Cheers as Legendary Kipchoge Keino joins Local Scribes during the SJAK Seminar
By Fred Maingi
Legendary track star Kipchoge Keino has described Kenya as a rich country with best talents in sports especially Athletes and coaches.
He urged Kenyans to remain united for the sake of the country. He further urged Kenyans to turn up in large numbers tomorrow (Saturday) and cheer Kenya Athletes during the Kipkeino classic event slated at the Nyayo National Stadium.
He spoke briefly when he addressed the media during a one day Sports journalist Association of Kenya(Sjak) Athletics seminar held at a Nairobi Hotel.
During the Athletics seminar, the scribes received tips on the power of sports storytelling as a fascinating trend how the public view and appreciate sports.
Elias Makori, Head of Sports at Nation Media Group (NMG) in his presentation, called on reporters attending the workshop to invest a lot more in their time and strive to hang out with athletes in churning out human interest athlete stories.
Makori, who is a seasoned journalists with an experience spanning over three decades in the trade, also revealed that “the key to a successful interview is establishing rapport with athletes.”
To achieve this, Makori said “Reporters must do their homework and approach interviews knowing both the background of the source and something about the subject of the story.”
“Always look for interesting facts, anecdotes, historical background of the athlete that will make the story more interesting.” Makori said in his presentation.
The widely traveled Makori added that reporters need to pay particular attention to the structure of the interview.
“A reporter should also be adept at handling hostile sources and uncommunicative resources.” He said.
“When a reporter asks the right questions with finesse, a source becomes a window of the news. Interviewing requires patience, confidence, and an uncanny knack to listen, participate, observe and absorb,” said Makori.
The seminar is being used by SJAK to impart technical knowledge to journalists well in time for the weekend showpiece, which continues to distinguish itself as a top-ranking one-day-meet athletics championship.
‘Kip Keino Classic’ is part of the Continental Tour Gold series by World Athletics.
The action-packed event boasts top talents from Africa and other continents giving athletes a chance to compete at an international level while reaching fans all over the world.
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