APSE Bulletin - Sports Journalism Institute

STEPHENS REFLECTS:
Outgoing president profiled
MEMBERSHIP REPORT: Shows need
for expansion PAGE 5
APSE CONTEST: Looking to
modernize the judging process
MEET THE STUDENTS: SJI’s Class
of 2014 PAGES 6-7
PAGE 3
PAGE 8
V O L U M E
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C O L U M B I A
2 0 1 4
THE BULLETIN
T H E
S P O R T S
J O U R N A L I S M
I N S T I T U T E
Hands-on
training is
the aim for
2014 APSE
Convention
KEITH TURNER JR.
we continue to evolve to meet the needs
of sports editors across all platforms in the
service of high quality sports journalism.”
APSE, indeed, has experienced change
and growth over these past 40 years. Glen
Crevier, APSE president from 2005-06
and current assistant managing sports
editor at the Minneapolis Star Tribune,
remembers the organization beginning to
embrace new media.
“The grassroots of that movement
really began during my time,” Crevier said.
“We’ve really reached out, and I think as
we’ve learned to embrace more digital
journalism, the leaders of the organization
have really made an effort to educate people
This year’s APSE convention is all about
hands-on training.
“Sports editors can come to this event
and feel like they have learned something
they can replicate in their newsrooms,” said
Tim Stephens, APSE president and deputy
managing editor for CBSSports.com.
One of the highlighted hands-on
programs for the 41st annual conference
on June 25-28 will teach editors how to
create GIFS and use them in stories. This
workshop also will teach basic multimedia
skills that could add layers of interactivity
to sports content. Convention participants
also will get a chance to discuss the dos and
don’ts of smartphone journalism. Panelists
for this workshop include Rick Brunson,
a professor at the University of Central
Florida, and USA TODAY Sports Social
Media Editor Tim McGarry.
From small newspapers of under
20,000 in circulation to big newspapers of
more than 100,000, this year’s convention
offers sessions that appeal to a wide range
of members. “Social media for the small
market” is a highlighted workshop that
will discuss strategies for small papers to
incorporate social media such as Facebook,
Twitter and Instagram.
The convention will be held at the
(continues on page 8)
(continues on page 3)
APSE turns 40
Convention interactions recalled as crucial
element toward achieving career success
ANNIE DANKELSON
Tim Stephens still remembers his first
Associated Press Sports Editors conference
with a smile.
It was in 2003 in Dallas, where
Stephens had won an award for column
writing as sports editor at the Birmingham
Post-Herald.
“My favorite memory was interacting
with the sports editors at the larger
papers and being made to feel important
and welcomed by the APSE,” Stephens
said. “Recognition of a job well done
was validation that all the hard work and
long days and stress of running a small
department were worth it.”
And with APSE turning 40 years
old this year, Stephens, the organization’s
current president, is proud of how far
APSE has come and where it’s headed.
The organization began humbly: A
group of 126 sports editors met in the
Squire Inn in New York City in 1974 to
discuss issues with the AP.
“At that time, obviously, it was a
print organization and had its roots in
newspapers,” said Stephens, now deputy
managing editor at CBSSports.com.
“But APSE has evolved much like
our industry. We’re now open to websites.
We’re able to pursue writers. We’ve opened
the doors to students and educators. And
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BULLETIN STUDENTS
Chris Chavez
Marquette University
ESPN.com
Anne Dankelson
University of Missouri
MLB.com
Sean Hurd
The George Washington University
MLB.com
Avery T. Jennings
Ohio University
Knoxville News-Sentinel
Thuc Nhi Nguyen
University of Washington
Long Beach Press-Telegram
Katie O’Keefe
Colorado State University
Kansas City Star
Chris Shelton
University of Houston
South Florida SunSentinel
Tierra Smith
Grambling State University
Salt Lake Tribune
Keith Turner
Ohio University
South Florida SunSentinel
Alexandria Valdez
University of Montana
Denver Post
Rhiannon Walker
University of Maryland at College Park
Houston Chronicle
BULLETIN STAFF
Editor
Gregory Lee, South Florida SunSentinel
Class of 1994
SJI Co-Directors
Leon Carter, ESPN
Sandy Rosenbush, ESPN
SJI Board Member
David Squires, McClatchy Services Center
Assignment Editors
Mary Byrne, USA Today Sports
Erik Horne, The Oklahoman
Emily Horos, Cherokee Tribune (Canton, Ga.)
Johanna Huybers, Reno Gazette-Journal
Marcus Vanderberg, Yahoo! Sports
Art Director
Lauren Elliott, University of Missouri
Photographer
Peter Marek, University of Missouri
SPECIAL THANKS
Program Host
University of Missouri
School of Journalism
Tom Warhover
Greg Bowers
PAGE 2 | THE BULLETIN
Incoming President Sherman: Newspapers are
relevant, the work that we do is still noticed
RHIANNON WALKER
In 1995, Mike Sherman was working for
a small paper in Utica, N.Y., and made his
first trip as a sports editor to the Associated
Press Sports Editors Northeast Regional.
The advice and insight he received
from editors at larger papers helped his
understanding of the job, until he, too,
became the sports editor of a major paper.
Sherman took over The Oklahoman in
2004.
That same benefit he experienced at
the convention, he wants other young
journalists to have as well. One of his biggest
initiatives moving into his presidency this
June is continuing and expanding current
president Tim Stephens’s vision to have
more student chapters created.
“I benefited so much from my
membership in APSE,” Sherman said.
“People reached out to me. They were
helpful to me. I got to see the best work
being done around the country and how
these best people did the work. They were
just a huge asset to me, so I felt like after
reaping the benefits of being a member for
all these years, it was time for me to serve.”
Said Stephens: “I consider Mike one of
my best friends. When we talk I always feel
like I’ve learned something that will help
me as an editor or make my department
better or just give me some sense of
inspiration. Mike is a very passionate, highenergy leader.”
Sherman explained that he has
witnessed students turn relationships
they’ve formed at the APSE Convention
into eventual jobs.
Sherman met the Oklahoman’s Darnell
Mayberry, a Sports Journalism Institute
alum who covers the Oklahoma
the national level, and Sherman
City Thunder, at the 2003
wants to have more of those
convention.
Sherman
kinds of events under his
said he was impressed by
leadership.
Mayberry when he spoke
“APSE championed
to him and kept an eye on
the cause of diversity,
him until an opportunity to
encouraged it and my
bring Mayberry in arose. department reflects that,”
After hiring Mayberry,
Sherman said. “That’s a great
MIKE SHERMAN
Sherman asked his young
source of pride; we’ve got
reporter what his dream was,
to keep that up. But one of
and Mayberry said he wanted to eventually the things we’ve got to balance is sort of
cover an NBA team. With student chapters, shaking our finger at people, saying ‘You’ve
experiences like this have the possibility to got a problem you need to fix,’ and being a
become more frequent.
resource for them.”
“The thing I like to do is the thing
As a sports editor, Sherman had to
I’ve always tried to do, and the thing I’ve take a step back and relearn a hard lesson
benefited from, which is building great after publishing “an unfair headline” about
relationships within the organization,” Kevin Durant.
Sherman said. “I think it’s the way we go
In the Thunder Extra section over a
forward.”
Berry Tramel column, the headline ‘Mr.
Sherman also wants to improve Unreliable’ was in large, bold font. The
the APSE’s contest review, website and choice of words immediately sparked
diversity. He explained that the contest is debate around the nation about whether
one of the best aspects of APSE and as it was accurate or fair to the thensuch, it needs to be modernized.
presumptive MVP.
Similarly, the website should reflect
Sherman explained the headline
the sophistication and fast-paced nature of missed the mark and was not about
journalism today. It should more accurately Durant’s character, body of work that
represent the organization, and Sherman season or throughout his career, but only
said it will be a huge focus in the next year. about his performance in the Memphis
In regard to diversity, Sherman Grizzlies series.
would like to see an influx of women and
But even out of that controversial
minorities join APSE.
situation, there was one thing that Sherman
The Oklahoman remains a partner with said was very apparent.
