20th October 2009 - Press Reporting over Winter - A message from Matt Hammond

I have sent my final report to the Telegraph for the 2009 track and field season (club championships).  This should, hopefully, be in the paper week ending 24th October.  I am fairly happy with the write ups we have had from the Telegraph this summer and my aim for the winter months is to keep the spotlight on the club .  In order to do this i need your help to let me know what's going on.

So !

• if you go to an indoor meet I want to know.
• If you go to a cross country I want to know
• If you get selected for a regional or national squad I want to know.
• If you represent your university I want to know.
• If you are doing something different like a sponsored event I want to know

If you don't want to write a full report that’s fine, just give me brief details and tell me were I can find out information (i.e web site) and I will compose the rest.

What I do need is Photo's, if I send a report with a photo it will get better column inches.  I don't need hundreds just one or two which relate to the story.

Matt

Bob can be contacted by phone on 01724 273177 or by email at bob.steels@gsmg.co.uk.   The address for correspondence is Bob Steels, Sports Editor, GSMG, 4 - 5 Park Square, Laneham Street, Scunthorpe, North Lincolnshire, DN15 6JH

Bob and Chairman Roger Kimberley-Scott have joined forces to create this web page to help us enhance the publication of the  achievements of our members.

History

For many years the Scunthorpe and District Athletic Club have appointed a member to be the ‘Press Officer’ whose responsibility has been that of informing the media of the Club’s participation in events.  In reality the requirements of this ‘job’ have rarely been achieved as the Press Officer would need to have journalisitic qualities and attend all major events.  What actually happens is that Coaches, Parents and Friends provide reports whenever they recognise the need.  The  reports furnished by these stalwarts are our  lifeline but this ad hoc system has also lead to missed opportunities.

With effect from 4th March 2009 it is intended that each of the Section Heads (Donna Daly - Cross Country and Endurance, Rod Burton - Road and Stuart Frow - Track and Field) will arrange in advance, the reporting requirements for specific events throughout the year.  The Team Managers (Debby and Garry Spindley - Young Athletes, Stuart Frow - Seniors and Dave Harmes - Juniors) will also be asked to plan their reporting requirements prior to each of their League matches. 

Commencing in early May, GSMG will provide a weekly slot for us in their sports newspaper and we will maintain an action plan to ensure that material is always available by the publication deadline.

It is also important to note that we should include reports of all athletes who perform with merit even if they come in last.  Mostly our elite athletes grab the headlines and this is great but if we are to generate interest in the Club we need to include everyone. 

Bob has kindly provided the following ‘Top Tips’ to assist us with the provision of articles and photographs to the Press.

Press Reports

Always include the

• name of the event
• venue (where the event took place)
• date
• subject (this could be the person or persons involved or the name of the event)
• weather conditions
• names of those who made an impact on the event (in addition to naming the athletes, also include those coaches and other officials who deserve a special mention)
• track and road times and field event distances/heights  
• comment that photographs are included or that they are not available.

When writing the report please don’t get hung up on the grammer or flow of the text.  Leave this to the proffesionals to sort out but do make sure that the content is relevant and highlight those parts of the text that you feel should be included in the finished article.  For hand written reports, do this by drawing a circle around the text or marking the paragraph or words with a highlighter   For emailed reports use the highlighting facilities available within your email programme.  If none of these tools are to hand, add an additional sentence of paragraph explaining what should be included, i.e. Please include Bob Treville did a smashing job as the Coach.

Photographs

Sports photography can be quite difficult due to the actions and speeds involved but the basic techniques can soon be mastered.

When taking pictures, set the camera’s recording function to the highest resolution and try to get all of the subject in the frame.  These high resolution pictures can easily be cropped to fit available news space (by the editorial team) without any loss of detail.

When photographing moving athletes aim the camera at the subject and then follow the athlete with the camera (panning).

If the camera is set with a low shutter speed, the athlete will be in focus and the background blurred.

Most Internet Providers place a limit on the number of bytes that can be emailed so it is important to know the size of each photograph.  Check the size of the image (in megabytes or kilobytes) and try to keep within 3 megabyte limits (most photographs will be well below this but a photograph below 800 kilobytes will probably not be suitable for publication.  Internet Providers allocate anything from 3 - 20 megabytes per email but If you don’t know the limit set by your provider, send images one at a time.

Finally don’t forget to send a copy of your report to either Donna Daly, for publication on her ’Achievements Page’ or the webmaster for publication