How to Write a Sports Agate
Sports agates have been a staple of sports reporting. Columns and rows of simple, readable text give the sports enthusiast a quick rundown of how various teams did across a number of different sports. Because editors are slashing sports agates to keep newspaper costs down, knowing how to write your own agate is a good way to replace the useful table. So, follow these steps to write a sports agate.
- Difficulty:
- Moderately Challenging
Instructions
-
-
1
Gather the information. Even though it is possible, especially with the help of the Internet, to gather all the sports data needed to compile an agate, a simpler and faster way to get the information is from a wire service. If you want to write a serious, commercial agate, sign up for sports reporting from a newswire such as AP or UP.
-
2
Select the sports and teams. A sports agate needs to be simple and compact. Since it is impossible to include all sports and teams in the agate, make an editorial decision about what to include in the agate based on your projected audience. Think about where your readers are located and what sports they are interested in to select the correct teams and sports.
-
3
Interpret and transcribe the data. If you use a wire service to receive information, then you need to translate the relatively complicated set of symbols and spaces into a readable format. Read the wire's guide to know what semi-colons, white spaces and unprintable characters stand for. If you gather the information yourself, separate out sports data that is essential from data that should be left in longer sports articles.
-
4
Create your columns and rows. One of the most difficult part of writing a sports agate is ordering the data. Use different columns for different sports. Within each column, use sections for regions or leagues and sub-columns to indicate types of scoring and data, such as RBIs, home-runs and errors in baseball. Within the sports columns and data sub-columns, create rows for each team. Also, be sure to find official abbreviations so you save space without sacrificing clarity.
-
1