SJI, which helps women and minorities
“We can probably scratch off that
get into the industry, and Sherman has saying that the newspapers aren’t relevant
consistently employed members of the anymore,” he said. “I can promise you that
Association for Women in Sports Media.
headline and the reaction to it showed me
APSE
co-sponsored
its
2012 that the work that we do is noticed.”
convention with AWSM, the first time
the two organizations worked together at
CLASSROOM INSTRUCTION
Laura Johnston, Greg Bowers,
Joy Mayer, Brian Kratzer
University of Missouri School
of Journalism
Malcolm Moran
National Sports Journalism Center,
IndianaUniversitySchoolofJournalism
Jim Jenks
MLB.com
Carlton Thompson
MLB.com
Scott Brooks
University of Missouri
Richard Deitsch
Sports Illustrated
Marc J. Spears
Yahoo! Sports
Bryan Burwell
St. Louis Post-Dispatch
Paul Gutierrez
ESPN
Class of 1993, 1994
Juan C. Rodriguez
South Florida Sun-Sentinel
Class of 1994
Stephen A. Smith
ESPN
Garry D. Howard
American City
Business Journals
SPONSORS / PARTNERS
APSE
ESPN
MLB.COM
Shannon Owens-Green
The Orlando Sentinel
Class of 2002
Scripps Howard
Marcus Thompson
Bay Area Newspaper Group
Class of 1998
South Florida Sun-Sentinel
David Ubben
Fox Sports Southwest
Class of 2009
Disney
University of Missouri School of
Journalism
Investors Savings Bank of New Jersey
USA TODAY
Stephens proud of progress
in his whirlwind tenure
CHRIS SHELTON
Tim Stephens didn’t have much of a choice.
Soon after becoming sports editor
at the Birmingham Post Herald in 2000,
his boss told him to join Associated Press
Sports Editors. Stephens, the outgoing
APSE president and deputy managing
editor of CBSsports.com, said his decision
to join the organization changed his life.
From his time at the Post Herald to
his tenure at the Orlando Sentinel/Fort
Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel to his current
position, Stephens said the knowledge
and connections he gained through APSE
to take on more responsibility
in APSE. So Kaplan invited
Stephens to speak on a panel
about social media.
“I think he’s passionate
helped him grow as a
about the business and
leader.
passionate about APSE,”
“As a young sports
Kaplan said.
editor, who maybe had some
With
shrinking
talent and a lot of ambition,
newsrooms, APSE must
TIM STEPHENS
but not necessarily much
continue to help sports
experience in leading other people, the journalists innovate and help foster the
opportunity to meet top sports editors and development of the next crop of leaders,
model what I was doing after the example Stephens said.
that they set was invaluable,” Stephens said.
“APSE for me has always been a
Though he wishes he accomplished source of mentorship,” he said. “And as our
more during his “whirlwind” tenure, newsrooms have gotten smaller, the need to
Stephens said he was proud to follow the develop lines of mentorship outside of the
example set by previous APSE presidents.
sphere of our newsroom is more important
Past president Phil Kaplan said he than ever.”
recognized early that Stephens wanted
With the focus on mentorship,
Deas’ goals: expand membership,
promote writing contests
THUC NHI NGUYEN
promote APSE’s writing contest, which
features “some of the best in sports
Tommy Deas learned to read
journalism and sports writing in
from the sports pages of The
the country.”
Tuscaloosa (Ala.) News.
Many of those contest
About five decades later,
entries come from Deas,
The Tuscaloosa News’
who took home five
executive sports editor
individual awards in the
hasn’t stopped learning.
2013 contest in the breaking
“The Associated Press
news, features, projects and
Sports Editors is the “best
explanatory categories. The
professional organization I
five awards were the most for
TOMMY DEAS
have ever been a part of,” Deas
any individual.
said.
Deas got his start at The
On April 30, he was elected APSE’s Tuscaloosa News as 16-year-old stringer
second vice president after a month-long in 1980 with a brand new driver’s license
election period. He will rise to that position and took a full-time position with the
in June at APSE’s summer conference and paper in 1993. Since then, he has covered a
manage the organization’s website. In 2015, variety of beats and moved into his current
he will serve as APSE’s first vice president, job in 2008. As the preeminent source for
taking a prominent role in the management University of Alabama sports news, Deas
of the group’s writing contest, before taking and his team are responsible for feeding the
the president’s seat in 2016.
beastly appetite of Alabama football fans
Having just completed a two-year term always hungry for more information on the
as APSE’s third vice president, overseeing Crimson Tide.
membership of small newspapers, Deas’
“Nobody in my office has ever heard
goals for his new position are to expand me say, or will hear me say, ‘There’s too
membership of an organization he says has much Alabama football in our newspaper
been instrumental in his growth.
or our website,’ ” Deas said. “You cannot do
“I am a thousand times better as a too much here.”
sports editor than I would have been
But in April 2011, Alabama football
without APSE,” Deas said.
took a backseat when a devastating tornado
Deas also hopes to improve and tore through Tuscaloosa, killing more than
40 in the city. The sports staff led the charge
on social media, tweeting reports from
damaged areas. Deas was part of the team
that won a Pulitzer Prize for its breaking
news coverage of the disaster. But what
sticks with him are the stories from the
survivors, especially then Crimson Tide
long snapper Carson Tinker.
The storm ripped through Tinker’s
apartment, where he and his girlfriend,
Ashley Harrison, were at the time. He
survived. She didn’t.
“She got ripped from his arms and
thrown 50 or more yards, and he got
thrown the other way,” Deas said. “One
minute she’s there, and the next minute
she’s gone.”
Although Deas and a few other
reporters had pre-existing relationships
with Tinker, Deas found that approaching
the situation gingerly helped Tinker share
his story.
Deas has learned to adapt to different
settings while reporting, especially after
navigating Alabama head coach Nick
Saban’s rules: Freshmen in Saban’s camp are
off-limits, as are assistant coaches, except
for coordinators who are available for
10-minute press briefings at the beginning
of fall camp.
But the rules have hidden positives.
“Quite frankly, it makes us better
journalists, because we’ve gotten better and
better at reporting not just what happens in
the (press) room,” Deas said. “We’re getting
outside of the room and finding stuff that
we might not have looked for.”
Stephens focused on addressing a slow,
steady decline in membership. With print
sports media decreasing, the coordinated
membership drive is trying to embrace
youth and the online community, which
includes websites and individual writers.
Also introduced this year was the
student initiative, which will allow students
and universities to form their own APSE
chapter.
After the student initiative goes into
effect in June, Stephens said he plans to
chair the student liaison committee.
He said introducing students to APSE
earlier is imperative.
“Where will that next generation of
leaders come from?,” Stephens said. “And
how will they develop if within their own
newsroom the potential mentor pool is a
lot smaller than it once was? That’s where
APSE comes in.”
Hands-on
training
(continued from page 1)
Crystal Gateway Marriott in Arlington, Va.,
a few miles from downtown Washington
D.C. Last year in Detroit, students were
offered a special rate for the first time.
Students who are interested in making
the trip are encouraged to attend, with the
same $100 rate this year.
“Student involvement is something we
want to see in DC,” Stephens said.
Other workshops, which feature
panelists and moderators from all over the
country, include:
-The rebirth of long form: An in-depth
look at storytelling in the age of the iPad.
-Portrayal of women by sports media:
A frank discussion about how women are
presented in sports coverage.
-Made-over NFL Monday: A
workshop on how editors can make their
NFL coverage more distinct.
There’s all of DC to explore, as well as
the Craig Stanke Memorial 5K run and a
3-on-3 basketball tournament.
As of June 3, 120 people had paid to
attend the convention.
“We’ve had a terrific run of great
conventions,” Stephens said, “and we are
really hopeful we will have a terrific turnout
this year in DC.”
COLUMBIA 2014 | PAGE 3
APSE to honor
late Smith with
prestigious award
RHIANNON WALKER
Wendell
Smith
being
honored with the Red
Smith Award has been
a long time coming.
An
AfricanAmerican sportswriter,
Smith covered the
Negro Leagues and
boxing and is best known
WENDELL SMITH
for
convincing
Los
Angeles Dodgers GM
Branch Rickey to give Jackie Robinson a shot in Major
League Baseball. Once the Brooklyn Dodgers signed
Robinson, Smith chronicled the pioneer’s playing
career in the pages of the Pittsburgh Courier.
Decades after Smith’s final column, his
accomplishments will be recognized June 27 by the
Associated Press Sports Editors. He will receive the
Red Smith Award at the 41st annual APSE summer
convention. Smith’s family will accept the award on
behalf of the late sports writer.
“I think it’s wonderful; I’m deeply honored,” said
Wyonella Smith, Wendell’s widow. “After all this time,
it’s wonderful. It’s a surprise. I was really surprised,
but I am just deeply honored that he was remembered
so, and respected and that his contribution has been
acknowledged.”
