Beat Writer Essay

A sportswriter is a journalist who writes about sports for a living, often reporting not only on the games themselves, but the business and inner dealings of sports. Most sportswriters work for a newspaper or other type of news organization. A "beat" writer or reporter is someone who covers the same area over and over for his stories. It comes from the same usage for "beat" as in the beat of the heart or clock, meaning a regular and constant event. The job of a sports beat writer varies slightly from sport to sport, but the basic elements are the same. There are several qualities that a beat writer must possess in order to be successful. The qualities that a beat writer must have are dedication, knowledgeable, and accurate.
A sports beat writer often covers his or her team year-round, even during the offseason. The sports beat writer is typically required to cover every game the team plays – even on long road trips – and write game stories, compile notes and occasionally write features and previews of upcoming games. According to Steve Wilstein, “A beat writer’s life is defined by the season and the schedule, and his or her family has to adapt” (12). The sports beat writer is also responsible for breaking news that occurs within the team, be it a big trade or a criminal development involving a player. The life of a sports beat writer can be as trying as it is thrilling – he practically lives with the team during the season, but he also gets paid to watch sports and meet famous athletes on a daily basis.
A beat writer must be prepared under any circumstance. Beat writers work hard and they have to be on top of their game at all times, otherwise they will not output good articles. Besides knowing how to write and being on time to make deadlines, the hardest part is knowing the rules and everything that is going on in all sorts of different sports. According to Barry Wilner, “You must be able to identify the moves…You must understand the scoring system…know the...