News Story

Students in the Media Living Learning Center visited New York City on a networking and experience trip over the Martin Luther King Jr. Day weekend, Jan. 16-19. During the trip, they met with alumni and toured the offices of New York media sites.

By Taylor Lehman

On the 32nd floor of the Time and Life Building in Manhattan, New York City, the Media LLC found the Sports Illustrated headquarters. As an aspiring sportswriter, this was the highlight of my day, since we were meeting the very people who write in the SI Magazine and learning from their experiences in the journalism field.

Matt Dollinger, BAJ’10, former IDS editor and current NBA editor for SI, awaited us in the lobby of the building, where he led us to Stephanie Haberman, also a former IU student and IDS photo editor and current social media director for SI. The two alumni shared their story travelling the journalism path and what it took for them to reach their positions at Sports Illustrated:

• Networking is crucial. Dollinger told the LLC that he was able to earn an internship and a job with Sports Illustrated, in part, because the Executive Editor is from Bloomington.
• Internships are a must. Both Dollinger and Haberman shared their twists and turns throughout the rough post-graduation months, in which Dollinger had an internship with SI and also worked for the Indianapolis Colts, while Haberman had a ten-month internship with SI before being offered a job there as well.
• Work at the IDS. Dollinger worked for four years at the IDS, while Haberman worked there for two years. Both were editors similar to the fields that they currently work in. Dollinger even went as far as to say, “I was so focused on my work outside of the classroom. It’s still important to show that you are a responsible student, but you want something to show for all of your hard work at end of the day.”
• Learn digital aspects of journalism. Dollinger talked about shrinking print journalism as “definitely a thing,” while Haberman said that “you need to stay as current as possible in this field.” Haberman explained how it is impossible to remain simply a print magazine in the current world. You have to go beyond. That is where her job in social media is crucial.
• Read Sports Illustrated. If you are interested in sports writing, or sports in general, read SI. While Dollinger and Haberman said it would be “foolish” to compete with ESPN in other medias such as television and radio, they both believe that SI is the best sports magazine in the nation.

Two students in the LLC, freshman Rachel Goodman and Klancy Hoover, said they enjoyed the tour and conference at SI.

“I really like how it was so laid back,” Goodman said. “I also liked that we could sit in on one of their budget meetings.”

Following the conference with Dollinger and Haberman, the LLC students sat in on an SI budget meeting, where editors gathered around the office and discussed the stories that were being covered for the next issue and for the website.

“My favorite part was seeing what happened behind the scenes,” said Hoover. “We got to talk with people from our school and see where they were able to go. It didn’t influence my career outlook much, but I know many other people were impacted in different ways.”

Read more student reports from the Media LLC’s experiences in New York.