Sports Mission Statement
Sports will cover Mustangs athletics and create a wide variety of content that is engaging and original for the entire student population. The section will focus on live coverage of games and in-depth reporting and analysis on student athletes.
How we will fulfill this
The Sports section will:
- Create timely game coverage and post-game analysis for web and print
- Experiment with informative graphics and multimedia to enhance storytelling
- Appeal to readers who love athletics, as well as those who may not, through articles that inform and entertain
- Focus on print coverage that is less about game recaps and more about contextualizing stories from the game
- Cover a wide variety of sports and athletes, especially those who might not typically get coverage in The Gazette or local media
- Place an emphasis on utility using infographics, statboxes and videos. This is particularly beneficial in covering lower-profile teams – rather than doing a game story on curling, write an article on how the sport works
Sports Editor Role Description
Sports editors are responsible for covering Western athletics, which includes games, previews, profiles, analysis and commentary. Thus, an extensive knowledge of sports is essential.
Furthermore, editors are in charge of creating dynamic layouts and managing volunteers. Editors work on a one-day lead and are required to publish online daily and create quality content for print twice a week.
Editors are expected to be in the office from Monday to Friday. Additionally, editors must be available weekends and evenings to cover games and other sporting events. Editors should have a digital first mentality and be able to write game summaries online in a timely manner.
Expectations
- Strong editing and writing skills
- Basic knowledge of Canadian Press style
- Extensive knowledge of campus athletics and professional sports
- Time management and organizational skills
- Ability to multi-task and plan ahead
- Ability to work as a cohesive team within the section, as well as collaborate with other sections to produce visually appealing content
- Ability to work quickly to make deadlines
- Ability to manage and train volunteers
- Ability to produce differentiated print content from online stories
- Ability to work fast and efficiently in order to get content online quickly
- Maintain a ‘digital first’ mentality
- Use social media actively to engage with our audience
- Being comfortable on camera in video content is an asset