Bruce Arthur

Bruce Arhur, National Post

By Domenic Gratta

Success as a sports journalist will be achieved in a different way for each person, says Bruce Arthur.

The lead sports columnist for the National Post discussed the challenging road ahead to students at Centennial College on Feb. 9, 2009.

"I can't tell you anything about how to get anywhere in this business just because my path is completely impossible to replicate," Arthur told the sports journalism class.

A Vancouver native, Arthur was the sports editor and coordinating editor of the University of British Columbia's student newspaper, The Ubyssey.

After an intern opportunity at the National Post, he was hired on full-time as a general reporter. His sports journalism career really took off in 2002 when he was promoted to beat reporter for the Toronto Raptors.

That led eventually to a position as lead sports columnist in 2008.

"The rewards are great," Arthur says. "I've got to travel all over the world. I've got to write about every single sport ... different kinds of stories, and I've got to write in the way I want to.'

He also discussed the challenges in writing deadline stories, especially in basketball, due to the fluctuating nature of the score.

His solution is to set up "ambiguous paragraphs," whereby you create two possible scenarios for every game story you cover.

"You need to keep two windows open but at a certain point you go with one," he says.

Since writing a game story requires a certain degree of guessing, a sports journalist also cannot be afraid to tear up the story and start it again from scratch.

"[Writing stories] is like making sausages," Arthur says. "The end product is fine but you don't want to see how they're made."

"When I go to a sports event now I don't cheer, it's not in my mindset ... I am only a fan of the Philadelphia Eagles, and that's because I don't cover them", he says.

Building good relationships with players, Arthur says, is achieved by having a solid understanding of the athletes and their histories.

"Know who you're talking to and what you're talking about," he says.

The Sports Journalism program at The Centre for Creative Communications, Centennial College, features 12 courses over 12 consecutive months and is unique in Canada. It offers training in print, online, radio and television and finishes with a six week professional placement.

For more information about the Sports Journalism Program, contact program coordinator Malcolm Kelly at mkelly@centennialcollege.ca.