IU alumni offer advice on sports journalism industry
Hannah Lavine
June 6, 2016
In a world where sports is a global obsession, it’s no surprise that The Media School continues to develop and refine its sports media curriculum to prepare students for careers covering sports, producing shows and creating new strategies for sports media companies.
And it has hundreds of alumni working in the field, some with decades of experience and others in the early stages of their careers.
“We have so many opportunities for students, and we’re starting this process of trying to connect our alumni to this program,” said Galen Clavio, associate professor of the school’s sports media program and director of IU’s National Sports Journalism Center.
In addition to the center, the school is partnering with the Mark Cuban Center for Sports Media and Technology in Assembly Hall, which provides opportunities for students to work in a real-world production environment. And, students may opt for a concentration in sports media as they pursue their degrees, getting the classroom expertise as well.
Alumni say taking advantage of all that’s offered on the IU campus is a first step, whether students take hands-on skills courses, produce video for campus sports organizations or work for the Indiana Daily Student or IUSTV.
Here is some advice from alumni working in sports media.
Adam Cohen, BA’15, broadcast associate at CBS
Adam Cohen, center, BA’15, broadcast associate at CBS, sometimes interacts with NBA players Spero Dedes, left, and Solomon Wilcots. (Courtesy photo.)
“It started at Indiana, where the first time I stepped on campus I immediately targeted that this is the place where I can get involved,” said Adam Cohen, a New Jersey native who wasted no time getting involved by meeting students at WIUX and professors in the department.
Throughout his time at IU, Cohen was a broadcaster for WIUX and IU Athletics, produced work for IUSTV and worked for Big Ten Network’s Student U program. The summer going into senior year, Cohen got his dream internship at WFAN Sports Radio, the top sports radio station in New York City. There, Cohen made great connections, which eventually lead him to his current position as a broadcast associate for CBS Sports.
Cohen works year-round on all different sports: football in the fall, college basketball in the spring and golf in the summer. He’s responsible for the on-screen graphics, such as a player’s information or a team’s season stats, during a game.
“My voice may not be on the air, but I prepare for games in the same way, by researching teams and by telling the story visually,” he said.
By getting involved early on and valuing relationships made in college and through internships, Cohen was lucky enough to get a dream job. It hit him during his first broadcast for a New York Jets preseason football game.
“I’m a Jets fan by birth, so being able to step on that field before the game was pretty surreal,” he said.
Aaron Siegal-Eisman, BAJ ’13, social media producer at Bleacher Report
Aaron Siegal-Eisman, BAJ ’13, social media producer at Bleacher Report. (Courtesy photo)
Originally from the Los Angeles area, Aaron Siegal-Eisman flew east to attend Indiana University for a journalism degree and the opportunity to report on IU athletics. He jumped right in, working for the IDS, reporting on different sports each semester, andWIUX.
“Coming out of college, I was thinking maybe I would take a full-time writing position at a small newspaper or start at a larger company and work my way up,” he said.
Instead, he worked remotely from L.A. for a New York-based startup. Shortly afterward, he took another job with Turner Sports in Atlanta as the social media editor. Eisman and two others promoted NBA TV and NBA on TNT through social media.
When that contract ended, Eisman took the social media producer position at Bleacher Report in New York City. He promotes Bleacher Report content through a social media, app and website. He describes social media as a new way for companies to manage public relations, and it requires strong writing skills.
Social media also gives power to journalists.
“It’s a good opportunity to promote yourself and get your own stories out there, and build a profile for yourself that pertains to all of your writing and what you’re interested in,” he said. “It’s free publicity for that person if they use it the right away and reach a following that can continually grow.”
Avi Zaleon, BAJ ’12, Dallas Morning News
Avi Zaleon, BAJ ’12, Dallas Morning News. (Courtesy photo)
Avi Zaleon’s senior year at IU was special because he was the men’s basketball columnist for the IDS, with an added bonus that the team was the best IU had had in 20 years. It was the season of the “Watford shot.”
“The fact that the entire nation is looking at Indiana, and you’re on the ground reporting from there, and reporting on this team, that gives you a leg up,” Zaleon said.
His writing improved and gave him a stronger voice. But when it came to applying for jobs, Zaleon said he was a little too confident, and after getting rejection after rejection, he didn’t have a job after college.
