Journalists ready to score big in their career through sports

1. Journalists ready to score big in their career through sports
Passionate about sports and have a knack for writing? Combine your two interests together
and start a sports journalism career. Once taken lightly, sports journalism is a growing
profession that reflects the power and influence of sports in society and its values.
Instinctively, having a major in English would prove to be useful, but a love for watching
sports will show in your writing. A specialized sports writing program is developed at
Centennial College, where college or university graduates in any discipline can enter the
arena. However, this competitive graduate certificate program will require applicants to
submit a writing portfolio and possibly complete a writing test. The more experience you
have related to journalism, the better your chances for registration, but this specific area
requires you to enjoy watching and reporting on sports.
This postgraduate program, Sports Journalism (6415), is a triathlon of all sorts of sports
reporting. From interviews to statistics to social media, the program ensure students will
score a lucrative career upon graduation by teaching them the core concepts and training
them to apply each one through class performances and field placements. Students will
engage in the following activities in their three semesters at school:
The foundations of sports writing and sports reporting will be covered,
where students will learn how to conduct interviews and report on
real-time through social media. The general nature of the sports in
Canada and the writing profession will also be covered.
Radio, television and online sports casting will be covered, where
students will work with different styles of sports broadcast in different
media, including radio, television, magazines, and online. Overtime on
nights and weekend may be required to complete projects for sports
editing.
Nine weeks of school and a six-week internship will close off the
program. Students will get to broadcast their news through the
Centennial Sports TV, apply the knowledge learned from first two
semesters to complete major projects, and enter the sports media
industry as a Sports Journalist intern.
“The biggest selling feature of the program is that we’re all about reality. We are teaching
students print and online, and radio and television, through the 12 courses that you take
here. So when you’re going out, you’re going out with the largest toolbox you possibly can.
And as our world as journalists change, we need to offer those opportunities,” says Malcolm
Kelly, Program Coordinator and sports journalist for three decades. He adds:
“The thing that I enjoy most about teaching the program is the spirit. Obviously, if you got
a group of people who are interested in sports journalism, being taught by a bunch of
teachers who were working in sports journalism, you get an awful lot of spirit in the
classroom. And I think that is very important because the desire to learn is just as
important as the need to learn.”
Centennial has experienced faculty, including Kelly, adding more fuel to the passion and
discussion of sports and news coverage within classroom walls. The Sports Journalism
program offers a balanced mixture of sports media coverage and hands-on experience,
unique to Centennial students. Students graduate with the aptitude for writing on sports
and related topics, while being able to adapt to the change in the fast-paced sports
coverage profession.