John Seager's 30 for 30: Day 29

A Cunning look back of 30 days which have changed my life over the past 30 years

Day 29:  22^nd February 2012 – finally get to be a sports reporter.

Evening all,

Since starting out as a reporter, opportunities to work have been very few and far between. I mean i have my radio work which is still very good as a reporter to show on his CV but actual reporting work had really dried up. I have tried so many times to apply for journalism jobs but i have not been successful.

So when an opportunity comes my way i see it as a brilliant opportunity to showcase me work as a reporter.

The opportunity came my way oddly by default and looking on twitter i saw a local online newspaper called the ‘Medway Times’ which is from the Medway area. That area has recently lost a printed paper over the last year and i thought it would be great to write some articles for them.

The Medway Times - the newest way to get the news in Medway

After a few enquiries, i asked being a sports reporter for them as they didn’t have one at the time. And to my joy they gratefully said yes.

My first work was going to be after the Gillingham v Rotherham game, which meant that the articles was going to be published on the 22^nd February 2012, so i didn’t have a lot of time to prepare for the article.

After the game, i just basically reported on what happened, using my journalism knowledge from Nottingham Trent and write an article of what happened and also give opinion about the performance from the team.

After the article was written and sent to the editor, i got some really good reviews from the people who read the article and also some guidance of how to improve it as well. Which for me i feel will make the articles more readable.

Since then I have been the main person who writes articles in and around Gillingham FC and they get published on the website. It was been a learning curve for me especially getting the work doubled checked before sending the article to the editor.

During the new season i will be adding new work as well from the club which i believe make more people read the online newspaper of the Medway Times.

But little did i know, football would not be the only that i will be covering from the area.

To be continued...