After he was passed over by a baseball scout
because of his race, Smith enrolled at West Virginia
State College and studied journalism.
In 1937, Smith was hired by the Pittsburgh
Courier to cover the Negro Leagues. Eight years later,
he and Robinson, then the shortstop for the Kansas
City Monarchs, crossed paths.
After the Dodgers signed a deal with Robinson,
Rickey hired Smith for $50 a week to travel with
Robinson as he trained with the Triple-A team in
Montreal. The reporter continued to shadow Robinson
into his debut season in 1947.
When Robinson had something important to say,
he trusted Smith with his words.
The Baseball Writers’ Association of America
rejected Smith the first time he applied for membership,
but he applied again. And in 1948, Smith became the
first African-American admitted into the organization.
As Robinson settled into his career, Smith settled
into his, and he became the first black reporter for
the Chicago Herald-American. He then worked for
WGN television as a sports anchor while serving as a
columnist at the Chicago Sun-Times.
Wendell Smith died Nov. 26, 1972, at the age of
PAGE 4 | THE BULLETIN
Suttles to be
honored as top
APSE writer
58 from pancreatic cancer. Robinson died on Oct. 24
of that year. Although Smith was unable to attend the
funeral, he did write his final column for The SunTimes about baseball.
George Solomon, director of The Shirley Povich
Center for Sports Journalism at the University of
Maryland, College Park, named an award after Smith
and contemporary Sam Lacy to honor journalists who
embody their ideals.
“[Smith] endured lots and lots of prejudices and
slights, and we felt what a way to honor their memory,”
Solomon said. “As for APSE honoring Wendell Smith,
a friend of mine said it’s a long time coming, and it’s
true … he did so much for the cause of fairness in
sports.”
Smith’s impact was felt not only in journalism but
on the big screen as well.
Even though her husband never sought
recognition, Wyonella Smith, 92, said she believes
Wendell would have been delighted to win the Red
Smith Award.
“He would be very pleased; I tell ya, he really
would,” Smith said. “I was shocked, and I know
Wendell would have been shocked to know that.”
Brian Helgeland, the director of “42,” discussed
how he spent a lot of time finding the right actor for
Robinson’s role, but Smith, as well.
Andre Holland, in an interview with Elle
magazine, said he was honored to take on the role of
the National Association of Black Journalists’ 2013
Hall of Fame inductee in an interview with Elle.
“I can’t even express how much it meant to me.
I was so honored and thrilled to be a part of it. The
fact that we shot part of it in Birmingham, Alabama,
my hometown, on the field that I played high school
baseball on,” Holland told the magazine.
“Wendell wasn’t allowed in the press box, so just
the logistics of getting his stories into print — carrying
a typewriter around all day, having to send his stories
through Western Union — in addition to struggling
with segregation in the South.”
Wendell Smith, left, chronciled the Major League Baseball
debut of Jackie Robinson, right.
KEITH TURNER JR.
Only seven sports writers across the
nation are able to say they received
three Top-10 APSE writing awards
this year. One of those writers is
Aaron Suttles.
“It’s always a humbling honor
to be recognized by your peers,”
Suttles stated.
Suttles began writing for the
AARON SUTTLES
Tuscaloosa News as a student at the
University of Alabama (UA.) He
started covering high school sports as a preps writer, and then
moved to covering Alabama’s baseball team. He knew attending
school and writing full time would be difficult, but he thought the
experience was well worth it.
“You have to put in the work and sacrifice for the things you
want. I wanted it, and I made it through,” Suttles said.
Since graduating in 2009 with a bachelor’s degree in
journalism, he continued his work at the Tuscaloosa News as a
recruiting analyst and now is the beat writer for the Alabama
Crimson Tide football team.
This year Suttles won two APSE Top-10 awards in breaking
news and one in beat writing. One of his breaking news entries
was on the suspension of Corey Harris, former strength and
conditioning coach at UA. Suttles reported that the suspension
(and later firing) was because Harris gave an improper loan to
football player Ha Ha Clinton-Dix in violation of NCAA rules.
His beat writing award was for coverage of the Crimson Tide
football program in 2013. In an interview via email, Suttles
discussed one of his favorite memories thus far covering Alabama
football.
“I’ll always remember being on the field when Auburn
returned the missed field goal for a game-winning touchdown
against Alabama,” he said. “That’s history. We’ll be watching that
play forever, and I had a field-level view.”
His other breaking news award was shared with three of
coworkers at the Tuscaloosa News for coverage of Alabama
football coach Nick Saban’s raise and contract extension.
These awards were not his first from APSE. Suttles received
a third-place award in the explanatory category for his feature
story, ‘The Name Game’, on high school mascots in 2009. APSE
also awarded him a third-place award for his project, “Football is
everything to me right now,” in 2011, and in 2012 he received
second place honors for his work on Alabama football’s 20-year
anniversary.
When asked Suttles about his proudest story, he mentioned a
feature he did this year.
“If I had to pick one story, it would probably be the Aaron
Douglas (University of Alabama football player who died in 2011)
story,” he said. “So many deep emotions to that story and that
family, it certainly made an impression on me.”
APSE leaders Jorge Rojas and Michael
Anastasi are flanked by 2014 Diversity
Fellows: Johanna Huybers, Marcus
Vanderberg, Emily Horos and Erik Horne.
Sky’s the limit
for young APSE
Diversity fellow
SEAN HURD
As a junior in high school, Johanna Huybers
was an intern at the Reno Gazette-Journal
where she answered prep calls and wrote
round-ups as an agate clerk.
Less than 10 years later and four
years removed from graduating from the
University of Nevada, Reno, the former
agate clerk managed to climb the ladder to
sports editor at age 26.
Huybers has nearly done it all in the
sports department — holding positions
as a reporter, sports copy desk chief and
assistant sports editor prior to being
promoted as the section editor.
The Reno native finds her current role
as sports editor a bit surreal. Huybers went
from reading the Reno Gazette-Journal
sports section as a youth to now being the
woman in charge — a role she was initially
hesitant to take.
“A year ago if you would’ve asked me
do you want to be sports editor, I probably
would have said no,” Huybers said. “But it
would have been because I had not thought
about it. I had never seen myself in that
role.”
Even though management felt she was
ready to take the role, Huybers actively
looked for ways to develop her managerial
skills.
Huybers saw an opportunity through
the Associated Press Sports Editors
Diversity Fellowship Program, an initiative
by APSE to promote diversity and develop
mid-career professionals for managerial
jobs.
Huybers was one of four selected from
a 12-person applicant pool to participate in
the third class of the program along with
Emily Horos (Cherokee Tribune sports
editor), Erik Horne (The Oklahoman
sports web editor) and Marcus Vanderberg
(Yahoo! Sports coverage editor).
The four fellows participated in a ninemonth program that included convening
in Indianapolis for Diversity Weekend,
working with this year’s Sports Journalism
Institute class to edit stories for the APSE
Bulletin and attending APSE ’s winter and
summer conferences.
After spending over a decade in the
same newsroom, Huybers has aspirations
of eventually leaving “The Biggest Little
City.”
“In Reno we don’t have any pro teams
or any big draws, so one day I think I’d like
to go to a bigger market and lead a bigger
staff,” Huybers said. “Spending 10½ years
in this room and having done the job for 11
months, I know that’s something definitely
in my future.”
Jorge Rojas, APSE Diversity chair and
executive director of the Miami Herald,
believes “the sky is the limit” for Huybers.
“She’s young. She’s already a sports
editor. She can be a sports editor at a larger
daily or whatever title applies,” said Rojas,
who was responsible for selecting the four
diversity fellows. “She can do anything she
wants to do.”
As a female sports editor, Huybers
is aware she works in a field dominated
by men. She admitted that at times it’s
tough to attend events where women are
drastically underrepresented in the room.
“It’s definitely important for me to reach
out to women to retain them to make sure
they have opportunities that a guy would
have in this business,” Huybers said.
Although Huybers is a bit unclear of
what exactly her professional future holds,
that’s how she likes it.
“I’m still getting my feet wet as sports
editor so there’s still so much for me to
learn. Anything that I do, it could be next
year or it could be five years from now,”
Huybers said. “I don’t know where my next
stop is and that’s kind of exciting because
I don’t think anybody knows where their
next stop is until you get there. “
Membership privileges expand
to allow writers, students
ALEXANDRIA VALDEZ
After Kent Babb won an APSE writing
award in 2006, his newspaper paid for him
to attend the annual convention. One night
he was sitting with a group of editors from
Milwaukee, Miami, Kansas City and other
metropolitan papers.
