Sports Reporter
At Up To Speed you can enjoy all the thrills of live match reporting and analysis. You will learn the secrets of the press box and meet and interview sports players. You will also have a chance to show off your knowledge of football, cricket, rugby and a host of other sports.
Your sports course tutor at Up To Speed is Rick Broadbent, Athletics Correspondent of The Times.
Rick combines his role as an Up To Speed tutor with a hectic schedule of reporting on international sports fixtures and he has written several popular books on sport.
The sports reporter course at Up To Speed is divided into two terms.
Term One
An intensive 12-week term at our training centre in the Daily Echo, Bournemouth.
You will learn how to write news, how to take notes in shorthand and study the Media Law and Politics you need to be an all-round journalist.
At the end of this term you will take the following NCTJ exams:
Reporting
Shorthand
Essential Public Affairs For Journalists
Essential Law For Journalists
Classroom time: Monday to Thursday 10-6pm
Term Two
In the second term you put the lessons you have learned into practice while continuing to study for further NCTJ exams and assessments.
During this term your time will be divided as follows:
Four weeks: court reporting in which you will cover cases at Magistrates’ Court and Crown Court. Daily reports will be written up in a File of Court Copy and Assessment.
Four weeks: sports journalism practical assignments in which you will cover a range of sporting events and stories producing features, match reports and analysis.
Four weeks: work placement arranged by you with help and guidance from Up To Speed’s tutors. We will start helping you to secure a placement as soon as you have accepted an offer and paid your deposit. NB You need to plan several months ahead for journalism work placements as competition for them is intense. Stories published on placement will go into your Multi-Media Portfolio.
At the end of the second term you will take the following NCTJ exams and assessments:
Sports Journalism exam
Media Law court reporting exam
Multi-media Portfolio(coursework)
Further Shorthand exams up to 120 wpm.
The practical aspects of this term will be underpinned by continued teaching and supervision in court reporting, shorthand and newspaper writing. In addition, you will take a ten-week sports reporting course at Up To Speed.
Follow in their footsteps….
Up To Speed journalists who are working in sport include Sean Raymond and Rachel Griffiths, who works for Sky Sports.
Click here to see some of Rachel’s latest stories.
Qualifying as a sports reporter opens up a world of opportunities. So, why not pause for a few seconds and consider what your dream job in sport would be?
