[Journalists] Questions About Sportswriting/journalism and notgiving up on career goal/dreams

[Jordan Moon]

Hello Kerri,

   As a graduate of the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and one
who is blind, I completely understand your stress. My dream as I
graduated from high school,  was to cover sports. I use to be a sports
editor for my high school paper. When I got to Arizona State
University, that dream was put on hold. I used my other line to pursue
a degree in political science. When I was back talking to my
journalism goal, I fell in love with political/feature/general
reporting. I graduated from college with a goal of landing a job. Two
years later, I still have that goal. I'm down in the dumps about it,
but I'm not out. I now have an internship at a non-profit in Phoenix
helping intellectual disabled adults write articles for their local
community. It doesn't pay, but it certainly looks good on a resume.

  I'm just saying to you to not give up on your goal. I'm in this with
you, as is everyone else on this list and in NFB. One thing I can
suggest is to start your own blog. Anything you can write about,
sports related or not, go for it. I created a blog (I haven't worked
on it in a while unfortunately,) that deals with issues pertaining to
the blind and deaf communities. I'm still looking for a journalism
internship or job, but in the meantime I'm working independently. You
should continue school. I know you can do it. There are so many people
that can help you out along the way. I am certainly willing to speak
with you over the phone.

 It is so refreshing to know that I am not in this alone. I help
myself by helping you. I know as blind people, this field isn't one
that is easy for us to navigate. But I also know that there are
certain things that blind people can contribute to the field that
don't require sight. With that being said, you have to make people
realize that. By writing to us, you are showing that you still have a
passion for it. That is the first step. Keep climbing. There is a lot
of advice on this chain that is great. Take it and run with it. I look
forward to you dishing some of your own out soon.
I hope this helps,
I hope everyone has a great week. BTW, if anyone has any job or
internship leads, please let me know.
Thanks,
Jordan

