looking for a career in sports journalism in LA in the near future, looking for advice (Los Angeles: bankrupt)

[joeyb91]

I'm 17 living in ireland and currently in my last hear of secondary school (high school). I'm a sports fanatic, and play or watch anything from golf, basketball, rugby, boxing, darts, snooker and tennis, but my real passion is soccer.I am hoping to do a college course in journalism in ireland and the branch out into the sports side of it.
With the arrival of David Beckham to american shores and the likelihood of ESPN to attain the rights to broadcast the english premier league for the next number of years, it appears that soccer in america is going to go from strength to strength.
My ambition is to relocate here within the next 5 years, with the hope of getting involved in the written or broadcasting side of the game, whether it be for the MLS, English Premier League, European soccer or just soccer in general.
My preferred destination would be Los Angeles, with its terrific weather compared to rainy old ireland, better quality of life and the knowledge that previous ventures into soccer broadcasting have generally suceeded here, like the World Soccer Daily radio show, CSRN radio and the Fox Soccer Channel.
Obviously I am aware of the cost of living in the city plus the fact that it will take lots of hard work and good fortune to succeed. Therefore, I would be very greatful if anyone could give me any advice as to whether this is a viable dream or not and I would also like to know anyone who has a similar ambition.

[wvdevindavis]

Hi there! I'll give you a bit of personal experience. I ran a news camera in the field for three years and did a few years doing sports writing for a newspaper before I came out here, so I'm fairly sure it's the same career track. LA is very tough to get into in that line of work in general, let alone by someone new. You'll need to get a four year degree (research broadcasting programs if you're looking at getting into announcing, journalism if you're looking at getting into writing). Then you'll have to get a first job. Usually a first job will land you in an Evansville, Indiana, or a Paduca, Kentucky, or some other God-forsaken place that nothing really happens besides the local high school sports team. You tool around in that market, literally making minimum wage, for a year or two, to hone your craft, but together a demo tape or a portfolio (depending on your medium of choice), then hustle a job in a top 75 market. Places like Charleston, WV or El Paso, TX, or Flint, MI. This is the market that you'll spend a year trying to get a story written that can catch someone's eye. It's one thing to write about a local high school team that sucks, but if you can get a story with a player that might go pro, or might go to a really good college, then you use those kinds of stories for your next demo. And you end up jumping market to market -- top 50, top 35, top 20, top 10... somewhere after you hit a top 35 market, you start having a small percentage of being picked up by an LA or a NYC. Top ten, you get an even better chance. Also. Make friends with everyone you meet. You never know who's going to end up in the place you want to work, and the last thing you want when trying to break in somewhere is an enemy. A recommendation goes a long way in the journalism field. Hope that helps. Good luck.

[buckeyenative01]

Find another career. Journalism is dead in the United States, even in a city as large as Los Angeles.

[njml1982]

Hi there! Any dream is a viable one. So if it's what you really love, go for it. As someone who is moving to LA, I can't so much comment on the how easy/difficult it is there. But I am leaving broadcast journalism for the energy industry. I'm 26 and a meteorologist, so my first stop was TV in Upstate NY. While many industries are suffering due to the bad economy, journalism is hurting especially bad. There is almost no job to job movement right now. Much of journalism is dependent on ad revenue, and right now is a brutal, brutal period in this industry....it needs to adapt to the web and find a new niche or it will be a dead industry in a year or two. Listen to the advice of wvdevin, and that will get you far within the industry. But make sure you have not only a dream, but a backup plan.

[Cubancoffee]

This is a terrible time to be going into journalism. Newspapers and TV are in a huge advertising slump and will almost assuredly never, ever see the kinds of profits they did before the Internet arrived. Newspaper companies are going bankrupt and journalists are being fired daily. There's no money in online reporting/blogging. And, Beckham's presence notwithstanding, there's not much demand for soccer writers, to boot. Good luck, but if you're looking for advice: Don't get your hopes up.

[Charles]

Might be easier to be pro soccer player than a pro soccer writer.