Hunger for high-end racing

Hunger for racing | Maria serrat

Hunger for racing: we sit down with Maria Serrat, Formula 1 Reporter at Movistar Fusión TV, to talk about how to talk about Formula 1.

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The absolute musts

What’s most important today in my work? Well, being quick, of course, knowledgeable and accurate. Quick because there are many broadcasters and sometimes a few for the same country so you have to try and be the first one with the fresh info. Also because of social media, which sometimes tends to be quicker at the price of maybe not being 100% accurate. Hence the accuracy point, because we have to be reliable and trusted by our audience. Otherwise we are not being journalists – or sports journalists – and moving onto another kind of journalistic territories… And one has to be knowledgeable, as we simply must know what we’re talking about. We don’t have to know it all but we need to have a broad understanding of the sport we are reporting on and its intricacies. Sounds easy, but many fail at that. I don’t know everything and whenever I don’t know something I’m happy to admit it and have someone explain it to me. This is the whole point of being reporters – constant learning, constant development.

This is the whole point of being reporters – constant learning, constant development.

I haven’t been around long enough to tell you what has significantly changed in the motorsport media over the decades but I would say that surely technology has had a massive impact on immediacy, interactivity, overall spectacle… Also – magnitude, in terms of the number of broadcasters and media reporting on Formula 1.

Growth

I hope the social media side of the sport will look splendid in the near future, because it is a very important part of the way we – as individuals – communicate today, and I am sure there is a way for social media and Formula 1 to live together and nurture each other. Not to forget young audiences, which Formula 1 seems to be craving for.

The whole industry is growing for sure. Is it flexible? I’m not so sure, but it’s definitely engaging, although I believe there is a lot more that can be done and tools are within reach to do it, it might need a bit more flexibility and maybe a different approach to certain aspects to make it all work.

Talking about the new motorsport series like Formula E, I am sure that it will not take any attention away from Formula 1. Other racing series seems not to take away fans from each other, and that’s absolutely understandable. We – petrolheads – simply have enough hunger for racing to watch it all.




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