On 10/19/14, Campbell, Elizabeth via Journalists <journalists at nfbnet.org> wrote:
> Hello everyone,
> I think Kerri is getting some great suggestions including writing
> sports features and seeking out blind role models. Annemarie, thanks
> for the reminder about Eddie Tamez' I think that is a great idea for
> Kerri to contact him.
> Also Kerri, the Poynter Institute lists internships on its website. I
> don't know if any pertain to sports, but you may want to take a look
> at that.
> Also, sports writing is your ultimate goal, but you need to be willing
> to cover whatever comes along to get your feet wet, so to speak.
> This might mean writing about city coulcil meetings or writing an
> advance story about a festival in your area.
> Please keep us posted on your progress.
> Liz
>
> On 10/19/14, Ashley Bramlett via Journalists <journalists at nfbnet.org>
> wrote:
>> Kerri,
>>
>> I think you need blind role models to talk to as well as some counseling.
>> I've said that before though. If you are negative and depressed, you will
>> project that to others. This will not get you far because people
>> want to get volunteers and employees who are  happy. To get anywhere you
>> have to build confidence.
>>
>> I'm career searching too and may pursue a career related to journalism. I
>> want to go into PR or outreach.
>>
>> Sports writing is visual. I don't mean to be harsh.
>> But you need to face some facts and either figure out how to solve these
>> barriers or pick another career. Not everyone can do their dream career.
>> You
>>
>> wrote to the nabs list maybe six months ago feeling down, and it appears
>> you
>>
>> still feel awful.
>> You need to develop realistic goals and get moving! Time is marching on!
>>
>> Barriers are:
>> 1. You know the field is visual. So figure out how to get that visual
>> information. Maybe talking to the announcers after a game. If you want to
>> cover local sports first, smaller teams may even let you talk to the
>> players
>>
>> or coaches.
>> Either you figure out how to get it or do something less visual.
>>
>> 2. As others said, you need a degree in journalism or at least a
>> communications degree.
>> I don't understand how you went to college and got the surprise of your
>> grades. You know how you did on assignments; professors give feedback.
>> Also,
>>
>> its your responsibility to see professors if you need to know where you
>> are;
>>
>> go to office hours
>> So you really should not be surprised when grades come around. I did
>> terribly in some classes, in spite of trying. some classes were very
>> hard.
>> But I knew I was doing bad based on exam scores. So, I was not surprised
>> my
>>
>> grades sucked there.
>>
>> You need to get back to college. Get tutoring and be proactive so you can
>> succeed in classes. Once grades come in, its too late.
>>
>> 3. Lack of experience. Volunteer to write articles to get experience.
>>
>> 4. Lack of confidence. Educating yourself on how to write articles should
>> help with getting experience. No its not okay for your articles to look a
>> lot different. I took communications classes as part of my liberal arts
>> degree.
>> I can tell you articles follow certain formats. Your opening paragraph
>> needs
>>
>> to answer the five w questions for example. those are who, what, when,
>> why
>> and where.
>>
>> 5. Constantly questioning yourself is a barrier. I don't know what to
>> tell
>> you. Remember everyone makes life mistakes. My brother, with no
>> disabilities, took community college classes and dropped off. He
>> re-enrolled
>>
>> when he was ready for school at a university.
>>
>> Now as to advice. I suggest while you think about college and research
>> which
>>
>> colleges may fit you best, do volunteer work and write, write, write.
>> Are there any news stations in the area? Are there local papers in the
>> area?
>>
>> You might volunteer there. Are there nonprofits with a sports focus? You
>> could write for them.
>> I also strongly recommend
>> you consider other angles of sports writing. I think writing feature
>> stories
>>
>> is a great idea! You could
>> profile players by interviewing them. You could also cover sports
>> entertainment. I mean things like which games were most popularas well as
>> sports attire. Also, instead of the games, maybe writing about sports
>> impact
>>
>> on society could be doable. This takes a more sociological approach and
>> is
>> something not covered enough. Writing about youth involvement in sports
>> and
>>
>> the good or bad effects on them is a good news story. Writing about
>> sports
>> impact on colleges is also a good news story. Personally I think college
>> athletes have to devote too much time to the games that they really miss
>> out
>>
>> on academics.
>>
>> I believe getting experience and some knowledge of your career field is
>> key.
>>
>> Having a passion to do something does not always translate into doing it
>> well.
>> I suggest job shadowing people in your field. conduct interviews to see
>> what
>>
>> they do.
>> I mean anyone, not just blind people.
>> Educate yourself how to write sports stories. Google that. I'm sure there
>> are books about writing sports as well. Check Bard and bookshare if you're
>> a
>>
>> member.
>>
>> Also, there should be journalism workshops in your community unless its
>> rural.
>>
>> Attend those workshops. This will help you learn to write stories.
>> Check your local community centers or county continuing education
>> classes.
>> You might also have a writing nonprofit giving classes.
>> If you look around and find none, please
>> let the list and myself know and I will give you some places conducting
>> online classes.
>> I'm sure others can give you online sources too if needed.
>>
>> I hope this info helps.
>> I have a general liberal arts degree so am struggling to find work and
>> goals
>>
>> too.
>>
>> Ashley
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: Kerri Kosten via Journalists
>> Sent: Friday, October 17, 2014 4:50 AM
>> To: Blind Professional Journalists List ; Blind Talk Mailing List ;
>> National
>>
>> Association of Blind Students mailing list
>> Subject: [Journalists] Questions About Sportswriting/journalism and