Zaleon was unemployed from May to October 2012, with some freelancing in between. After applying for job after job, he finally heard back from Beaumont Enterprise in Beaumont, Texas. It was a good place to start, but after a year, Zaleon started applying for other jobs.
He landed a managerial position at the Dallas Morning News. Today, he is the digital high school sports editor, where he manages about 45 freelancers and oversees the Twitter handle @SportsDayHS, which he calls his baby. The handle has nearly 50,000 followers.
“People don’t realize their potential as media specialists,” Zaleon said.
Don’t limit yourself to one area of the sports media world, he advises students.
“If you are creative and you are good with people, you can take these skills and you can apply them across a very wide spectrum.”
Tricia Whitaker, BA’12, sports anchor and reporter, CBS WTTV. (Photo courtesy of AniMotion Photography)
Tricia Whitaker, BA’12, sports anchor and reporter, CBS WTTV
During her senior year at IU, Tricia Whitaker was a reporter for Pacers.com, reporting on everything from pregame to postgame.
“That was probably the best experience I had in reporting because it was so hands-on,” Whitaker said.
Whitaker applied for 50-60 jobs, and the day after graduation, she went to Green Bay, Wisconsin, where she had an interview with the ABC station. She was offered the job of sports anchor and reporter that day.
For two years, Whitaker covered the Packers along with other Wisconsin teams. With four months left in her contract, she started applying for jobs, landing one at the CBS affiliate in Indianapolis, where she’s been the weekend sports anchor and reporter for a year.
“One of the biggest challenges of being a local sports reporter is balancing everything,” she said of covering teams from high school to pro, from big sports to lesser known. “You’ve got to technically be an expert on every single team in your area.”
She said aspiring sportscasters should not turn down any opportunity and should be willing to make sacrifices. Women, especially, may face more hardship in the sports world.
“You have to have a really thick skin…and you really have to not let things bother you, and that’s really hard, especially for girls,” she said.
DeAntae Prince, BAJ’11, NBA producer for Sports Illustrated
DeAntae Prince, BAJ’11, NBA producer for Sports Illustrated. (Courtesy photo)
Journalism wasn’t a clear path for DeAntae Prince, but once he decided on his major before his sophomore year, he found his niche in the IDS newsroom, reporting on any and all sports.
Advisors helped him find scholarships and internships, and, after graduation, Prince took his talents to the Los Angeles Times as a sports reporting intern.
“It was a great experience in terms of what the standard is for professional journalism,” he said. “People there held me accountable and helped me sharpen my craft by being a better writer and better editor.”
After moving from internship to internship, Prince landed his first job with The Sporting News as a website producer. He was responsible for writing quick posts and the presentation of the page.
Now, Prince is the NBA producer for Sports Illustrated, where he works alongside Matt Dollinger, BAJ’11.
“Together, we help shape what the NBA coverage is for our section,” he said. He also works with the writers, helps manage social media and develop story ideas with some writing on the side.
“Learn as much as you can while you’re still in the collegiate environment,” Prince advised. And that includes HTML and video editing, which can only help land a job in the competitive environment of sports media.
Dave Leno, BAJ ’11, freelance play-by-Play announcer
Dave Leno, BAJ ’11, freelance play-by-play announcer. (Courtesy photo)
When Dave Leno came to Indiana, he knew he wanted to specialize in play-by-play, so he immediately applied for work at WUIX, IUSTV and the IDS covering sports.
By the end of his freshman year, Leno had landed an internship at WTIU, where he worked until his senior year.
But the turning point, he said, was when the IU Athletics department asked him to call games for Olympic sport teams such as volleyball and softball. He gained confidence and experience, so by his senior year, he was ready for his big break working for the brand-new Big Ten Network.
After college, Leno went home to the Philly area and decided to start his freelance career by capitalizing on connections he had made with Comcast/Charter Sports Southeast and ESPN. He still works for both networks, calling games for the USA Field Hockey team for NBC and announcing/emceeing for the Philadelphia Freedoms Tennis Organization. Another milestone in his career was his first national broadcast appearance, the Houston-Temple men’s basketball game on ESPN in January.
His advice is to get on the air right away, and practice by watching games on TV and delivering your play-by-play on a voice recorder. And expand your horizons beyond popular sports like football and basketball.
“How I got on the fast track of the play-by-play career, in my mind, is I excelled in the Olympic sports. I took time to get to know them,” Leno said. “And you’ll find, especially in college, the access is much better if you look beyond the most popular sports.”