“I felt like I was surrounded by
celebrities,” Babb said. “They made me feel
like one of the veterans.”
Even though Babb wasn’t an editor,
he kept attending the APSE conventions.
Recently, APSE opened its organization
for writers and students to help expand the
group.
The vote to allow writers to join APSE
passed in 2013.
President Tim Stephens said there
are several benefits for writers, including
networking, mentorship and the chance
to have a voice in the direction of sports
journalism. The organization is looking into
creating a database for writers to post their
resumes, as well as a place for discussions.
“As our industry has evolved it’s been
a priority for several presidents to become
inclusive,” Stephens said. “We’re opened to
websites, students and writers. I’m eager to
see how we continue to evolve as we bring
in new members.”
To Babb, who writes for The
Washington Post, allowing writers into
APSE helps the organization with
membership numbers and opens up
the lines of communication. Previously,
other writers were reluctant to attend the
conferences because they were traditionally
for editors.
When Babb and Dan Wiederer
pushed for the inclusion of writers, it was
the right time, APSE outreach coordinator
Phil Kaplan said.
“If we don’t evolve as an organization,
we’ll be in trouble,” Kaplan said.
In order to increase numbers, Kaplan
said APSE needs to be more aggressive. He
said the organization must communicate
better with writers, show a benefit for
them and spread the word to them. Writers
can be a significant part of APSE moving
forward and its growth, Kaplan said. APSE
voted in 2011 to allow student journalists
to join. It costs $25 for students to join, and
43 students are listed in the 2014 APSE
directory.
When visiting university campuses,
Stephens was impressed by students’
enthusiasm.
“We have to look at our own
newsrooms; the opportunity exists for rapid
ascension in the newsroom,” Stephens said.
“Newsrooms are smaller and talented;
ambitious people can make an impact. It’s
not inconceivable that our students will be
in leadership roles very soon.”
Stephens said the next step for APSE
is creating student chapters.
One of the first official APSE student
groups for the 2014-2015 academic
school year is at Ohio University. Chapter
president Charlie Hatch, a sophomore at
Ohio, said the group is open to print and
broadcast students interested in sports
journalism.
Hatch said Stephens visited Ohio
University in November to give a seminar.
When Hatch drove him back to the airport,
Stephens talked with him about getting a
chapter started.
“Everyone comes to our school and tells
us the journalism industry is changing,”
Hatch said. “It might not be exactly what
we think it will be, but there is a group of
students who have a passion. APSE and
our chapter is a great way to prove that.”
One former student who had several
opportunities from APSE is Stephanie
Kuzydym, a high schools reporter for the
Northeast Ohio Media group. Between
her sophomore and junior year of college
Kuzydym attended the APSE convention
in Salt Lake City as a photographer.
There she met Roy Hewitt, the retired
sports editor of the Cleveland Plain Dealer,
who became a mentor. Kuzydym said he
was always a phone call away when she was
a student reporter and then her campus
papers sports editor.
The connections Kuzydym made at the
convention helped her get internships at
the Orlando Sentinel, The Oklahoman and
her first job.
“You’re meeting editors who know how
to cover major events, plan sections and
get reporters to report on tight deadlines,”
Kuzydym said. “When you’re in college and
you’re learning all this, it’s not a bad thing
to meet these people and connect with
them and bother and call them up.”
COLUMBIA 2014 | PAGE 5
MEET THE CLASS OF 2014
The Sports Journalism Institute Class of 2014 spent eight days at the University of Missouri.
Christopher Chavez
Marquette University, 2015
ESPN.com
Chavez, 20, from Queens, N.Y., has a journalism
dream that may come true in less than 800 days: “In
2016, I want to see myself in Rio de Janeiro with
a microphone in front of Usain Bolt.” Chavez has
combined his passion for track and field with sports
journalism. One of his favorite moments was traveling
overseas to cover the European track and field circuit for
Flotrack.org in 2013. While reporting in eight different countries, he interviewed Bolt
and other Olympians. He’s also covered running on the high school and collegiate
level. Chavez wants to give a voice to niche sports that don’t receive ample big market
attention. He hopes to share his track knowledge at ESPN.com in Bristol, Conn., and
help grow Olympic sports coverage.
—Keith Turner Jr.
Sean Hurd
George Washington University, 2015
MLB.com
Every morning Hurd sat down and read The Sporting
Greens with his father, Tony. His dad would read the
stories, and Hurd read the box scores. Tony Hurd
told Sean one day he’d see his name in the paper as
an athlete. His athletic dream would never be actualized
because he was diagnosed with Takayasu Arteritis, which
causes blood vessel inflammation, and made it painful to
compete. Hurd was crushed and ripped down all the athletic posters in his room.
The 20-year-old slowly has started to replace them with press credentials from sports
events. “Every summer when I go back, it’s a reminder that the dream’s not crushed,
it’s just replaced,” he said. Sean told his parents: “You’re going to see me one day in the
paper; it’s just going to be in the byline.”
—Rhiannon Walker
PAGE 6 | THE BULLETIN
Annie Dankelson
University of Missouri, 2014
MLB.com
Annie Dankelson has a passion for writing that dates
back to childhood when she and her twin brother
crafted stories with elaborate characters. That love of
fiction easily translated to journalism. Dankelson has
written for several newspapers, including hometown
editions for the Record Publishing Company and her
college publication, the Columbia Missourian. She will graduate
from the Missouri School of Journalism in December upon completion of the
magazine sequence. Dankelson is most fond of feature writing, saying the human
element of it intrigues her. This summer, she is interning in New York at MLB.com.
By now, she has probably gotten used to riding the subway.
—Avery T. Jennings
Avery T. Jennings
Ohio University, 2015
Knoxville News Sentinel
When it comes to sports journalism, Jennings is
definitely determined. He took a career placement test,
but sports journalist wasn’t even a job on the test. No
matter.
Jennings already had decided he wanted to be an anchor
for SportsCenter. “I knew pretty early on what I wanted to
do,” Jennings said. He’s taken that determination to the E.W.
Scripps School of Journalism at Ohio University, where he will be a senior this fall.
He’ll be the sports director at WOUB Public Media. There, he’s done everything
from feature writing to anchoring to creating graphics. Jennings will gain even more
experience this summer when he interns at the Knoxville News Sentinel.
—Annie Dankelson
Thuc Nhi Nguyen
University of Washington, 2015
Long Beach Press Telegram
All it took was one play to get Nguyen hooked. She
didn’t grow up watching a lot of sports at home.
Then one game-winning field goal that sent the
hometown Seattle Seahawks to victory over the Dallas
Cowboys changed everything. “I was like, ‘how have
I gone this long without knowing what (football) was.
This is awesome,’ ” she said. “At that point I really started
watching sports more and really getting into it.” Nguyen was born
and raised in Seattle, Wash. She attends the University of Washington as a journalism
and mathematics double major and is a sportswriter for the campus newspaper, in
which she also served as sports editor for a year. In 2012 she covered three Seahawks
games as an intern for SeattlePI.com.
—Katie O’Keefe
Chris Shelton
University of Houston, 2015
South Florida SunSentinel
Shelton has written stories on Houston Cougar
legends Elvin Hayes and Guy V. Lewis, but his
proudest moment in journalism came from a venture
outside of sports. “I looked into human trafficking,”
Shelton said. “It was a crazy story where every time I
researched it, I had more questions.” He investigated and
interviewed his sources for hours at a time and discovered the
magnitude of the issue in Houston. It was “a physically taxing
story,” but he followed it to its end. He brings that hunger for original reporting and
internship experience from the Houston Chronicle to the South Florida Sun Sentinel
this summer.
—Chris Chavez
Keith Turner Jr.
Ohio University, 2014
South Florida SunSentinel
Whether he’s in the broadcast booth or the pulpit,
Turner loves to help people. The Cincinnati native,
who is also a minister, enjoys using sports to tell
stories to empower others. Learning how to best tell
those tales has been a process. During his first live
television broadcast, Turner froze while covering high
school football. That setback didn’t stop him from pursuing
h i s
love of broadcasting. He used the disappointing experience to
grow into a better reporter; just two years later he became only the second AfricanAmerican host of Gridiron Glory, a live high school football show at the PBS affiliate
WOUB in Athens, Ohio. “It taught me that if I can make that big of a mistake and
get to where I (am) then I can do anything,” Turner said.
