The hype surrounding Homecoming Week and Ohio’s football game on Saturday has reminded me of a frequent question I was asked when I covered Bobcats sports as an underclassman.
“As an Ohio University student, do you find it difficult to cover Ohio Athletics?”
The short answer: no. The complete answer: it can be, at times.
Playing a double role as OU students and journalists tasked with covering the university’s sports teams, Post sports reporters are put in an interesting spot. As fans of the teams they’re covering, they must make an additional effort to remain objective in their reporting.
Furthermore, student media reporters’ objectives can often be misconstrued.
Post sports editor Chad Lindskog said that fellow students oftentimes expect student sports journalists to pen positive reports about their athletic peers. While we prefer to write stories that sing the praises of our student-athletes, sometimes the narrative doesn’t fit that bill.
“When I’m in the press box, I’m not a Bobcats fan,” Lindskog said.
That stance is standard for Post reporters, who strive to cover Ohio Athletics with a fair and critical eye. I think they do a darn good job.
This week, however, we fell short of our editorial standards when we published a blog post poking fun at the Ohio field hockey team’s lengthy scoring drought. We received hearty (and well-warranted) criticism from readers about the story and have had internal discussions to ensure that our standards are met every time we press “publish.”
Many of our sports reporting beats are the most coveted on staff, and I already catch myself reminiscing about my former role as a basketball and football reporter.
The only negative I can recall about my time covering Ohio Athletics (besides getting a speeding ticket on my way to Penn State) is missing the Homecoming festivities during my sophomore year, instead opting to prepare our coverage for the big game.
Luckily, that won’t be the case this year — at least for me. Follow Chad and his crew on Twitter at @ThePostSports, and enjoy your Homecoming Weekend.
As always, thanks for reading.
Jim Ryan is a senior studying journalism and political science and editor-in-chief of The Post. Think The Post’s sports coverage has been on-point this year? Remember his time on the Ohio Athletics beat less fondly? Contact him at jr992810@ohio.edu or on Twitter at @Jimryan015.
