Sports Journalist Job Description

It's a sports crazy world and people, even when they are busy, take all the effort to be in tune with the happenings on the field. Newspapers, magazines, television and the Internet among other mediums have made this possible to a huge extent.

This easy and ready access to information, to some extent is because of sports journalists. The chief duty of these reporters is to compile and report current sports events to the masses. Given here is an account of what they do.

It demands a great deal of hard work to be put in order to become a journalist. More often than not, the person has to start working at a low level and then he can move up the ladder to work in reputed organizations, esp. news channels. A sports journalist is required in various sectors like print media, magazines, news channels and similar establishments.

He attends sporting events and conferences to gather facts and then reports it to the world. He may also have to interview sports persons. To gather the information he should have a basic understanding of the nuances of the concerned sports along with the ability to tactfully present the facts.

Journalism is a vast field and besides reporting, a journalist is expected to carry out many other important tasks. To accomplish these duties he is expected to have expertise in the skills discussed below. Take a look.

• A journalist's job revolves around interacting and interviewing people to find all the relevant information and for this he should be expert in the art of communication.
• A journalist also has to attend sporting events for which he should be willing to travel around the world.

• A journalist should be quick in thinking and should have the ability to work even in difficult conditions.
• Last but not least he should have deep knowledge of various sports and a passion to know and follow all the sports.

A bachelor's degree is the minimum qualification required to become a journalist. You can choose a degree in journalism which is offered in many universities.

Either ways, a degree which has subjects like English composition, media journalism, editing and broadcasting also helps in making a career in journalism. With the popularity of sports journalism rising, there are many institutes that offer a specialization in sports journalism. 

A majority of these courses come with internships that enable the person to gain experience which is of utmost importance in this field. A sports journalist should have excellent knowledge of various sports and should be able to express that knowledge through both, writing and verbally.

As far the salary is concerned, there are no perfect salary figures available. There are plenty of factors that determine the salary of the sports journalist, the most important one being the place of work. There is an obvious increase in salary as the person gains experience.

Considering the hard work, the average salary is not up to the mark. But the exposure it gives to the person is incomparable. For a successful career as a sports journalist, patience, enthusiasm and hard work are the key qualities that are expected from the potential candidates.