Future sports journalists gain insights into matchday reporting on WiJ Scotland trip
(L-R) Anna Burnside (WiJS committee); Dorothy Prodhan; Fiona O’Hara; Claire Thomson; Emma Dodds (sports broadcaster); Rhianwen Hopwood and Rachel Cameron.
By Rachel Cameron
The lowdown on broadcasting, how to get a foot in the door - and definitely don’t clap for either team when you are in the press box.
These are just some of the insights into the industry gained by a group of future sports journalists when we headed to Scotstoun Stadium in October to see Glasgow Warriors take on Benetton, during a press box trip organised by Women in Journalism Scotland.
For those of us who hadn’t seen many - if any - rugby matches before, the Glasgow Warriors put on a great display of rugby for us all to enjoy. It was wonderful to see the Warriors get an epic win too and be awarded the full 15 points to boost them up the 22/23 BKT United Rugby Championship.
Whilst the rugby was excellent, that was not why we were there. We were there to gain a better insight as to how all the media runs on a matchday, as well as the chance to sit in the press box for the game and write a match report alongside those who work in the industry.
We started off with a tour around the stadium, and we were then extremely lucky to chat to Scottish Rugby legend and now broadcaster Chris Paterson down on the pitch.
Chris gave us a wonderful explanation into the different levels of detail that are required to viewers dependent on the streaming service. The game we were at was being streamed by Premier Sports, Chris explained as this is a subscription platform, viewers expect a wee bit more insight and specifics of the match than you would hear or see in Six Nations coverage.
After chatting to Chris, we headed inside to see the media set up for interviews, the coin toss, and the post-match conference. Here we got to speak to Glasgow Warriors’ media manager, Duncan Seller as well as presenter Emma Dodds.
Duncan gave us a great lowdown on what his role requires before, during and after the match and how it all worked during the worst of the Covid pandemic.
Emma explained her background and how and what she did to get her foot into the door and become successful in the industry. Emma also gave us some fantastic advice which I think everyone benefitted from. She really took the time to speak with us individually too about all of our future plans, which was nice.
Then, it was kick off and we headed up to the press box for the game- we quickly learnt that in the press box you are not to clap for either team! We all got our notebooks and laptops out and began devising our match reports. Once the game was over, we headed down to witness the post-match conference.
This was an absolutely amazing experience for all of us and we can’t thank Women in Journalism Scotland enough for arranging this press box trip. A huge thank you to Anna Burnside for accompanying us and to all the fabulous people who took the time to chat to us.
To learn first hand on what our futures might look like before they have even properly begun is such a privilege and makes me so excited for what is potentially to come.
