The BBC Sports desk in Hull can be a busy and hectic place
to be involved in. With major sporting events and games each week, there is a
mass of organisation, preparation, and dedicated work ethic that needs to be
employed to keep a Sports Desk’s heartbeat running.
At BBC Humberside, that job is down to Radio Presenter, and
current Sports Editor, Matt Dean. But what does it take to be in charge of such
an important role, and, more importantly what does that role involve?
“My job is to manage two other Sports Journalists. I also
look after all of the freelancers on match days.” He said.
Being the Sports Editor, Matt also has editorial decisions
to make, and a responsibility to ensure the efficiency of the Sport’s desk.
“We have bulletins at breakfast time at lunchtime and in the
afternoon. So I have to keep my eye across which stories are out there.”
Some people become inspired or have someone that they look
up to for an aspired job. For Matt, the lure of radio has always been the main
focus and aspiration.
“I always listened to radio Humberside sport. I just think
that the immediacy in radio is what’s so appealing for me really. I always had
that vision, so that always was the thing that drove me really.”
The job roles that Matt has held in his time with the BBC
have adapted with the current climate of the media, and Matt has seen this
change first hand in the work place.
“It’s changed a lot. I mean when I first started working for
the BBC in nineteen ninety nine, online was in its infancy really. All of us
have been trained to put stories up on the BBC Sport website. We always have to
think across online as well as just on the radio,” he said.
The impact of social media such as Twitter, has prompted
journalists to know and be capable of working with these new mediums as well as
the old ones.
“I think that in the course of the last sort of couple of
years Twitter’s sort of taken off. And there’s quite a lot of stories that
could come through Twitter now, and you always have to be reactive to that.
“I think we need to be on the ball when it comes to Twitter,
and I think we need to be fully switched on to it. And we do try and do a bit of Tweeting.
“I don’t feel a major threat from Twitter. Although having said that, it’s just another means to monitor. I think
that we just have to be aware of it.”
It seems as though the working day of old has evolved, and a
journalist can no longer expect to be a master of one thing, but instead, a tool
that can be used and adapted in all circumstances and situations.
The impact of new media has changed the job roles within
journalism, particularly broadcasting, and it seems that this may only seek to
increase, as time, and technology, develops.
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