JAKE HARRISON

HOME 39 SENTANCE CRESCENT, KIRTON, BOSTON, PE20 1XF

PHONE - 07772178010 E-MAIL - jakecharrison92@gmail.com
SPORTS JOURNALISM GRADUATE (2 :1), NCTJ-QUALIFIED
PORTFOLIO: HTTP://JAKEHARRISONJOURNO.WORDPRESS.COM/

PROFILE
A very enthusiastic sports reporter with plenty of experience in interviewing, reporting,
writing for online and producing good, clean copy to tight deadlines, I have won
awards for a diverse portfolio in sports reporting. I have worked as an editor of a local
sports website, had excellent experience with local newspapers and reported extensively
on local sport voluntarily.
EXPERIENCE
Editor of SportsByte (June 2014-September 2014)
Sunderland
SportsByte is the local sports news website in Sunderland, covering university, amateur and
professional sport. As editor, I was responsible for planning, overseeing and co-ordinating the
creation of sports content on the website and in the magazine. I worked for the website over the
summer alongside a Media Editor, when very few of the reporters were available due to it being a
student-run website. This meant that any story was effectively covered by me, unless a reporter
could be found. I then interviewed, subbed, sourced pictures and planned future content.
Lincolnshire Echo (March 2013 & Summer 2013) (Voluntary)
Lincoln
Most of my experience in newspapers has come with the Lincolnshire Echo alongside sports editor
John Pakey. I spent two weeks at the Echo in March 2013 and then returned in the summer of
2013, volunteering when I was available outside of my paid job at the time. I contributed articles to
the newspapers and their websites across the Target series in Boston and Sleaford as well as the
Lincolnshire Echo.
In my time with the Echo I have covered many sports, contributing coverage (including interviews
and match reports) to local football teams Sleaford Town and Boston Town, cricket club
Lincolnshire CCC, local Olympic athletes and Lincoln City Ladies FC.
SportsByte Magazine Editor (July 2013-May 2014) (Voluntary)
Sunderland
Co-ordinating, producing and designing content for the bi-monthly magazine that was produced at
the University but distributed, freely, around Sunderland. I have produced features for Spark
Magazine in the sports section on stories such as the rise of futsal in Sunderland, the 2012 Olympic
legacy for volleyball, and on the successful Sunderland basketball sides of the 1980s/90s.
Shields Gazette (May 2013 & November 2013) (Voluntary)
Sunderland
I spent a week on work experience at the Shields Gazette, interviewing, writing, editing,
proofreading and producing content for the newspaper and website.
In my time with the Gazette I produced stories mainly around football, in youth level futsal,
amateur football and professional football with Newcastle United. I also attended an Alan Pardew
press conference at Newcastle United
SportsByte Reporter (March 2012-June 2014) (Voluntary)
Sunderland
In my time with SportsByte I have covered football, volleyball, handball, table tennis, futsal, Aussie
Rules football, and hockey, and I have reported on events such as the Marathon of the North and
international table tennis in Gateshead. I have also contributed to coverage of various football
transfer windows.

AWARDS
In May 2014, I won the Sports Portfolio of the Year award for second time at the
SportsByte Media Awards for a broad and diverse list of sports covered over the year.
In March 2014, I was nominated for the David Welch Student Sportswriter of the Year
Award. I was listed alongside students from Oxford, York and Nottinghambut did not win.
In May 2013, I won the Sports Portfolio award at the SportsByte Media Awards. I was also
among the finalists for the Reporter of the Year award.
EDUCATION
University of Sunderland
Sports Journalism degree, 2:1
Shorthand, 75wpm
National Council for the Training of
Journalists (Grades in Brackets)
Sports Journalism (B)
News Reporting (B)
Multimedia Portfolio (B)
Essential Media Law (C)
Production Journalism (C)
Essential Public Affairs (C)

Boston Grammar School (Boston, Lincolnshire, PE21 6JY)

11 GCSEs A-C
A (one): Business Studies
B (six): English Literature, English Language, German,
Science, Additional Science, Religious Studies
C (four): History, Information Communication
Technology, Design & Technology, Maths
Lincoln College (Lincoln, LN2 5HQ)
3 A Levels B-D (Grades in brackets)
Critical Thinking AS Level (C)
History (B)
English Language (C)
English Literature (D)

UNIVERSITY
I completed my three-year Sports Journalism course at the University of Sunderland in June 2014. As
part of my course, I met and interviewed people from all walks of life regularly. Despite the obvious
focus, my course was much more diverse than just studying sport, in that I studied politics, news,
newspaper production, law and many other topics. For my final university project, I produced a series
of articles on the true legacy of the London 2012 Olympics, interviewing 20 people at various levels
of sport, across a wide array of sports. I achieved a first for my final project.
MORE EXPERIENCE
In October 2012, I set up a hyperlocal website called Run Of The Millfield, which covered all news
concerned with the Millfield suburb of Sunderland. In running the site, I had the chance to interview
local councillors - including the Mayor of Sunderland - as well as key figures in political
groups and local organisations.
The website had a successful run, gaining over 2,500 page views in around seven months. The website
also had a Twitter page, which amassed 50 followers and provided live updates on events such as
protests over a mosque and a destructive fire on a take-away. I closed the site in May 2013 due to
other commitments but the project allowed me to hone my reporting and key communication skills.
In secondary school, I was a reporter and then the editor for 18 months - of the school newspaper,
working with a team of students to produce a weekly newspaper.
Before university, I spent a lot of my spare time blogging about football. This work can be found at
http://lofocus.wordpress.com/. Outside of the media, I have worked behind the bar for Home
Nightclub in Lincoln and as a sales assistant for Sports Direct in Sunderland.