—Chris Shelton
Katie O’Keefe
Colorado State University, 2013
Kansas City Star
The Crimson sea of Tuscaloosa, Ala., is a far cry from
Colorado State’s half-full Hughes Stadium on any
given fall Saturday. When O’Keefe drove into town
from Fort Collins, Colo., to cover the Rams’ game
against Alabama in 2013, she was intimidated. But that
road trip is her best memory from working at Colorado
State’s student newspaper, The Rocky Mountain Collegian.
Storytelling is what inspires O’Keefe, and with three degrees —
English, Spanish and journalism — she is well equipped to do so. “Everyone has a
great story,” she said. “It’s interesting to just hear about everyone and to be able to try
to make a story out of it. It’s challenging, but that’s why I think it’s fun.”
—Thuc Nhi Nguyen
Tierra Smith
Grambling State University, 2015
Salt Lake Tribune
Smith remembers when the middle-school boys made
fun of her love for Milwaukee Bucks point guard Mo
Williams. When she told them he was great, they
said she didn’t know what she was talking about. She
wanted to prove them wrong, so she learned about
basketball. Since then it has been her against the boys.
In 2012, she proved her worth again at The Gramblinite,
Grambling State University’s student newspaper. A rivalry quickly
developed between Smith and a colleague. This competition in the newsroom pushed
Smith to work harder. And it was her passion -- for storytelling and sport -- that
drove her to learn more and helped her excel. This fire continues to push her today.
—Alexandria Valdez
Alexandria Valdez
University of Montana, 2015
Denver Post
A daddy-and-daughter NASCAR Sunday turned
into a life-changing moment for Valdez. As the cars
zipped around the racetrack, she noticed there was
only one woman reporter. The Eaton, Colo. native
looked at her father and said she wanted to be just
like Krista Voda. Five years and three internships later,
Valdez is on the right track. She is a senior studying print
journalism at the University of Montana and is excited to intern
for the Denver Post this summer. Leaving home for college made her better appreciate
her family, which has been very supportive of her goal to become a NASCAR reporter.
—Tierra Smith
Rhiannon Walker
University of Maryland, 2015
Houston Chronicle
Walker joined the SJI program for a second
consecutive year after graduating with the Class of
2013 last summer. The 21-year-old Walker has already
had internships at USA TODAY, The Baltimore Sun
and The Oklahoman. Walker aspired to be an anchor
at ESPN, where she had once dreamed of becoming the
next Sage Steele. She has now turned her focus to long-form
journalism because of her passion to tell people’s stories and inform. “I want people to
feel something when they read or watch something that I produce or have a hand in;
that’s my ultimate goal.” Walker’s most proud of a story she wrote for USA TODAY
on a Maryland classmate, Zach Lederer, who served as the UMD football and
basketball team manager but lost a battle with brain cancer at age 20. Walker hopes
to one day write for publications such as ESPN the Magazine or Sports Illustrated.
—Sean Hurd
COLUMBIA 2014 | PAGE 7
APSE contest
judging looking
toward changes
for future
ALEXANDRIA VALDEZ
In order to get sports journalism’s highest
honor, members of the Associated
Press Sports Editors submit entries to a
contest that is a mix of past and present –
multimedia and print.
Currently, submitted stories are mostly
printouts from library archives that are
mailed to catchers.
APSE president Tim Stephens said
the organization in the long term needs
to look at modernizing the way members
enter the contest. One of the goals he
wanted to accomplish while in office was
re-evaluating the contest process. “Our contest and the way we
administer it needs to evolve to match the
modern ways we are producing journalism,”
Stephens said. “Having sports editors who
are overworked and understaffed taking
time to copy and paste or cut out entries
ASPE turns 40
(continued from page 1)
in the organization about other aspects of
journalism and how we can do our job.”
Adding to this, over its 40 years,
APSE established a contest to showcase
the industry’s best pieces. It began holding
conventions with workshops to improve
writers’ skills. It helped develop programs
such as the Sports Journalism Institute,
which trains women and minorities in the
sports journalism industry.
But it didn’t get that way overnight.
“Sometimes, there have been challenges
with finances or disagreements over the
direction that the organization should go,”
Stephens said.
In fact, APSE was close to bankruptcy
on more than one occasion, according to
the account of Herb Stutz, APSE president
from 1985-86.
Membership and getting people to
PAGE 8 | THE BULLETIN
like we did them in 1985, 1995 or 2005 is
probably not the way we should be doing
it.” But it’s not that easy to just switch to
digital. APSE first vice president Mike
Sherman said the organization has to
consider its broad range of members and
they don’t want to exclude anyone because
of technology. Sherman also said that
judging can be low-tech events and wireless
internet could be an issue.
Second vice president Mary Byrne,
who will be in charge of the contest in
February 2015, would like to see a couple
changes.
“The number one priority is switching
to an electronic system,” Byrne said.
She said that she wants to see the switch
made to all electronic by 2015. APSE
would have to look at using a program to
submit the stories electronically. Several
groups such as the Society of Professional
Journalists use programs like these for
their contests. This would be a significant
change, Byrne said, but it’s a necessary one.
Byrne would also like to see defined
multimedia categories. Last year the
category consisted of different pieces of
multimedia work: interactive graphic, TV
shows, short video pieces and long form
presentations.
Some changes also need to be
made to the web contest, Byrne said.
The organization needs to create better
communication for judging, look at ways to
judge websites year round and create a clear
set of definitions or what is considered the
top work.
Sherman also has some ideas about
changes in the contest. He wants to see
a division for website-only publications.
Other possible changes include dividing
sections for judging, bringing back the
“game stories” category, and refining the
review of digital content.
The first step is to discuss the plans and
changes at the June conference, Byrne said.
APSE needs to discuss how much money it
is willing to spend and Byrne said she needs
to be more proactive about the changes.
But Byrne said APSE members are ready
to modernize and supportive of moving
forward. With the news published on so
many different platform such as mobile,
web and tablets, Byrne and Sherman
believe it’s important to appreciate the
work put into each format.
“We’re playing 3D chess these days,”
Sherman said. “We’ve just got to make sure
that when celebrating the best work done,
we’re celebrating the best range of that
work.”
conventions was also a problem.
“The numbers of people attending
conventions was really dropping because of
travel, and newspapers were going through
a tough time, so they weren’t paying for
these things,” Crevier said. “So I really put a
very strong emphasis on regional meetings
so that more people could be involved with
APSE.”
Despite the hurdles, APSE has
continued with its sight set on superior
sports journalism.
“You don’t always move as quickly as
you’d like or as smoothly as you’d like,”
Stephens said, “but we have a very strong
organization that is committed to its
mission.”
And as the organization approaches
the big 4-0, it has several ideas to build on
this mission.
As far as finances, APSE is stepping
up its fundraising efforts and aggressively
seeking sponsors.
“We’re in a time in an industry where,
much like many other areas of industry,
the competition for the dollar is fierce, and
resources are not as plentiful as we might
like,” Stephens said.
The organization is looking to
increase membership, and it is creating
an organizational structure for student
membership to give students a voice in
different chapters.
“The whole membership thing is really
important,” Crevier said, “and you have
to find ways to keep getting people to
meetings and keep them interested in what
you’re doing.”
APSE plans to modernize its contest.
It’s developing a new website plan.
All of this is to ensure that APSE
improves with age and continues its mission
of high quality sports journalism — the
same mission that Stephens remembers
from years ago.
“You know,” he said, “the opportunity
to work alongside peers and colleagues to
attempt to tackle some of the challenges
facing our industry is incredibly rewarding.”
Sports stories
kept captive
McCain sane
in Vietnam
TIERRA SMITH
With
this
year’s annual
conference
stationed
near
the
n a t i on’s
capital, the
Associated
Press Sports
JOHN MCCAIN
E d i t o r s
wanted to capitalize on the opportunity.
Enter Arizona senator John McCain.
Tommy Deas, APSE third vice
president, first suggested the 2008
Republican presidential nominee as a
keynote speaker. Deas was captivated
by McCain’s stories of survival from the
more than five years spent in captivity as a
prisoner of war in North Vietnam.
In a radio interview, Deas heard
McCain describe how he would “talk” with
fellow POWs through the walls by using
“tap code.” And often those conversations
were about sports.
McCain shared a similar story during
an interview on “The Dan Patrick Show:”
“The guy next to me, his favorite athlete
was Stan Musial. He worshipped him. Ted
Williams was (my favorite athlete), and we
would go back-and-forth,” McCain said.
