Sports Journalism

Sports Journalism is a comprehensive guide to the purpose, principles and practice of this unique profession. Now in a fully revised and updated second edition, including important new material on social media and the rise of on-line journalism, this is still the only book to explore the fundamentals of sports reporting across every media platform. Combining an introduction to practical skills, contextual discussion of the changing media environment, and important case studies, including the ground-breaking story of Lance Armstrong, the book covers key topics such as: - essential relationships in sports journalism - networking and the Sports Desk - print journalism for magazines, tabloids, broadsheets and the internet - live action - news, radio and television sports journalism - effective research - managing and accessing sources, information, statistics - practical skills for managing schedules and meeting deadlines - working with sports agents and PR professionals - getting the best from press conferences and interviews. Laced with revealing anecdotes from the author's own thirty years' experience of domestic and international sport journalism, and including questions in each chapter to encourage critical reflection and notes on further reading, Sports Journalism is the ultimate insider's guide and an invaluable student companion.

Rob Steen is a senior lecturer and co-leader of the BA (Hons) Sport Journalism course at the University of Brighton. An award-winning author, journalist and sportswriter for more than 30 years, he has written for, among others, the Sunday Times (where he was deputy sports editor), the Guardian, the Independent, the FT, the Melbourne Age, the Hindustan Times and India Today as well as Sport in Society and the International Journal of the History of Sport. A longstanding columnist for Cricinfo, winner of the 2005 UK section of the EU Journalism Award "for diversity, against discrimination", he has written more than a dozen sports books, including Spring, Summer, Autumn (runner-up for the William Hill Sports Book of the Year), David Gower: A Man Out of Time (winner of the Cricket Society Literary Award) and his latest, Floodlights and Touchlines: A History of Spectator Sport, which was shortlisted for the 2014 William Hill award

Preface Acknowledgements Glossary 1. The hardest job ever craved: An almost shameless confession 2. Batting and balling: A short history of sportswriting 3. Whose agenda is it anyway? Sports journalism in the digital age 4. The knowledge 5. Then, in the -nal minute: The match report 6. Breaking the news: The news story 7. 'Hi,' said Muhammad, amiably: The interview 8. Beneath the mud: The feature 9. Me, the jury: Expressing yourself (responsibly) 10. The advantage of distance: Periodical journalism 11. Live and exclusive: Broadcasting 12. The safety net: Editing and sub-editing 13. Views from the top 14. St Francis of Hereford: Frank Keating, heart and soul of sportswriting