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The job of being a sports reporter is more in-depth than may first appear. In addition to having singular mission, reporters also need to make sure they are as sharp as a knife when choosing words and pictures. They also need to understand what shooting and post-production are all about. Thus, during the fourth day of class for The Hong Kong Jockey Club Junior Sports Reporters Programme, the students were taught how to “sharpen their knives”.

To ensure that the students would be well prepared to conduct interviews and short videos for the Hong Kong Games, two highly-experienced mentors Szeto Chi Man and Kwok Tsz Lung were called upon to explain the principles and basic skills behind photography and videography. So, what makes a good picture? In Szeto’s opinion, “A photo without a story is like a body without soul.” Kwok, who is responsible for teaching video production, agreed. “A picture can tell a story,” however, in order to be considered a strong news story, it must have a suitable narrative, interview, and “stand-upper”.

After learning the theory behind taking good photos and videos, the students went down to the basketball court for some practical experience. When they got there, a game was already in progress. Luckily, they were able to produce the receipt proving that they had booked the court in advance, and the annual basketball plus photo shooting competition could proceed. As a group of young people who love sports, they were super excited to play basketball and take turns being the photographers and the “superstar” basketball players. They knew exactly how the stars like to exaggerate their shots and reactions, and doing this gave them a chance to take some really fun and interesting photos. These “photographers” were extremely focused in learning how to operate professional cameras and tried their best to capture every thrilling moment. Some of the students’ photos were of a more professional calibre, and stood out to the mentors. However, Szeto reminded them that every photo must have a theme, and that if the reader has to search for it, then post-production effects should be used to make it clear.

The afternoon session focused on “Interview and Expressive Skills in English”, and was led by Susan Dootson, the English editing consultant with the Club’s Branding and Programme Services Department, and Christopher O’Brien (OB), Manchester United Soccer Schools Head Coach – Hong Kong. Susan began the class by speaking in Cantonese to point out the differences in speaking each language well. She then discussed how to properly ask questions at a press conference. A mock press conference was then held with OB, at which the students acted as journalists, raising their hands and asking him questions about his life as a footballer. From his enthusiastic response to each and every question, it was plain to see OB’s passion and loyalty to “The Red Devils”. After the mock conference was over, three students had the chance to conduct a back-and-forth interview with OB in front of the television camera.

In addition to becoming journalists, the students were also equally interested in being sports commentators. In light of this, programme mentor and senior commentator Li Tak Nang prepared exercises for the students on “Describing” and “Explaining”, which would prepare them for the following week’s commentary class and also for the live webcast games that are a part of the second phase of the programme. He explained that being a sports commentator isn’t as easy as simply talking about whatever comes to mind. Li said: “If the audience watches the games because of the commentators, then the commentators are doing a good job.”

On top of work done in class, some of the students were sent to watch and report on boxing star Rex Tso’s title fight, as well as the prize presentation ceremony for Sports for Hope Foundation – Outstanding Junior Athlete Awards. Please visit our website (in Chinese only) or follow us on Facebook for some of their work!