My job was to attend my assigned games and record stats, and then following the game, input those stats into a database and write a short game summary. The stats and summary would appear on the Herald's website and in the paper's print edition the following day.
Now, two years later, I still cover games by taking stats and writing a summary, but - thanks to the world of online journalism - my job doesn't end there.
Thanks to the Herald's ongoing commitment to high school sports (which in my opinion is second to none), and a partnership with a site called recruitflix.com, my responsibilities have increased. In addition to the stats and story, I must now write a "game recap" (describing the play-by-play highlights of the game) for use in association with game video captured by Recruit Flix. The recap is used to select specific footage from the game to be displayed on the Herald's high school sports website.
This added element of multimedia is not the only improvement the paper has made in the way of online journalism associated with high school sports.
I am also now required to call in the score of my football games following each quarter so that a realtime scoreboard ticker can be updated and continuously scroll along the top of the high school sports page. Now, fans that cannot make it out to the stadium can still follow along with the action from the comfort of their homes.
And it doesn't end there...
Before, I used to input game stats in the Herald's database and then e-mail my game summary to my editor, who would then combine the two for publication in both the print edition and online. However, now, my stats and story are submitted through the same database (an enhanced version of the one where only stats went previously) and then are automatically sent to team pages on the Herald's site. Because of this new system, rather than having to sift through past papers or old stories, fans can now follow their favorite team's results simply by selecting their school from a drop-down menu on the high school sports page. From there, they can view their team's schedule, review past game results (complete with stats and summary), and even check out opponent's stats.
While my pay has increased only slightly ($5 to be exact) since the implementation of these changes, I do not mind doing the extra work because I know it is providing a more extensive and appreciated product to the Herald's print readers and online users.
The Herald's addition of several multimedia components to its high school sports coverage, and a more organized presentation of these components, certainly make this section an excellent example of online journalism.
Now, two years later, I still cover games by taking stats and writing a summary, but - thanks to the world of online journalism - my job doesn't end there.
Thanks to the Herald's ongoing commitment to high school sports (which in my opinion is second to none), and a partnership with a site called recruitflix.com, my responsibilities have increased. In addition to the stats and story, I must now write a "game recap" (describing the play-by-play highlights of the game) for use in association with game video captured by Recruit Flix. The recap is used to select specific footage from the game to be displayed on the Herald's high school sports website.
This added element of multimedia is not the only improvement the paper has made in the way of online journalism associated with high school sports.
I am also now required to call in the score of my football games following each quarter so that a realtime scoreboard ticker can be updated and continuously scroll along the top of the high school sports page. Now, fans that cannot make it out to the stadium can still follow along with the action from the comfort of their homes.
And it doesn't end there...
Before, I used to input game stats in the Herald's database and then e-mail my game summary to my editor, who would then combine the two for publication in both the print edition and online. However, now, my stats and story are submitted through the same database (an enhanced version of the one where only stats went previously) and then are automatically sent to team pages on the Herald's site. Because of this new system, rather than having to sift through past papers or old stories, fans can now follow their favorite team's results simply by selecting their school from a drop-down menu on the high school sports page. From there, they can view their team's schedule, review past game results (complete with stats and summary), and even check out opponent's stats.
While my pay has increased only slightly ($5 to be exact) since the implementation of these changes, I do not mind doing the extra work because I know it is providing a more extensive and appreciated product to the Herald's print readers and online users.
The Herald's addition of several multimedia components to its high school sports coverage, and a more organized presentation of these components, certainly make this section an excellent example of online journalism.
