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Karen Wall
Scholastic editor
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Rally Extra High School Football Preview cover
Rally high school sports section
For once, too many fish
Karen Wall
karen wall
Karen E. Wall
Scholastic editor
Asbury Park Press, Neptune, N.J.
What inspired you to
become a journalist?
I decided to go into journalism — specifically copy editing — because I enjoyed
working with words. I realized I was good at working with words, and in looking
for a job where I could work with them, I found journalism. Once in the business,
I found I liked the aspect of learning about new things, new people, and the
variety that goes with this job. I began my career working on the news copy
desk, but moved to sports in 1994.
Please describe your
current job?
My title is scholastic editor, but it's misleading; I'm actually one of two
people responsible for our high school sports coverage. We produce two pages
of high school sports coverage daily; a weekly 8-12 page section named Rally
that is devoted to high school sports coverage, and anywhere from two to five
pages of high school sports coverage for the Sunday paper. This is my job nine
months of the year, while school is in session. During the summer, I help to
coordinate our local sports coverage, work as a rim editor, and I write a Sunday
column on fishing called "Tails from the Deep."
What's the best part
of the job?
During high school season, it's hearing from parents and players about how much
they like Rally. It's also a lot of fun to put together a big splashy package
when we have teams competing for state titles. In March we had two teams playing
for the overall state title in girls basketball. It was a blast, not only doing
the pregame package, but the game-night package as well.
How do you handle deadline
pressure?
Sometimes, not very well! The pressure is there all the time, and my work as
a copy editor is far more complex now; I not only write headlines and photo
captions, I do the production work, paginating the pages. On the downside, it's
a lot to do, especially during the winter when all the high school events are
at night. But on the upside, it gives me some flexibility and room to do what
I want (within limits) with the pages. It's a lot of creative freedom, in that
respect. We try to laugh as often as we can, and on the high school sports staff
in particular, we've got a pretty good sense of team, with everyone pitching
in to get the job done.
How do you avoid cliches
when you write headlines?
Generally by rejecting the cliches when they come to mind. Our focus with the
high school coverage is on the kids, so as often as possible I try to get a
kid's name in the headline. It violates a basic rule of headline writing in
that the names are not always the most recognizable. But because of the nature
of what we're doing — high school sports — it's acceptable to break that rule.
My headlines aren't the most flashy on the planet, and I try to stay away from
puns because they fail as often as they work. But sometimes it's better to keep
it simple.
Is it hard being in the
newsroom most of the time instead of being out on a story?
Absolutely. But not because I wish I were a reporter; I like being a copy editor,
I like what I do. The reason it's hard for me is it's exciting to watch these
kids competing, and watching in person is a lot of fun. High school sports are
still a little bit more pure — kids aren't getting paid huge contracts
to pay, and many of them play simply for the joy of playing. To see the excitement
when they win a title is almost as exhilarating as winning one yourself. And
that's one way my fishing column helps; I get out of the office and get the
opportunity to write, which I feel helps sharpen my editing skills. And who
can beat getting paid to go fishing, get a tan and write about it?
Do you work a lot of
nights and weekends?
Yes. My only consistent day off is Sunday; my weekdays vary depending on the
sports season. And in the two seasons I've been working on Rally, I have taken
just one Friday night off - and that was because my father was having surgery.
I have taken a few Saturdays off, but those are rare as well. But I don't mind
working nights. I have never been a morning person; getting up before 10 a.m.
(which I must do these days with a young child in the house) is difficult. The
most difficult aspect of sports, from a schedule standpoint, is the way they
impact the holidays. Scheduling family get-togethers can be very difficult.
For example, last Thanksgiving, due to staffing problems, I covered a high school
football game in the morning, went to my brother's home for about two hours
for dinner, and then went to the office to produce the high school sports pages
(yes, I edited and wrote headlines on my own story). That was not fun. But it
goes with the territory to a certain degree.
Are you a sports junkie
when you're not working?
To a degree. My husband is a big sports fan, too, so we usually have some sporting
event on. I don't dwell on statistics, but I do try to keep up on what's happening
with my favorite teams. I guess the best way to answer that question, however,
would be to note that our daughter, Emily, knows the difference between golf
and tennis, baseball and football, basketball and soccer. Although she's young,
she's very aware of the different sports — to the point that on a recent
Sunday she asked to watch baseball, and got mad because I wanted to watch football.
What advice do you have
for aspiring sports writers and editors?
First and foremost, be prepared for crazy hours and a crazy life. Schedules
change constantly in this business, simply because of the fact that sports go
on nearly 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Be prepared to sacrifice weekends,
and don't expect to be covering the glamorous sports from the opening gun. You
learn a lot more covering a high school football game, keeping your own stats
and standing on the sidelines in the mud listening to the coaches talk to the
players than you ever will sitting in a warm, dry press box watching the game
on a television set and listening to the writers around you kibitzing. Be willing
to listen to what other writers tell you, but don't take everything they say
as gospel. Find yourself a mentor, and try to learn as much from that person
as you can. Be willing to work hard, at any assignment you're given. I've run
across a few too many students in the last couple of years who want things handed
to them on a platter and who're looking to be entertained and told every single
thing they should do. Lastly, if you do not know something, ASK. Ask lots of
questions. I'd rather have someone ask me a question than sit doing nothing
because they don't know where to start, or make an error in judgment because
they were afraid of sounding foolish and inexperienced. Being inexperienced
is nothing to be ashamed of, and if you say to a coach, "Hey, I'm new at
this; can you please explain what that defense is?" in most cases, you'll
not only get an answer that you can understand, but you'll gain their respect
as well. It's when you try to pretend that you know more than you do that you
get yourself in trouble.