Matt Dollinger, BAJ’10, NBA editor at Sports Illustrated
While he may not be good enough to play in the NBA, Matt Dollinger is still able to combine his love of sports with his ability to write as a sports journalist for SI.com. As a NBA editor, he oversees the editorial coverage of the NBA for the site.
“That’s always been my interest, just staying around sports in some way, and sports writing became my passion early on,” he said.
Though he loved covering college hoops at IU, the NBA has always been his interest.
While hired at SI.com a month after graduation, Dollinger started at the bottom of the totem pole as a part-time associate producer, working on the night staff.
Dollinger stressed that networking was the key to his success, and young journalists should do the same.
“I know everyone tells you to network, network, network, and it becomes cliché and old, but it’s the key,” he said. “It’s just so competitive that it really does come down to who you know who can put in a good word for you or who knows what jobs are available.”
Tom Ackerman, BA’97, sports director as KMOX St. Louis
“I always wanted to be a sportscaster, and doing the public address at the football games during high school reaffirmed that’s what I enjoy doing, being behind the microphone,” said Tom Ackerman, now sports director at KMOX in St. Louis.
When Ackerman came to IU, he immediately took a slot on the student radio station, the 3-6 a.m. show on Mondays. Regardless of the number of listeners he may have attracted at that hour, he was still in a studio, behind a microphone getting hands-on experience and gaining confidence.
After graduating, he returned to his hometown of St. Louis, taking an entry-level job as a board operator and learning from other staff.
“On the side, I was making recordings, making tapes of myself, and about a year later, there was an opening on the weekend,” he said.
He landed the reporter-producer job in 1998 and started hosting more shows. In 2006, he became the sports director, anchoring the morning show, hosting Cardinal pregame and postgame shows, overseeing sponsor relationships and scheduling.
“You have to love the industry, you have to love sports,” he said.
But those searching for jobs also should learn as much as possible about the organization before applying, said Ackerman.
“In our business, the best ones are the ones who prepare and work the hardest.”
Jennie Rees, BA’79, freelance reporter
While growing up in Louisville, Kentucky, Jennie Rees wanted to study journalism at Indiana in hopes of covering a Major League Baseball, Big Ten or the SEC.
As a student at IU, Rees worked her way up in the IDS ranks to become the first female covering IU men’s basketball, including the 1979 team, when Bob Knight kicked three players off the team and put another nine on indefinite probation.
In 1983, the (Louisville) Courier-Journal sports editor approached Rees about a new position covering horse racing. After a push from her sister, Rees accepted the beat and worked it for 34 years.
It ended up being a great fit for Rees, who was named the 2013 Kentucky Sports Writer of the Year by the National Sportscasters and Sportswriters Association for the second time.
Years after covering that IU basketball team her senior year, Rees received a letter on IU stationary from Knight saying that he appreciated her work and offering help if she needed it in the future. Dealing with Knight for a season gave Rees the confidence and thick skin every reporter needs, especially women covering traditionally male sports.
“That was a very good experience to deal with a strong and intimidating personality like that,” said Rees, who still tweets and blogs about horseracing. “They can curse at me, yell at me, but they aren’t going to kill me, so you just have to get the question out there.”
Bob Jenkins, BA’69, NBC Sports Network
Bob Jenkins, BA’69, NBC Sports Network. (Courtesy photo)
Bob Jenkins took a job as a reporter in Fort Wayne after graduating, but he’d loved auto racing all his life. So he soon moved to Indianapolis to try to break into auto racing reporting.
“I really didn’t see myself directly in sports casting,” said Jenkins, who started in radio by joining the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Radio Network, providing live lap coverage.
A few years later, Jenkins was one of the first announcers hired by the then-new network ESPN, and he reported on every form of motorsports over the next three decades, including covering his beloved Indianapolis 500 numerous times. He watched NASCAR grow from a regional sport to a national dynamo.
Jenkins said meeting Paul Page, then the official voice of the Indianapolis 500, helped him get his foot in the door. And that’s his advice for aspiring sportscasters.
“It’s just a matter of knowing people in the business, making friends with those who are already in the business. And timing has a lot to do with it, such as my case where ESPN was just going on the air,” he said, adding that media is not glamorous, but it can be rewarding.
