarters of the way in and I was just sort of getting started. >> How did you start your interest in newspapers and all of that? >> I'd pretty much had always realized that I wanted to write from a pretty young age. I mean, I had always enjoyed writing. And I actually went through a period, I did sports for a while and then I actually left sports. Cuz I wasn't sure if writing definitely was what I wanted to do, and I feel like I wanted to test myself, to see how much I would miss it. I actually worked at a bookstore for a little while, and I booked all the bands that played. They had a cafe. They would have live music there every weekend, and I worked in the cafe making coffee, and doing all that stuff. And I realized at the end of maybe a year, year and a half, that I totally missed writing, totally missed sports, totally missed everything that I'd sort of been building up towards that point. And ended up going back to it after about a year and a half. It was probably one of the most valuable lesson that I learned in my life was just going away from it for a little while to see how much I would miss it. And I found out that I missed it more than anything and figured out that that's what I wanted to do for the rest of my life. >> So what was your guiding force, I guess? >> Taking opportunities when they are presented to me and running with them. And not either taking them for granted or casting them aside, even when you called me to do this. So this is a perfect example of just doing stuff for people or doing stuff because an opportunity is there, because you wanna do it. >> What about when you're playing the game, having to write about stuff that you're not interested in at all, in order to be able to eventually write about something that you're interested in? >> Absolutely, I would say it's worth it because I'm on the other end of it, and it worked out. I mean, I guess it would all depend on who you talked to. But I think doing enough of that stuff and covering a soccer game between two teams you're really not interested in. Or doing a story on some sport that you're really not into, maybe a diving team or something. Just something that you've never experienced, you really have no interest in, whatever. That stuff does lead to somewhere if you do it and you do a good enough job with it. I think the biggest thing that you have to keep in the back of your mind when your doing things like that is that's not the end game is covering this for the rest of your life. It's a mean to an end. It's not the end itself. I've seen so many people just coming out of college like yourselves and they want it right away. I know a couple people right now that are like that and they are having a hard time waiting to get to a certain point. They want it yesterday rather than being able to wait for it. And that's just a part of any profession is getting the experience and sort of getting up to that point and working up to that point. >> Sometimes you have to probably go through that hard time. He said pay your dues. And that might be something that's just hard to grasp because you are like well, if I'm not getting gratification out of it right now why should I continue it? But he saw past it and saw where it could take him. >> I'm at a certain point now, but it took me five or six years to get there. And I know people that I talk with on a regular basis, they're like, well, why can't I be there? Why can't I be doing that? You can. You just kind of have to stick with it for a little while. If I never did another thing past what I'm doing now, I would be completely happy. It's the best piece of advice I could give to anybody. It's absolutely the piece of advice that I followed. And I hope you guys do the same. [MUSIC] Do or do not, there is no try from the wise, the wizened old sage Yoda >> [LAUGH] >> Star Wars. >> [LAUGH] 

Interview

What about playing the game and you have to write about something about stuff you're not interested in at all in order to eventually be able to write about something you're interested in? >> Absolutely, I would say it's worth it because I'm on the other end of it and it worked out. I guess it would all depend on who you talked to. I think doing enough of that stuff and covering a soccer game between two teams that you're really not interested in. Or doing a story on some sport that you're really not into. Maybe like a diving team or something. Just something that you've never experienced. You really have no interest in whatever. That stuff does lead to somewhere, if you do it and you do a good enough job with it. And that's I think, the biggest thing that you have to keep in the back of your mind when you're doing things like that, is that's not the end game, it's covering this for the rest of your life. It's a means to an end. It's not the end itself. I've seen so many people just coming out of college like yourselves and they want it right away. I know a couple right know who are like that, and they're having a hard time waiting to get to a certain point. They want it yesterday, rather than being able to wait for it. That's just a part of any profession, is getting the experience and sort of getting up to that point, and working up to that point. 

Experience

It's The Means to an End

So what was your guiding force, I guess? >> Taking opportunities when they're presented to me and running with them and not, either taking them for granted or casting them aside. You called me to do this, so it's a perfect example of just doing stuff for people or doing stuff because an opportunity is there because you want to do it. 

Opportunity

Taking Opportunities

I at a certain point now but it took me five or six years to get there, and I know people that I talk with on a regular basis that are like, well, why can't I be there? Why can't I be doing that? You can you just had kinda have to stick with it for a little while. If I never did another thing past what I'm doing now, I'd be completely happy. 

Perseverance

Stick With It For A Little While

I actually started at uh, Northeastern University, here in Boston. And uh, I went for a semester, realized I wasn't gonna be able to go back because of kind of financial hardship, and took two years off from school and was working. I pretty much had always realized that I wanted to write from a pretty young age. I had always enjoyed writing. I did sports for a while, and then I actually left sports 'cause I wasn't sure if writing definitely was what I wanted to do, and I feel like I-I wanted to test myself. At night, I would work at a supermarket, and I was like, shagging carriages for like two years. And I actually worked at a bookstore for a little while, and I booked all the bands that played-- they had like a café that would have live music there every weekend, and I, you know, worked in the café making coffee and doing all that stuff. And ah, I realized at the end of maybe like a year, a year and a half, that I-I totally missed writing, totally missed sports. It was probably one of the most valuable lessons that I learned in my life, was just going away from it for a little while to see how much I would miss it. 

Joseph Haggerty

Sports Writer

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Joseph Haggerty

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