Politics aside, Deas stressed that
McCain has a strong background in sports,
including extensive experience in crafting
legislation. McCain was at the forefront of
the Muhammad Ali Boxing Reform Act,
which was enacted in 2000 in an attempt
to curb widespread unfair and abusive
practices in boxing.
“McCain offers a different perspective
and a broader world view,” said Mary
Byrne, the managing editor of USA Today
Sports and APSE 2nd Vice President. “He
adds a voice outside of media.”
Many APSE members are also
interested to hear McCain’s views on a
variety of issues, including the unionization
of college athletes and the recent release of
American Bowe Bergdahl in Afghanistan.
Battle on the Bayou: Picayune vs. Advocate in old-time paper war
CHRIS CHAVEZ
After shifting from a daily to a thriceweekly production cycle, The TimesPicayune’s decision to add a street edition
might be considered a countermove to the
New Orleans edition of The Baton Rouge
Advocate.
Advocate editor Peter Kovacs and The
Times-Picayune sports manager Marcus
Carmouche disagreed.
“We’re in a media war with TV, radio
and other sites,” said Carmouche, who has
been with The Times-Picayune since 2003.
“It would be almost short-sighted to be
totally focused on the newspaper aspect of
it.”
Kovacs, who previously worked at The
Times-Picayune, agreed the competition
goes beyond just the two newspapers.
“We’re a digital first company and
newsroom, which I think
print product. And Carmouche
you have to be nowadays,”
said he believes his group is
Kovacs said. “But we’re
winning both on the street
also conscious that we’re
and on the web.
creating
photos
and
The
competition
content for a newspaper,
has inspired The Timesand it’s a daily newspaper.”
Picayune staff to improve
Kovacs credited local
its versatility across all
ownership
for
making
storytelling platforms.
changes to best suit the MARCUS CARMOUCHE
The news organization
market.
has its own in-house studio, and most
“The Advocate is owned by a Louisiana videos and multimedia shows for the site
family,” Kovacs said.
are recorded there. Green screens and
“We can structure our coverage and our various production sets provide some of
business plan around serving the people the same amenities of a television station.
of Louisiana. We don’t have a corporate
“It’s a really high-tech endeavor,
headquarters telling us ‘No, that’s not how and it’s one of the things that really does
you do it.’”
separate us,” Carmouche said. “Yeah, we
The launch of TPStreet in newspaper also do videos from the locker rooms with
boxes in New Orleans has helped The our iPhones, but we transfer that video and
Times-Picayune defend its territory and make a whole show about it.”
acknowledged the readership still wants a
The focus on a digital platform
provides freedom for experiments at both
The Times-Picayune and The Advocate.
Carmouche would not reveal any
upcoming plans but explained there is
a reward along with risk in the business
model.
“If we’re going to be innovative and try
different methods of doing things, that’s
the new mold,” he said.
“Failure really is an option, because
not all the ideas we actually have will work.
I would rather have more ideas and fail at
a few rather than have the same old ideas
that we’ve been using years ago.”
Kovacs would only offer a tease for
readers looking for Saints coverage.
“We have plans so that our coverage
of this NFL season will be better than our
coverage last NFL season,” Kovacs said.
“I thought our coverage of the last NFL
season was pretty good.”
There’s no offseason in the NFL’s ever-expanding coverage game
ANNE DANKELSON
For the average fan, the professional
football season probably starts in the fall
and culminates a few months later with the
Super Bowl.
For members of sports media, however,
the National Football League is an entirely
different world.
“Overall, just in the industry where
we have so many massive, national things
-- from Bleacher Report to ESPN to NFL
Network -- we have to go around the
clock,” said Steve Wyche, a reporter for
NFL Network.
It’s true.
With the NFL Combine, the NFL
Draft, training camps, coaching carousels
and the occasional arrest, today’s NFL
reporters rarely have time to take a
breather. If anything, most reporters find a
kind of “dead period” from the end of June
to early July and plan their vacation time
accordingly.
“That month is pretty much when most
of us will turn off the lights and kind of
recharge,” Wyche said.
Even then, though, NFL reporters
need to be on the alert.
“Even when it’s a dead period, we’re
still expected to generate stories,” said
Mike Wells, Indianapolis Colts reporter
for ESPN.
Teri Thompson, managing sports editor
of the New York Daily News, agrees that
NFL reporting has grown in dominance.
“It’s a much more intense beat than
it once was,” Thompson said. Although
there’s a bit of a break for reporters after
the Super Bowl, she said, the process takes
juggling to decide who’s doing what.
With such a dominant and demanding
sport, several networks have emerged to
help with coverage. And these networks
are attractive to aspiring sports journalists
— sometimes at the expense of smaller
newspapers. Wells, for example, left his
Indianapolis Colts reporting job at the
Indianapolis Star to cover the team for
ESPN.
“Any young journalism student from
high school and college — you wanna work
at the biggest and best places,” Wells said.
“So obviously, when I was in college a long,
long time ago in the ‘90s, it was always
something that attracted me.”
Ben Goessling, a former Minnesota
Vikings reporter for the St. Paul Pioneer
Press, similarly left his job there last August
to report for ESPN.
“I think when you get into this
business, working at ESPN is kinda a
dream for everybody,” Goessling said. “Just
the fact that it’s growing and it’s doing big
things, and then you have newspapers that
are kinda trying to make ends meet with
what they have left.”
Besides just being the “the dream,”
larger media organizations offer more
opportunities for different media — video,
television and more. Thompson noted that
the growing intensity and competition of
NFL reporting is partly because of this
digital influence.
Wyche, who worked at newspapers
such as The Washington Post and The
Atlanta-Journal Constitution for 20 years
before moving to the NFL Network, takes
notice of that.
“We have a whole generation of people
that have no idea what a newspaper is,” he
said. “I mean seriously, my kids have not
picked up a newspaper in 10 years. They
read it online.”
Along with producing for different
media, reporting for larger organizations
involves a different approach — you’re not
just writing for the city anymore, but rather
for a national audience. Goessling said that
the hometown team effect doesn’t exist for
him and the other writers who cover each
of the NFL’s 32 teams.
“For ESPN, there’s 32 hometown
teams,” Goessling said. “And the ones that
are winning and the ones that are higherprofile teams are the ones that are in the
news more. That’s just how it works.”
The demands of the league have
changed the way journalists cover the NFL,
whether you’re reporting at a small-town
newspaper or the NFL Network. But what
has remained the same among the growth
of the league is the access and the process.
Goessling said that the responsibilities of
working for a larger network or publication
aren’t much different.
“The day-to-day — you get up, you go
to the facility, you cover practice, you write
about what happened that day — is pretty
much the same,” Goessling said. “You’re
working with the same people; you’re
covering the same players; you’re sitting at
the same seats in the media room, all that
stuff.”
COLUMBIA 2014 | PAGE 9
Former APSE President Howard brings
energy, experience to Biz Journals after SN stint
CHRIS CHAVEZ
After spending three years as the editor-in-chief of the Sporting
News, Garry D. Howard has joined the sports website’s previous
owners, American City Business Journals, as the director of
corporate initiatives. Howard is responsible for various efforts
ranging from recruiting, content initiatives and talent training.
Howard looked back at some of his best memories and shared
insight into his new job.
Chavez: After overseeing all of the editorial operations for
Sporting News for three years, what was your overall feel about
what you accomplished there?
Howard: I think we accomplished the job, which was to
transition the Sporting News from a print product to a total digital
product. We did that and I think we did a great job with it.
Chavez: After your hiring at Sporting News, the move marked
the first time an African-American would lead a national general
sports magazine’s editorial staff. How important was it for you to
help diversify newsrooms?
Howard: I look at it from the standpoint where Lee Ivory
used to run Baseball Weekly with USA Today. He was an AfricanAmerican and extremely talented, so I had someone that I could
talk to about this type of position. The thing that made it successful
was that we did the job that we were asked to. It worked really
well because Perform [Group] came along and they bought the
Sporting News and it’s moving along fairly well right now.
Chavez: In your own view, where are we currently at with the
state of diversity in the journalism industry?
Howard: Well, I think we could obviously use a lot more.
I’ve always said that. I like the fact that we have some young
sports editors out there that are doing extremely well like Larry
Graham in San Diego, Lisa Wilson up in Buffalo, Greg Lee in
South Florida and you can just keep going on. That shows that we
have the skills to hold that position. There just needs to be more
of us. I still think there are some up-and-coming young AfricanAmericans who are ready for leadership-type roles.
Chavez: In your own words, what are you doing as the director
of corporate initiatives’ at American City Business Journals?
