Using Twitter to cover sporting events

As a reporter in this day and age, journalists have to know how to use social media as part of their jobs.

For sports reporters, that means posting updates from games.

JEADigitalMedia.org has a great post providing tips and tricks for how to most effectively use Twitter to provide live coverage of any athletic event.

Read the article here: Got Game on Twitter? Here are 10 Steps for Strong Twitter Coverage at a Sporting Event

The article is geared toward high school journalists, but college journalists also can benefit by considering these tips.

Here is a brief rundown of what the article goes into with more depth (so you should still go read it):

• Tweet the reporter name and the team/sport you are covering.

• Tweet varsity games.

• Tweet from the beginning of the game (through the end).

• Post a tweet every 2-3 minutes.

• Include photos and short video in your Tweets.

• You are posting as a reporter, not a fan.

• Tweet noticeable patterns in play.

• Tweet the final score.

• Don’t delete anything.

• Upload an alternate form story.

This is a great list of points to keep in mind when covering sports with Twitter. Commit these ideas to your memory and implement them as frequently as possible.

For those of you interested, here is what this website and JEA is all about, according to JEA Digital Media itself:

“JEADigitalMedia.org’s goal is to educate JEA high school advisers and their students about relevant areas of digital media. Digital media includes, but is not limited to: Web sites, podcasts, blogs, broadcasts, social networks, etc.

The Journalism Education Association supports free and responsible scholastic journalism by providing resources and educational opportunities, by promoting professionalism, by encouraging and rewarding student excellence and teacher achievement, and by fostering an atmosphere which encompasses diversity yet builds unity.”

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About toddvogts 849 Articles
Todd R. Vogts, Ph.D., is an assistant professor of media at Sterling College in Kansas. Previously, he taught yearbook, newspaper, newsmagazine, and online journalism in various Kansas high schools, and he ran a weekly newspaper in rural Kansas. He continues to freelance as a professional journalist from time to time. Also, Vogts is a member of the Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ), the Journalism Education Association (JEA), and the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication (AEJMC), among others. He earned his Master Journalism Educator (MJE) certification from JEA in 2022. When he’s not teaching or writing, he runs his mobile disk jockey service and takes part in other entrepreneurial ventures. He can be reached at twitter.com/toddvogts or via his website at www.toddvogts.com.