>> notgiving up on career goal/dreams
>>
>> Hi Everyone:
>>
>> For those of you who are either journalists or are wanting to pursue a
>> career that is visual/not blindness related how do you stay motivated
>> and keep from giving up when things get hard or don't go your way?
>> Since I was 15 years old, I have wanted to do something in sports
>> media/sports journalism.
>> Nobody has actually told me I can not do it, I even am lucky and have
>> a page on a local stations website where I can write about sports
>> (I'll post the link at the end of this message.)
>> But, I listen to a ton of sports talk radio. I understand the hosts
>> are sighted, and it's a sighted world, but I am beginning to realize
>> how visual sports journalism may be.
>> I am noticing that when I listen to sports talk radio and they talk
>> about say watching parts of
>> a game I can't see, or they say to go and watch a press conference and
>> watch how the coach looks around or something like that I become
>> really depressed and feel I can't do sportswriting or something in
>> sports media as a career and that really upsets me.
>> I also notice that a lot of times radio stations will sort of groom
>> certain interns and such so when they graduate from college they get a
>> job. I notice I get really jealous and upset when this happens and it
>> makes me so upset I give up.
>> I am trying to be better at writing less details, so it's a long story
>> but I tried going back to school last semester as a journalism major
>> and I thought I did pretty well and thought I had tried hard and then
>> when my grades came back I failed out for the second time and can't go
>> back to this school for a year. It really really hurt myself-esteem
>> and still hurts today.
>> Again, another long story, but about six years ago (before I joined
>> the NFB or went to training) I was doing a bunch of writing for the
>> radio station and got to answer the phones for an hour-long popular
>> sports talk show here. There were a bunch of problems that came up
>> though and I gave up and just stopped going in.
>> I have since made amends and went to training and still have a page on
>> the website to write sports on, but I still am really upset about my
>> mistakes and even today it is really hard and almost impossible for me
>> to listen to that talk show knowing I used to answer the phones and be
>> connected to it and now I am basically nobody.
>> I was even in school back then as well, and I got to meet a bunch of
>> the journalism professors and one time there was a sports journalism
>> week and I got to go up and meet all the speakers. Now, I have failed
>> out of school twice and the professor that really liked me, invited me
>> to all the things unfortunately passed away. Even at the journalism
>> school now I am nobody. The dean is still there, but the professors
>> wouldn't know me if I walked in and used my cane perfectly.
>> When you have made so many mistakes in your past, and failed so many
>> times, how do you go on and not give up? How do you listen to
>> something and not think about your mistakes?
>> I have another question that often brings me down and makes me question
>> myself.
>> I do not have any media credentials or passes or anything like that.
>> Before I begin to write a story I often look at a couple of stories
>> already written to sort of use as a guide to get either the stats from
>> the games or quotes the coaches ssay at their post-game press
>> conferences since I don't have any actual media credentials amd am not
>> actually there.
>> With the internet being what it is today, is this okay?
>> There have never been any problems and my stories are worded
>> completely differently (I never copy and paste, just get information)
>> but deep down I feel guilty.
>> I write something, and I want so much to be proud of it but I feel I
>> can't be and that brings me down and makes me want to give up.
>> I guess I just feel frustrated because when I say I don't know what I
>> want to do with my life, everyone always asks me "What is your
>> passion?" I could lie, but my passion is sports. I know it well, I
>> have a sort of photographic memory where I can read a stat or
>> something and memorize it, there is nothing else I know better.
>> Everyone has always agreed sports writing/media is a great fit for me,
>> but I just constantly question myself, am unsure, constantly worry I
>> won't be able to get a job, I want to feel good about my writing but
>> deep down I feel guilty, and I often question with sports being such a
>> visual thing whether it is really possible. As I said previously, I
>> also struggle with jealousy when I see others being groomed for jobs
>> and getting paid and I'm not. I also feel sad and can't even listen to
>> this talk show because I feel so sad about my past mistakes and my
>> failing out of school twice and now I am nobody where I was so
>> connected before.
>> But, at the same time, when people ask me what my passion is, or I
>> think about it, there is no question: it is sports. I don't know what
>> to say.
>> It makes me angry that I constantly question myself so much but yet a
>> sighted person who loves sports can decide in high school they want to
>> go into sports journalism, and they attend college, get good grades
>> and don't fail out, make the right connections along the way, meet the
>> right people, get a couple of good internships in, and then when they
>> graduate often land jobs.
>> How do you all keep from constantly questioning yourselves and giving up?
>> What do you use to stay motivated?
>> How do you keep from feeling sad about your past mistakes when you are
>> reminded of them by listening to local radio?
>> How do you keep from totally feeling defeated and giving up when you
>> listen to a sports talk radio show and they talk about a particular
>> game or story so visually?
>> Here is the link to my sports page.
>> http://www.wajr.com/common/page.php?pt=sports_news&id=96
>> Thanks,
>> Kerri
>>
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-- 
Jordan Moon

Editor, "The Perfect Defect"

http://theperfectdefect.wordpress.com/

Twitter: @theperfdefect