Howard: It’s using all the experience I’ve had before. It’s
working across several different buckets. Obviously content is
one of them. I’m trying to attract better candidates overall to the
Business Journals. The Business Journals are a premiere media
solutions platform. There are 43 websites. 43 publications. 550
annual industry-leading events. It’s a big business. At the same
time, we will have to take a look at that and see how we can actually
get better content, better folks in place, training the people we have
across the country and just trying to get better every day.
Chavez: What benefits are there to your position bringing
a background of experience from time at a newspaper and then
national magazine?
Howard: Whether it’s the San Antonio Business Journal,
Charlotte Business Journal, Washington Business Journal, you can
name a city and we probably have one in there. The thing is we’re still
PAGE 10 | THE BULLETIN
publishing and that’s something I know
a great deal about. At the same time,
we have a robust digital effort that
is ongoing and can mix everyone
in together. From what I’ve done
in the past, the combination of
print and digital puts me in a great
position to help the Business Journals
to get even more successful.
GARRY D. HOWARD
Chavez: You’re reunited with the
former owners of Sporting News. What’s good about that?
Howard: They’ve seen the work that I’ve done. They hired me
here to take over Sporting News. Whitney Shaw (president and
CEO of ACBJ) is a wonderful person to work for. His brother, Kirk
is the chief financial officer. The fact that I’ve known them for over
three years, I know the things they like and how to communicate
with them. That’s helped a great deal for me to get comfortable in
the role that I have right now.
Chavez: What’s the most exciting challenge about your new
job?
Howard: The challenge for me is to immerse myself in the
business world and get up to speed on what a business means on
a daily basis, so that I can ensure that each one of our businesses
and publications is focused in the right direction and carrying out
our mission. What I look forward to the most is that I still get to
communicate with so many people from across the country. It’s
a national business, which makes it great for me because it puts
me in a standpoint I’m used to working in. If you look at all the
publications we have, that’ll also keep me busy.
Chavez: After over 30 years as a journalist, what’s left to
accomplish at this stage in your career where you’ve seen the
industry from different angles?
Howard: The goal on my list is to actually try and watch my
daughter play some high school events. That’s a good goal to have.
Stepping away from sports definitely does free up a bit more time
for me.
I enjoyed my run in sports. I thought I accomplished a great
deal which among them was having the Red Smith Hall of Fame
built at Indiana University [Purdue University-Indianapolis] when
I was president of the Associated Press Sports Editors. Serving
as the chairman of the Sports Task Force for NABJ [National
Association of Black Journalists]. The fact that I was able to take
the Milwaukee Journal and the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel to
what it is today along with the help of some wonderful people like
Bill Windler and Mike Davis.
I have a lot of memories to look back on, but going forward
this is a great new challenge for me, because it’s the business world
and a new venue. But it’s pretty much the same thing. Journalism is
journalism. We give people the news they want, in a timely fashion
and on the device that they want. Given the fact that I have a great
deal of experiences as far as dealing with that, gives me a lot of
confidence that I will be successful in this new role.
Vintage brand
Sporting News
goes all digital
CHRIS CHAVEZ
On any given day at the Sporting News
headquarters in Charlotte, North Carolina,
you can find John Turner writing an email
while sitting in front of a work computer.
If he’s not firing off a note, Turner is
checking google or opening an app on
his phone — all while that computer
he’s sitting in front of is being essentially
ignored.
Those daily habits are becoming more
common among more people nowadays, so
the Sporting News deputy editor decided
it was time to go all-in on the digital
movement.
The shift from print to digital was
completed at the end of 2012 when the
print edition of the Sporting News ceased
publication.
Sporting News is in its 128th year in
the industry, which makes it older than
Major League Baseball.
The digital movement began with the
purchase by Advance Publications in 2006.
The mobile shift started before the Perform
Group bought Sporting News to form
Sporting News Media in 2013.
“We’re thinking more and more about
our programming for mobile,” Turner said.
“What does that look like? We look for
what is the type of information that people
get off their phones against the information
people get sitting down at their computers.
It’s two different things. It’s two different
experiences.”
Turner believes more people turn to
the app rather than Sporting News’ online
front page for news, and it’s evident through
their traffic. Turner sees the Sporting News
as a start-up working hard to establish a
differentiated and interesting voice in a
crowded landscape.
“We’re a little over a year into this
new Sporting News experiment. I can’t be
happier about how it’s going,” Turner said.
“Every month it seems like our organic
numbers improve. People here are more
excited to be producing the content that
we’re producing [and] we’re getting a real
clear vision of what works.”
From Boston Globe to Worldwide Leader: Doria to retire in 2015
KATIE O’KEEFE
Vince Doria remembers Game 6 of the
1986 World Series like it was yesterday.
He and more than a dozen of his
Boston Globe reporters sat in the press box
of Shea Stadium, armed with stories about
how the Red Sox had defeated the favored
New York Mets to win their first World
Series in 68 years.
In a matter of one play, though, as the
ball whiffed past Bill Buckner’s glove and
the nation witnessed what would go down
as one of the most infamous moments in
all of sports, each of those stories became
irrelevant as deadline quickly approached.
“I remember being with Leigh
Montville, and he was working with what
were called telecopiers in those days which
transmitted your material,” Doria said. “The
machine we had wasn’t connecting with the
phone, and I remember being under a table
trying to hold the phone receiver down into
the computer there to force a connection
on it, on my hands and knees about one
o’clock in the morning.”
Now, nearly 28 years after the most
memorable night of his career
Vince was like a drinking buddy
in sports journalism, Doria,
who made out the schedule,”
senior vice president and
said Ryan, the longtime
director of news at ESPN,
Boston Globe reporter and
decided he will retire in
columnist. “I loved working
February 2015.
for him.”
Doria graduated from
After a stint with
Ohio State University in
The National Sports Daily,
1970. His first job out of
Doria made the transition to
VINCE DORIA
college was editor of a small
television after ESPN hired
paper in Ashtabula, Ohio. A year and a him in 1992 where his first assignment was
half later, he was hired by The Philadelphia to help launch ESPN2.
Inquirer.
Throughout his years at ESPN,
The opportunities came quickly for Doria was also involved in the launch of
Doria, and in 1975 he was hired by the ESPNews, ran ESPN Classic and helped
Boston Globe as an assistant sports editor develop E:60 into what it is today.
under the direction of Dave Smith, the first
“Vince has been the soul of ‘Outside
president of the Associated Press Sports The Lines,’ the soul of ambitious and
Editors.
hard charging journalism here at ESPN,”
In 1978, Doria became the sports editor said Rob King, senior vice president,
and inherited a talented team of writers, SportsCenter and News. “He’s nurtured
including Bob Ryan, Peter Gammons, storytellers and editors and thinkers. He’s
Will McDonough, Bud Collins and Lesley a reporter at heart, and he makes this place
Visser.
fun. His retirement is very bittersweet
“He was the most casual and the because it represents a really important
easiest guy of all to work for, and I’ve era here at ESPN where we became real
always said the difference between Vince factors in sports journalism, and we’ll
and the other editors I had known was that always be grateful.”
Doria has been the recipient of 27
Emmy Awards in his time at ESPN and
in 2009, he was awarded the Red Smith
Award “for major contributions to sports
journalism” from APSE, for which he
served as president from 1983-84 while
with the Boston Globe.
Throughout his career, Doria latched
onto opportunities and embraced every
challenge. Still, he credits those he’s
worked with in his nearly 45 years in sports
journalism with his success.
“It wouldn’t have been near as much
fun if I didn’t have a lot of good people,”
he said.
Although Doria will take the time
to visit with family, including his first
grandchild, and plan for his daughter’s
upcoming wedding, don’t be surprised if he
grabs hold of another opportunity in the
future.
“I’ll keep in touch with the people that
I’ve worked with over the years for as long
as I’m able to do that, and we’ll see what all
transpires,” Doria said. “(It’s) sort of a brave
new world, and I’m looking forward to it.”
New ownership models put journalism ethics, standards to test
THUC NHI NGUYEN
The marriage of the Boston Globe and
the Boston Red Sox under the house of
John Henry started without a hitch. Six
days after Henry’s purchase of the Globe
was finalized, his baseball team won the
World Series, capping off a worst-to-first
comeback that galvanized a city reeling
from the Boston Marathon bombings.
The honeymoon didn’t last forever.
