There are few things in sports journalism that I’m more comfortable with than a beat. My experience – primarily in college as a writer, then editor, of the Daily Bruin at UCLA – has been shaped by the beat system.
UCLA’s strongest athletic teams are often the Olympic sports rather than football or men’s basketball, and the Daily Bruin is lucky to have a large enough staff to fully cover all of those teams. Since my first day in the Sports Department as a contributor on the men’s water polo beat, I’ve been trained to go to every single practice and every single game, developing close relationships with players and coaches in the process.
That first season with men’s water polo was like being thrown into the deep end, as I entered midway through the 2014 season. I wrote seven stories, including a wrap for the team’s national …show more content…
It wasn’t great, but I distinctly remember thinking to myself that I finally had my first memorable moment as a writer.
Over the next years, as I went from water polo to volleyball to soccer, I wrote upwards of three articles per week and learned how to diversity content – whether it was finding fresh ideas for a notebook, a notable person to profile or a multimedia layer to add depth to a story.
Throughout my time in college and as a writer at Yahoo Sports this past summer, I’ve been able to branch out and feel more comfortable with new types of storytelling. One of the biggest ways was through a column, “Tanner’s Take,” that I started as an assistant editor. Many of my favorite stories come from that column since it showcases my voice and lets me develop my ideas and have a little more fun. I’ve used that space to investigate into Los Angeles’ 2024 Olympics plan, to examine the recruiting successes of UCLA men’s basketball, to bring a fan’s perspective of the student section and many
UCLA’s strongest athletic teams are often the Olympic sports rather than football or men’s basketball, and the Daily Bruin is lucky to have a large enough staff to fully cover all of those teams. Since my first day in the Sports Department as a contributor on the men’s water polo beat, I’ve been trained to go to every single practice and every single game, developing close relationships with players and coaches in the process.
That first season with men’s water polo was like being thrown into the deep end, as I entered midway through the 2014 season. I wrote seven stories, including a wrap for the team’s national …show more content…
It wasn’t great, but I distinctly remember thinking to myself that I finally had my first memorable moment as a writer.
Over the next years, as I went from water polo to volleyball to soccer, I wrote upwards of three articles per week and learned how to diversity content – whether it was finding fresh ideas for a notebook, a notable person to profile or a multimedia layer to add depth to a story.
Throughout my time in college and as a writer at Yahoo Sports this past summer, I’ve been able to branch out and feel more comfortable with new types of storytelling. One of the biggest ways was through a column, “Tanner’s Take,” that I started as an assistant editor. Many of my favorite stories come from that column since it showcases my voice and lets me develop my ideas and have a little more fun. I’ve used that space to investigate into Los Angeles’ 2024 Olympics plan, to examine the recruiting successes of UCLA men’s basketball, to bring a fan’s perspective of the student section and many