Temple is a known as a good school for aspiring journalists, and a group of professors and alumni in the media are working to make it even better. Temple hosted their second annual Sports Journalism Summit in the Howard Gittis Student Center earlier this week.
“I think it’s a terrific opportunity for students here because obviously a lot of people are really interested in sports writing,” said OwlScoop.com editor John DiCarlo.
Students were enthusiastic about the event, hoping to make contacts, get career advice. and exchange resumes with people in the industry.
“I just wanted to get exposed to some people that were in the business,” said freshman Greg Frank. “I’m trying to break into the field, listen to what they had to say and hope to get a lot of good out of it.”
“I’m real interested in sports journalism,” said senior Clifford Augustin. “I had to come out here and get some advice from some pros out here who have been doing this job for a long time.”
ESPN baseball writer Claire Smith, one of the first female sportswriters to be employed by ESPN was the keynote speaker. She gave students the following advice on how to succeed in their respective fields.
“The basics are the basics, be true, be honest, do your homework, do your due diligence, be fair, and be objective.”
Also, students, faculty, and media personalities discussed networking, public relations, and the rules of social media, specifically Twitter in regards to how prospective employers view it.
“It doesn’t matter whether they care or why they care. If they care, you have to play by their rules if you want to be under their umbrella,” said Media Studies Professor Matthew Fine.
Students agreed that social media will become very important in sports journalism, especially among recent graduates who are now entering the workforce.
“It’s just another tool you have to utilize, is what some of them are focusing on,” said senior Dan White. “I think that’s [Twitter’s] going to be important to carry out into the real world.”
Over 100 students, staff, and media attended the event.
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