International study at the University of Brighton

Sports Writing

Level: 5
Credit rating: 20
Module type: Taught
Semester offered: 1
Pre-requisites: None
Aims:

The aims for this module are set into the context of the QAA Framework for Higher Education Qualifications and they relate to the SEEC level descriptors for level 5 study.

Specifically, this module aims to develop the distinctive professional and practical context of sport journalism, focusing on print, primarily, but also online publishing. It requires students to extend and expand their fundamental skills as a sports reporter in the field while enhancing their working knowledge of the sports desk, the press box and their surrounding environment. Students will broaden their reporting and feature-writing skills, develop their research skills, and adapt their work for different markets. To this end, you will have the opportunity to work on OverTime, the course’s sports webzine. Lectures and seminars will prepare students for the requirements of the NCTJ Sportswriting exam, for which reports are written for print and the web.
Learning outcomes:

In relation to the QAA Framework for Higher Education Qualifications and the SEEC level descriptors for level 2 study, by the end of the module students should have:

LO1 Acquired and applied the skills required to produce accurate live match reports on deadline for specified publication;

LO2  Applied their understanding of the demands inherent in working for a daily/periodical national/local/regional sports desk;

LO3 Demonstrated their ability to interpret, develop and report sporting news and issues for a general/consumer audience.
Content:

Students will be led in workshops that develop the knowledge of, and skills pertinent to:

  • Language and customs of sports journalism
  • Research exercises
  • Current affairs and history in a sporting context 
  • Live reporting
  • Advanced feature writing
  • Proofreading, Editing and Sub-editing
  • Practice for NCTJ Sportswriting exams
  • Working on OverTime sports webzine
Learning and teaching strategies:

Contact time:

  • Lectures
  • Seminars
  • Workshops
  • Tutorials

Non-contact time:

  • Independent study
  • Production of copy
  • Contribute to course webzine OverTime
  •  Match report and round-up practice
  • Enhance knowledge of newspapers, websites, magazines and other publications
Learning support:

Books:

Hughes, S. (2005) Morning Everyone – A Sportswriter’s Life UK: Orion

Smith, ET. (2008) What Sport Tells Us About Life, UK: Penguin/Viking

Sports Illustrated (2004) Fifty Years of Great Writing 1954-2004 USA: Sports Illustrated Books

Steen, R. (1994) The Mavericks – English Football When Flair Wore Flares Edinburgh: Mainstream

Steen, R. (2008) Sonny Liston – His Life, Strife and the Phantom Punch, London: JR Books

Steen, R. (1990) Spring, Summer, Autumn UK: Kingswood

Steen, R. (2007) Sports Journalism – A Multimedia Primer UK: Routledge

Zirin, D. (2008) A People's History of Sports in the United States: From Bull-Baiting to Barry Bonds, USA: New Press

Electronic sources:

BBC Sport Online

Available: <URL:www.bbc.co.uk/sport Access date 8th April 2011

Guardian Sport

Available: <URL:http://sport.guardian.co.uk Access date 8th April 2011

Students are also expected to constantly update their knowledge by reading print editions of newspapers and appropriate magazines
School home: Chelsea School of Sport