Hastings College alum and sports writer for the Lincoln Journal Star, Brian Rosenthal ’94, and Kathryn Stofer, associate professor of communication arts at Hastings College, teamed together with James Schaffer, professor of journalism at Nebraska Wesleyan University, to write and publish “Sports Journalism: An Introduction to Reporting and Writing.”

The textbook provides students an introduction to sports reporting careers and writing styles used by today’s sports writers and media relations professionals and emphasizes the basic writing fundamentals and high ethical standards essential to sports journalists.

The textbook, which covers the basics of everything from the changing industry technologies and news values and conventions to leads, nut grafs, simple sentences and headlines, is the product of a six-year collaboration by the professor and former student team. Rosenthal has taught several January (J-Term) sports writing courses for Hastings College and admits the idea for the book came from necessity.

“It was one of those light bulb moments,” Rosenthal said. “There were no real textbooks out there for sports writing classes. So we thought, ‘Why don’t we write one.’”

Easily incorporating technical instruction with real world examples and advice, the book offers students and professionals an easy-to-use resource for sports writing styles and language.

The textbook will be available for sale in October. Its authors bring together 20 years of professional sports and media writing, 45 years of college teaching experience and five published textbooks.
 
Hastings College, founded in 1882, is a private, four-year liberal arts institution affiliated with the Presbyterian Church (USA). A total of 64 majors in 32 areas of study and 12 pre-professional programs are offered to more than 1,150 students. Hastings College was named a 2009 “Best in the Midwest” college by The Princeton Review, was ranked among the “Best Liberal Arts Colleges” in the nation by U.S. News & World Report and was rated a “Best Buy in College Education” by Barron’s.