'Are sports writers still relevant?' - Ochoa
Jim Lemuel V. Wilson and Maxine Patricia S. Serafica
The Journalese
In this digital age, how can sports writers remain relevant? In this age when “information junkies” can get their pieces from 140 character updates, what is with sports writers that makes them still germane?
That was the question thrown by Philippine Daily Inquirer Assistant Sports Editor Francis T.J. Ochoa as he graced the “Ballin’: A Crash Course on Sports Journalism,” Monday at Room 104 of the St. Raymund’s Building.
Ochoa noted that if the job of sports writers is to inform their audience of the events, they have already lost to social networking sites Twitter and Facebook, especially in terms of immediacy.
“You job as a sports writer is to take your readers where you are. You share with them the atmosphere” – something that is hard to share through 140 characters or less.
The former features editor of The Varsitarian, who was living his dream of teaching in the University, opened his talk by asking what is sports journalism and how it is not unlike news and features writing.
The session became an interactive one as Ochoa made students write "tweets" in the whiteboard during their discussion.
Also sharing his knowledge and experience in the field of sports journalism was Manila Bulletin sports writer Jonas K. Terrado, who emphasized the importance of preparation before the actual coverage.
“Expect the unexpected,” said the Business Administration graduate of the De La Salle University - Dasmarinas. "There would be times that the venue would not be fit for comfort for the sports scribe, the challenge is to make yourself comfortable.”
Terrado, the "stat geek" as Ochoa noted, gave two extremely important advice to the participating students: Always have a pen and a paper and always enjoy the coverage.
“Hindi madali ang sports writing, pero madali siyang i-enjoy,” Terrado said whose brother, Reuben, writes for the sports website SPIN.ph. The younger Terrado admitted that his brother was his inspiration when he was starting out in the field.
Both of the speakers noted that sports journalism is not only confined within the bounds of the court.
"Sports writers should always look at the stories from different angles, noting conflicts, controversies and fights," said Terrado.
“There are a lot of stories and sub-stories within the game,” Ochoa said. “They say life is a game, why not write about life?”
In an interview after the seminar proper, Terrado shared that the discussion was easy and light.
“Madali ‘yong discussion. Nakaka-relate agad ‘yong mga estudyante. May eagerness to learn,” Terrado noted.
Ochoa, meanwhile, said that though he was receiving offers to teach in different schools, he has always declined because he wanted to teach in the University, nowhere else.
"As a Thomasian, you have to carry yourself to act like a Thomasian wherever you go," said Ochoa. "Be proud of where you came from." J
The Journalese
In this digital age, how can sports writers remain relevant? In this age when “information junkies” can get their pieces from 140 character updates, what is with sports writers that makes them still germane?
That was the question thrown by Philippine Daily Inquirer Assistant Sports Editor Francis T.J. Ochoa as he graced the “Ballin’: A Crash Course on Sports Journalism,” Monday at Room 104 of the St. Raymund’s Building.
Ochoa noted that if the job of sports writers is to inform their audience of the events, they have already lost to social networking sites Twitter and Facebook, especially in terms of immediacy.
“You job as a sports writer is to take your readers where you are. You share with them the atmosphere” – something that is hard to share through 140 characters or less.
The former features editor of The Varsitarian, who was living his dream of teaching in the University, opened his talk by asking what is sports journalism and how it is not unlike news and features writing.
The session became an interactive one as Ochoa made students write "tweets" in the whiteboard during their discussion.
Also sharing his knowledge and experience in the field of sports journalism was Manila Bulletin sports writer Jonas K. Terrado, who emphasized the importance of preparation before the actual coverage.
“Expect the unexpected,” said the Business Administration graduate of the De La Salle University - Dasmarinas. "There would be times that the venue would not be fit for comfort for the sports scribe, the challenge is to make yourself comfortable.”
Terrado, the "stat geek" as Ochoa noted, gave two extremely important advice to the participating students: Always have a pen and a paper and always enjoy the coverage.
“Hindi madali ang sports writing, pero madali siyang i-enjoy,” Terrado said whose brother, Reuben, writes for the sports website SPIN.ph. The younger Terrado admitted that his brother was his inspiration when he was starting out in the field.
Both of the speakers noted that sports journalism is not only confined within the bounds of the court.
"Sports writers should always look at the stories from different angles, noting conflicts, controversies and fights," said Terrado.
“There are a lot of stories and sub-stories within the game,” Ochoa said. “They say life is a game, why not write about life?”
In an interview after the seminar proper, Terrado shared that the discussion was easy and light.
“Madali ‘yong discussion. Nakaka-relate agad ‘yong mga estudyante. May eagerness to learn,” Terrado noted.
Ochoa, meanwhile, said that though he was receiving offers to teach in different schools, he has always declined because he wanted to teach in the University, nowhere else.
"As a Thomasian, you have to carry yourself to act like a Thomasian wherever you go," said Ochoa. "Be proud of where you came from." J