2 answers
Mason
Student
Rock Hill, South Carolina
1
Question
Asked
1417 views
What does it take to become a sports journalist?
How do you get started in the career?
What is the pay like?
2 answers
Elizabeth Mokrousova 🇺🇦
Pursuit Manager
2
Answers
New York, New York
Updated
Elizabeth’s Answer
Hi Mason,
Great question!
Let's start with what it takes: Passion and dedication are critical, but beyond that, any great sports journalist is a great general journalist first. Attending a journalism school or college/university with a journalism or broadcast journalism program will be great for helping you build out your experience. Growing your writing style and practicing your "announcer" voice, along with learning what makes journalism so important for the general public are just a few of the things you can expect to take away from that education.
As for the pay: This varies, depending on the size of the organization and the level of your role. Generally, journalism does not pay well compared to other roles that require the same level of education and niche expertise. This is definitely something to consider. As the other answers already noted, gaining a great internship (multiple are even better) along with building strong connections with those you meet during these internships will help you leverage a better full-time position and hopefully pay as well.
Do some research on glassdoor to see what sports journalists are making on average and do some research on which companies you may be interested in that offer regular internships throughout the year
Great question!
Let's start with what it takes: Passion and dedication are critical, but beyond that, any great sports journalist is a great general journalist first. Attending a journalism school or college/university with a journalism or broadcast journalism program will be great for helping you build out your experience. Growing your writing style and practicing your "announcer" voice, along with learning what makes journalism so important for the general public are just a few of the things you can expect to take away from that education.
As for the pay: This varies, depending on the size of the organization and the level of your role. Generally, journalism does not pay well compared to other roles that require the same level of education and niche expertise. This is definitely something to consider. As the other answers already noted, gaining a great internship (multiple are even better) along with building strong connections with those you meet during these internships will help you leverage a better full-time position and hopefully pay as well.
Elizabeth recommends the following next steps:
David Eaton
Media - Content - Transformation
11
Answers
Updated
David’s Answer
To answer your second question first, the pay stinks in the beginning. There are simply too many people chasing too few jobs and not much of an incentive to for employers to pay any more than they absolutely have to. Having said that....
Getting an internship is a great start. So is covering local teams as a stringer for your local paper (assuming you have one) or website that covers your area. If you are in or headed to college and your school has a newspaper, that's another route. The key is to put together a portfolio or clips of published material you've written. You want to be able to demonstrate to hiring managers that you have some experience and know what you are doing.
Good luck.
Getting an internship is a great start. So is covering local teams as a stringer for your local paper (assuming you have one) or website that covers your area. If you are in or headed to college and your school has a newspaper, that's another route. The key is to put together a portfolio or clips of published material you've written. You want to be able to demonstrate to hiring managers that you have some experience and know what you are doing.
Good luck.
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