SSU’s Interpersonal Relationship

The interpersonal relationship mentioned above may be further elaborated upon, as it can refer to interactions with a peer, team leader, SSU manager, athlete, or professional journalist. In this study, the researcher is curious about what kinds of interpersonal

relationships SSU journalists possess that play an influential role in their SDL. In this section, the researcher explores the findings to address RQ2.

In SSU, student journalists are divided into three groups according to their geographical location. Team leaders in each group provide feedback to members whenever they hand in a news article. The manager of SSU may also provide students with extra suggestions about how to improve. The relationships formed between SSU members offer abundant resources for SSU journalists. As CHIA mentioned: “The exchange of experiences in SSU means a lot to me. From conversations with other SSU members, I can learn new journalistic skills or even get some extra job opportunities.”

When speaking about his relationship with peers in SSU, LUO expressed strong emotions:

I had just transferred to a new school when I joined SSU. I did not have many friends at school, so I depended on my friends in SSU for companionship. After all, we shared the same hobby and the same goal. To this day, we discuss our favorite athletes, watch games and work to become sports journalists together. The

relationship with my friends in SSU is like a constructive competition; we compete with each other to push ourselves to improve.

As LUO pointed out, it is common for SSU members to consult with senior SSU writers about how to improve their news reports. LUO once took on the task of writing volleyball news. During the production process, he consulted a senior SSU member, who was once a volleyball player, about how to write excellent volleyball news. The senior SSU analyzed the game for him and pointed out particular aspects worth paying attention to. LUO: “People in SSU have helped me to discover my blind spots, and in that way, they have helped me to make progress.”

YU had a similar experience. YU is a certified basketball referee; he knows

basketball rules extremely well. However, he knew nothing about news writing when he first joined SSU. After he learned the inverted pyramid writing technique taught in SSU’s news writing training course, YU contacted his division leader, followed her to the

basketball sidelines, and observed how she asked questions and took notes. Yu then wrote a news report and compared it with his team leader’s version of the same game. As YU pointed out, “The relationship between me and my team leader is crucial. With my team leader’s help, I gradually gained a clearer idea about news production.”

Besides interacting with peers, SSU members often met professional journalists during their work. Professional journalists can be viewed as role models for SSU members to follow. However, they may also occasionally serve as bad examples for student journalists. LUO once met a journalist who interviewed athletes while he was having his lunch. LUO: “I thought it was inappropriate. It reminded me to be aware of my attitude and behavior when conducting interviews.” CHIA also agreed that by observing professional journalists, SSU members are able to learn from their strengths and weaknesses. CHIA:

Whenever I saw journalists who asked questions without any preparation, it reminded me to be careful to not to make the same mistake. If I met someone who asked great questions, it inspired me to develop new ways to conduct my interviews.

While SSU members may not have many direct interactions with professional journalists, LIN pointed out that SSU writers should always be aware of their attitude:

Whenever you meet a professional journalist, remember to be polite to them. They are experts in this industry. They are able to help you to move further, or to stop you from working in this field. If you are polite, they may be willing to share their experience with you and guide you in a direction that will help you succeed at your job.

Aside from gaining extra help, LIN also mentioned that establishing a good

relationship with experts might help student journalists to pick up on tacit knowledge and wisdom about the industry. LIN:

There is a lot of journalism knowledge that you cannot learn from textbooks or from the Internet; it lies in the minds of these experts. Only by having direct interactions with them can one learn the essence and depth of knowledge about the field. I often need to consult professional journalists for information about important figures or potential athletes. They have been in the industry for a long time, so they are better able to predict or decide what is newsworthy, and to then connect various pieces of information together in a cohesive way.

In addition, LIN analyzes how important interpersonal relationships have been to her once she entered the industry. LIN:

When I was in SSU, the workload was less; it was fine for me to work on my own.

But after I entered the industry, I realized that I depended more upon my coworkers.

Under time constraints and a heavy workload, sometimes it is impossible to finish all the interviews or take all the pictures. This is when I need help from other journalists.

Maintaining good relationships with other people in the industry can help me finish assignments on time.

As well as the benefit of receiving extra help, maintaining interpersonal relationships may also provide additional opportunities for student journalists. LUO once got the chance to write a news story for a tennis company because of his previous volunteer experience. As for HSU, she met her boss at a SSU event and got offered a position as an anchorperson.

Another experience that most SSU members share is being assigned to cover a topic that they are not familiar with. This may include reporting on rules or sports figures they did not understand. When they were novices, they may have been nervous about

venturing into unfamiliar territory, but as their experience increased, they figured out ways to solve such problems. For example, they learned to search for related information through the Internet to increase their knowledge, or to ask a key informant for help.

As for HSU, she prefers asking a source questions to get direct answers. HSU:

Through asking questions directly with a key person, I can get the answers I need quickly and comprehensively. I’m able to learn directly from them, which works better than searching on the Internet by myself. In addition, through this method journalists can also build a positive relationship with that key person.

The various ways that SSU members react to such situations also relates to the journalists’ personalities. HSU prefers direct interaction, while TSENG still prefers finding answers by herself. From time to time she might also consult a personal reference for help. TSENG:

I prefer searching information by myself. But for some sports like golf, I can only obtain limited knowledge from the Internet. To learn more, I have been visiting golf courses often to chat with coaches, to get to know the athletes, and to become familiar with the rules of golf.

Additionally, TSENG also mentioned that it is important for journalists to build up a social network of key sources and references before covering big events. TSENG:

Some matches, such as preliminary rounds, may not be viewed as newsworthy, but I will still visit the sidelines to expand and maintain my social connection with

interviewees. If I visit them often and make friends with them, we can gradually build up trust and then they may be more willing to share extra information with me. Also, after I entered the industry, I realized that collecting an athlete’s telephone number is important. Sometimes we need to do a second follow-up interview to get updates, or simply to fulfill your boss’s requirement to get extra information. Therefore,

whenever I interview an athlete that I haven’t met before, I will ask for his or her phone number right after the interview to ensure that I am able to contact them when needed.