The Experience
Firstly, if nothing else, reporting at the Commonwealth Games was fun. The whole experience felt like an exclusive view of how international sporting events run. Being metres away from Brandon Starc when he cleared the 2.32 metre high-jump was a personal highlight for me.
From an educational perspective, it was a great chance to see how athletes, events and venues interact with journalism. For example, grassy knolls, media tribunes and mixed zones were new to me and it was interesting to see the multitude of different stories to come from various media outlets. Sport is not something I have covered often before, so I had a certain amount of apprehension about two weeks of dedicated sports reporting. However, I discovered there’s much more to it than stating an athlete won gold.
I was impressed with the inclusivity of the games, both with the para-sports and the number of volunteers with disabilities. I was proud to see Australia is inclusive, but it also presented a good experience in how to report on these events without being unintentionally condescending or inappropriate.
Also, being a student journalist still qualifies a person as a journalist. Writing for assessment, we had a small amount of leeway in the quality and quantity of what we produced, but media accreditation rules were not flexible just because we are students. This meant there was a unique balance between ignoring the ‘assessment’ side of things and producing content as a paid, employed journalist would, while remembering we may not be at the same standard as someone who has been in the industry for a few years (a fact not to beat ourselves up over).
The Games
Athletic competitions, such as the Commonwealth Games or the Olympics, are important because they give an appreciation to cultures and people the same way film, music or art does. However, the Sydney Morning Herald called the Commonwealth Games the ‘Pluto’ of the sports universe, asking “what is there to gain from beating less than half the countries in the world”. In my opinion, the Commonwealth Games are as relevant as ‘Oceania’ or ‘Australasia’ competitions. They are a cross-cultural contest for athletes from different regions to compare their abilities. All these types of events are ‘stepping stones’ towards the Olympics, which can be extremely useful for up-and-coming athletes.
There is also the question of whether the Games were just an excuse to showcase Australia and the Gold Coast. It is an opportunity Queensland’s tourism industry did not (and will not) pass up, but was this all Commonwealth Games executives cared about? The Closing Ceremony and its following uproar was a perfect example of where audiences believed organisers’ egos impeded the sport and the athletes.
The Media
Issues arose surrounding the media accreditation rules, such as Fairfax and NewsCorp ‘boycotting’ the Games, and with good reason. Having only one broadcaster went against all journalistic instincts of non-bias and having a variety of information sources. While other media outlets could still provide their own online reports or use footage and audio from some areas, Channel Seven had a time advantage (they could broadcast first) and a content advantage (they could film and record audio). Basically, Seven was not held accountable to the standard they should have been. Of course if they had reported something factually wrong, biased, or lacking journalistic integrity, another media outlet would have picked it up soon after, but with the speed at which information travels, the damage would have already been done.
However, with the internet improving, making information more readily available, people no longer depend on news organisations as heavily as they once did. This forces more focus on profits. Hence, Seven paid an estimated $40million for all the relevant rights and, to them, that amount of money equated to strictly ruling on the rights of others. Buying the rights seemed to work for Seven; the channel had more than two million viewers on the night of the opening ceremony. But it does create many questions. Are profits more important than credibility? Is this just sports journalism? Will all organisations follow and will this become the future of journalism in any context? This profit-hungry, content-limiting approach will no doubt be scrutinised ahead of the 2020 Olympic Games.
Learning
More than anything, this experience taught me the importance of adaptability.
Firstly, adaptability is essential in sports reporting because with all sports the result is likely to change in a matter of minutes, sometimes seconds.
Secondly, media accreditation miscommunications led us to believe we would be able to park easily and film in the media centre (which was not the case) and pressers gave us unrelated information, or an event (such as a protest) finished earlier than expected, which left us with no footage and forced a change in story plans. These alterations were unforeseen and uncontrollable, so the only way to react was to adapt.
Finally, there was adaptability between mediums. Being able to work between programs was a challenge in itself. Additionally, it is a skill to be able to both ‘write to pictures’ in TV, while also being able to write for radio, to explain something to someone with no pictures. The challenge for me was having to be able to flick my brain between the two.
As mentioned above, this experience also taught me how much more there is to report on than just the events. Para-sport inclusions, transport, traffic, festivals, scandals and accommodation, were all stories which could be linked to the games and reported on. Understanding that helped me recognise the importance of more well-rounded sport reporting to appeal to a number of audiences.
Future Practice
For future practice of Commonwealth Games reporting (or reporting any large scale, international event) there are a number of changes I could make. As adaptability was key for me, I feel it would be good practice for all student journalists to experience jumping between platforms daily. This could also include live-blogging and written work, which would have better suited the media restrictions in place.
On a personal level, I have a greater understanding of how to act and react at a similar event in the future. This is not limited to sporting events (such as World Cups or the Olympics), but a range of other events (such as G20 and Eurovision).
This experience has emphasised to me the importance of not cracking under pressure, or becoming emotional when things do not go as planned, but instead being able to change my thinking and story ideas. Going into the Commonwealth Games, I felt underprepared. I wasn’t sure what each venue looked like, how many interviews I could get, who I would interview or how many stories I was expected to produce. Instead of getting worked up and letting the uncertainty overrule my thinking, I realised it was a lot easier to ‘go with the flow’, which is something I feel is a vital skill for all parts of life.
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