Tip #16 For Young Reporters: Don't Drink On The Job

By Marcus Vanderberg 

Earlier this week, Chris Jones of Son of a Bold Venture offered up 15 tips of advice for young reporters in the press box.

Well, here’s tip #16: Don’t drink on the job.

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I had the opportunity to cover the NBA All-Star Weekend in Los Angeles. Based on my media affiliation, I was placed in a section with other bloggers. On Saturday and Sunday night (This photo is from Sunday), I witnessed two credentialed reporters drinking on the job.

What’s the big deal you might ask? Aside from the fact that you probably can’t drink at your place of employment, it makes bloggers in general look bad.

We all know the stigma against bloggers. As someone who falls into the blogger category, I’m offended when I see other bloggers who are credentialed and they don’t behave professionally.

Not counting the NHL (which I haven’t covered), the NBA is by far the league that credentials the most bloggers for their marquee events. It would be a shame if other aspiring writers missed out on an opportunity to cover the NBA All-Star Game or the NBA Finals because these two couldn’t wait until after the buzzer sounded in order to drink.

While we aren’t going to identify the two guys in the photo, please let this be a lesson to other young journalists – especially bloggers.

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