J219 MINI: Sports Reporting – starts 2/11

REPORTING AND WRITING ABOUT SPORTS A five-week mini-course in reporting and writing about sports with an emphasis on voice, access, storytelling, and real-world experience. The skills developed will be applicable across journalism; the sports world harbors diverse personalities, features natural narrative frameworks, and intersects with topics from business to education to race. Our writing will focus on creativity, structure, and tone, long the hallmark of the field, from George Plimpton to Gary Smith to Wright Thompson.The course will include: Reading and discussion, on-the-ground reporting at local events, navigating the pro sports PR behemoth (which is rivaled by only politics in trying to curate coverage), guest speakers, drawing out reticent interview subjects, and column writing. During the course, students will produce either a reported essay/column or short feature that is suitable for publication, depending on their preference.Visiting professor Chris Ballard is a senior writer at Sports Illustrated. He covered the NBA for ten years and writes features, columns, and longform stories. The author of four books and a National Magazine Award finalist, he’s had his work anthologized in “The Best American Sports Writing” and six of his stories have been optioned for film.