In March, the Globe’s news department
published a story about the troubled past of
Jared Remy, the son of Red Sox broadcaster
Jerry Remy, as the younger Remy stood
trial for the murder of his girlfriend.
Joseph Sullivan, the Globe’s assistant
managing editor/sports, said the piece put
the relationship between the Globe and the
Red Sox to its toughest test since Henry
officially took ownership of the paper in
October 2013.
It passed.
“(The Globe editors) made the
decisions what was going to stay and what
was going to come
out,” Sullivan
said. “I’m sure
he (Henry)
would have
preferred
that
Jerry
Remy is always
portrayed in a
JOE SULLIVAN
good light, but
that didn’t stop
the Globe from doing it.”
Henry agreed to purchase the paper
in August 2013, and the deal was finalized
two months later. Sullivan initially thought
Henry’s joint investments in the paper and
the team would be awkward, calling it a
“living, breathing conflict of interest.” But
it hasn’t changed his approach at work.
“John Henry, what he has said to us is,
‘You do your job like you’ve always done
your job,’ and that’s what we’ve done,”
Sullivan said.
Henry is part of a small trend of
businessmen buying media groups. Jeff
Bezos, the chief executive of Amazon,
bought The Washington
Post last August, and
Glen Taylor, owner
of the Minnesota
T imber wol ves,
announced
he
had reached a
deal to buy the
Minneapolis
Star
GLEN CREVIER
Tribune in April.
Taylor’s
deal
puts Glen Crevier, the Star Tribune’s an
assistant managing editor for sports, in
a situation similar to Sullivan’s. Crevier
has watched the Globe’s actions from a
distance, especially the coverage of Jared
Remy.
“The owner could have stuck his nose
in the coverage and didn’t,” Crevier said.
“He chose to say, ‘Go ahead and run the
story.’ I kind of admired that when I did
read it. I expect it to be the same way here.”
Sullivan and Crevier both support the
move toward private ownership because
it shows progression in the journalism
industry.
“These people who are buying these
businesses want to invest in them and
want to see them improve and move
forward,” Crevier said. “Our paper
is very digitally focused, and I think
we’re definitely moving into the
future. Having an owner who buys
into that and who supports that is
more beneficial than having a chain
own us.”
Although the ownership change
may be positive for the business model,
Crevier said it wouldn’t have an effect on
his paper’s coverage: For the Globe, those
critical moments have been rare because
of the Red Sox’s success since the world
championship. Sullivan estimates that
about 95 percent of the paper’s Red Sox
stories have been positive since Henry
took over. The next time the union of the
Red Sox and the Globe hits a rough patch,
Sullivan doesn’t expect his side to waver.
“They’re a championship team,”
Sullivan said. “But I have confidence that
when the time comes when we have to do
a negative story, we’ll be able to do our job.”
COLUMBIA 2014 | PAGE 11
Guzman gets close to his goal
to question if being an editor was possible.
“I’ve always wanted to be a sports
editor, but I hadn’t had that shot yet. So
Ed Guzman knew he wanted to be
I was like well, maybe I can’t do
a leader since he was a sports
it…I was always having those
editor at his junior high
doubts,” Guzman said.
school in East Los Angeles.
But
in
2011,
Now Guzman, 37,
Guzman was one of four
is serving as an assistant
professionals chosen to
sports editor at The Seattle
be a part of the inaugural
Times – within reach of his
class of the APSE Diversity
dream.
Fellowship Program, a nineGuzman, with more than
month program that is intent
ED GUZMAN
15 years of experience has held
on preparing mid-career
positions at The Oregonian,
professionals for management
The New York Times and The Washington positions.
Post.
The program gave Guzman a sense of
“My goal was always to be a sports affirmation that he was in fact capable of
editor,” Guzman said. “Even when I handling an editor position.
was reporting and I was starting out, I
Last March, Guzman joined The
remember saying one day I want to run Seattle Times where as the assistant sports
that department, period.”
editor he felt he could bring new ideas, a
After his junior year of college at new work ethic to the position and make
Stanford University, Guzman attended the an impact on the section.
Sports Journalism Institute as a member of
Guzman played a big role in the
the 1998 class, which he described as being coverage of the Seattle Seahawks during
his first major breakthrough.
their historic Super Bowl-winning season.
“[The impact] is immeasurable quite Guzman served as the on-site editor for
frankly,” said Guzman, who as part of the every Seahawks home game this season,
program interned for The New York Times, coordinating writers, and communicating
where he recalled being a “nervous wreck” with photo editors and web producers to
while covering the US Men’s National manage and shape the Times’ coverage.
Team (soccer) for his first assignment.
“That was a really great time, because
“[SJI] opened your eyes, and it opened I got the chance to really immerse myself
the doors at the same time,” he said.
and really shape something and have a
Guzman then set his focus on hand in what our news report is going to
becoming a sports editor, which he says look like,” Guzman said. “That was great
attracted him in large part because of fun for me and very satisfying.”
the impact that editors have in shaping a
Guzman was also an editor of Hawk
newsroom.
Heaven, a 128-page commemorative book
“I felt like as an editor and as a leader published by the Times that documented
you really can make an impact as far as every game of the Seahawks’ season, among
shaping what a department’s mission other stories. Guzman says the project was
should be,” said Guzman, who added that one of the “greatest things” of his career.
he was also drawn by the opportunity to
Washington Post sports editor
both mentor and develop talented writers.
Matthew Vita, who has known Guzman
Before arriving at The Seattle Times, for almost 10 years, believes it’s only a
Guzman spent the previous seven years at matter of time before Guzman gets an
The Washington Post where he was a copy opportunity to run a section.
editor, high school sports editor and sports
“He’s very experienced,” Vita said.
copy chief.
“He’s dealt with running an editing desk,
But after working several positions at he’s dealt directly with reporters and he’s
the Post without an opportunity presenting aware of how a newspaper is assembled
itself for Guzman to take steps toward and put together every day.”
becoming a sports editor, Guzman began
SEAN HURD
PAGE 12 | THE BULLETIN
SJI experience made NBA
goal reachable for Buckner
TIERRA SMITH
her.
She then took a leap to pursue her
NBA dream by heading to the Pacific
Fresh off her first tour with the Indiana Northwest, where she accepted a position
Pacers, Candace Buckner reflects on her at the Vancouver Columbian, a small
path to become an NBA beat writer for the paper in Washington across the bridge
Indianapolis Star. She said that without the from Portland, where she covered the Trail
Sports Journalism Institute, she would not Blazers. She attended home games and
made it this far.
practices; the paper couldn’t afford to send
SJI “was the beginning of everything,” her to away games.
said Buckner, a 2001 SJI alum. The
A few months later, she was
St. Louis native chose to stay
informed from the networks
close to home for college and
she created within the
attended the University
industry, the beat reporter
of Missouri. Before the
for the Pacers was leaving
institute, Buckner had high
for a job at ESPN to cover
hopes of becoming a sports
the NFL.
broadcaster.
Although
not
as
“It literally changed my
seasoned as some candidates,
life,” said Buckner, who then
she said, “by the grace of God,
CANDACE BUCKNER
decided that she would rather
I got this opportunity.”
be behind the words than in front of the
Nat Newell, the Star’s assistant sports
television.
editor for pro sports, said covering an NBA
After graduating from Missouri in team is difficult because of the traveling,
2002, she covered high school and prep reporting and in-depth writing that is
basketball for the Macon Telegraph and required. He said there are many people
The Kansas City Star for more than nine who can do one or another of the tasks -years.
but not all of them well.
“At that point I was tired, and I felt like
But after Newell spoke to Buckner, he
I needed to do more,” Buckner said.
said he had no doubt that she had the drive
She stumbled onto a story about and tenacity to do the job.
a senior basketball player in Gary, Ind.
Buckner said one of her toughest
She followed his challenges to overcome obstacles was replacing Mike Wells, who
obstacles on and off the court during the was the Pacers’ beat writer for nearly nine
2011-2012 season.
years.
Buckner said she was more passionate
Now, Buckner has a chance to reflect
about that story than any story she could on her first season covering the Pacers after
have been assigned at The Kansas City they lost to the Miami Heat in the Eastern
Star. She wrote half of the book before she Conference Finals.
left to pursue an NBA reporter job. She
“Overall,” she said, “I think it was a
said she regrets not finishing the book but great experience.”
appreciates the lessons writing it taught
From Macon, Ga. to Kansas
City to the Pacific Northwest to
Indianapolis, Candace Buckner
now has the NBA world at her
finger tips as the Indianapolis
Star’s Pacers beat reporter.