MIKEL LAUBER has spent the better part of the last week transforming his news effort into a mobile, and in some cases, a solitary presentation. Their producers and reporters are in the field and/or at home. It’s the way it will be for a while. He talks about how to approach a big news story that changes hourly and taxes the resources and creative juices of the news team.
Andrew Bucholtz , Media Reporter for Awful Announcing Covid-19 is at the top of the sports world conversation these days. No games, what happens to TV, its content and its reporters and on-air personalities. Among the other conversation points: The NFL Collective Bargaining Agreement, Tom Brady’s announcement, and TV Sports and streaming services. (Don’t count on them giving it away for free, he says.)
In the series of conversations about COVID-19, the corona virus, Steve adds insights on how we approach sports in America, and helps to put into perspective the current crisis. He says sports in where can unite, and being united is a really important thing right now.
Thad Livingston is he Sports Editor of the Omaha World Herald, the largest and most influential journalism outlet in the state of Nebraska. We talk about the impact COVID-19 has had on local sports journalism, and how this break in games being covered might change the way we look at, and report on, sports in the future.
MIKE WOITALLA We wanted to talk with Mike in our series of conversations about COVID-19, the coronavirus. He lives and works in the Bay Area and covers soccer on a local, national and international level.
DANNY BURKE Hosts “Betting Across America” on VSIN. He is one of thousands of radio and TV people who are dealing with the current landscape, which includes no games played and no games on TV. And for Burke and VSIN, no talk of games to bet on. We talked in the hours after all the major sports leagues in America suspended play. [Note – he is a former student of mine at the University of Nebraska]
MITCH SHERMAN and MAX OLSON are sports reporters at The Athletic , a subscription-based sports journalism web site and app. Sherman covers the Huskers and Olson is a national college football writer. They both worked at ESPN before departing for the sports journalism startup. Sherman and Olson are Nebraska natives and UNL alums. They do a weekly podcast, The Sellouts. In this conversation we talk about the process of doing their jobs, the new delivery models for journalism, and where it’s going ...
CHRIS MYERS Fox Sports Announcer - including football, baseball, NASCAR He will be on the sidelines for the broadcast of the Super Bowl, working the sidelines with Erin Andrews on the crew led by Joe Buck and Troy Aikman. Myers has been with Fox Sports for 20 years, after 10 years at ESPN. He’s also now on the broadcast team of Marquee Sports Network in Chicago. Myers talks about preparing for the big games and the process of delivering them.
SPORTS ETHICIST, AUTHOR, COMMENTATOR, SPEAKER A convicted felon (embezzlement) who spent 18 months in prison and three years on probation. Among the topics: how he go into the business; sports media opportunists; youth sports and the win-at-all-costs mentality; race and sport (including NFL players who protest by kneeling.) Sports Ethics.com and ChuckGallagher.com
JOHN GASKINS is in his second stint as the co-host of Craig and John on KWSN Radio in Sioux Falls, SD. He is the producer of the show and hosts with Craig Mattick. Gaskins is a Nebraska native and UNL grad who helped launch a radio station in Lincoln, 93.7 FM The Ticket. He talks about the process of doing daily sports talk radio, the audience in South Dakota, his Husker fandom, and being an opening gay man hosting sports talk radio. December 2019
DIRK CHATELAIN is a sports reporter for the Omaha World Herald. He is the author of “24th and Glory: The Intersection of Civil Rights and Omaha’s Greatest Generation of Athletes.” He talks about the content of the book, which was a newspaper serial in the summer of 2019, and the process reporting, editing and writing the book. It’s a project he started more than a decade ago, focusing on such athletes as Bob Gibson, Gale Sayers, Marlin Briscoe and Johnny Rodgers. It’s a look at North Omaha, its ...
BEN STRAUSS is the sports media reporter for the Washington Post. We talk about the state of sports journalism, the growing Washington Post, ESPN's continued position as the leader in American sports media, and his interest in writing about the Nebraska softball team. He wrote a book with Joe Nocera about the NCAA, "Indentured."
Carson Vaughan has written a book about a zoo in Royal, Nebraska, a town with a population of under 100 people. Vaughan vividly describes the scene that leads to the end of the zoo in Royal; he vividly shares the stories of the characters who make this story interesting. It's his first book, and he shares with us the process of reporting and writing it and getting it published, all over a ten-year period that started while he was still an undergraduate at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln....
PACO LLORET Director, CV Radio, Valencia, Spain He’s the general manager of a station that carries the major sports teams in Valencia, in the local Valencian language as well as Spanish. He is a long-time sportscaster in Valenica, who also hosts a two-hour radio show daily on the station. We talked about what he does, the sports landscape in Valencia and the nature of sports media in Spain.
MIKE WOITALLA Is the executive editor of Soccer America.com – the leading magazine covering soccer in the US. We talk about the recent Women’s World Cup title by the US; gender equity, Fox Sports TV coverage, Major League Soccer’s emergence as a major American sports league, media coverage of soccer generally, and much more.
Watch the Media THREE UNL STUDENTS JOIN US FOR A CHAT ABOUT THE STUDY ABROAD PROGRAM IN VALENCIA, SPAIN. GRACE HARMON, JAMES ROWLAND, AND ADRIENNE MC DOWELL. [MIA AZIZA WAS ALSO WITH US IN SPAIN, BUT SHE WAS NOT ABLE TO JOIN US.] WE TALK ABOUT THE PROGRAM, COVERING SPORTS AND OTHER STORIES IN VALENCIA. WE TALK ABOUT THE CULTURE OF VALENCIA, THE CITY, AND THE VALUES OF STUDYING ABROAD.
Thomas McIlroy is the International Content Manager for La Liga club Villarreal. He talks about what he does, how a Londoner ended up in Spain, Villarreal's values, La Liga's international marketing interests, and academy club Villarreal Nebraska.
SAM MC KEWON Covers the Huskers for the Omaha World Herald. He is the lead beat reporter on Husker football and women’s basketball. He talks about the Huskers and the university’s role in Nebraska life; the state of the journalism business, the process of covering sports in the new media world. He is frank about the process and the people.
MELISSA JACOBS Melissa is the founder and managing editor of The Football Girl.com and the host of the Football Girl podcast. She is dedicated to presenting the stories of women who work in, and cover football and especially the NFL. She is a former producer at ESPN and a former editor at Sports Illustrated. Her podcast just celebrated its one-year anniversary.
Watch the Media May 2019 MALCOM MORAN Director of the Sports Capital Journalism Program, at IUPUI 59:59 Malcolm Moran, a long-time American sports journalist (including New York Times and USA Today), is the director of the Sports Capital Journalism Program at IUPUI in Indianapolis. We talk about sports journalism – where it’s been, where it is now and where it’s going. Included in this program are short sound cuts from Richard Deitsch of The Athletic, Thad Livingston of the Omaha World Herald an...
CHARLIE MEYER President and General Manager, Lincoln Saltdogs The Saltdogs of the independent baseball league The American Association start their 19th season in Lincoln. Charlie Meyer has been running the team since its creation before the 2001 season. He talks about how they got it started, the nature of independent baseball, the relationship with UNL, the mission of the team (Family, Fun, Affordable), the local media, and the fan support.
David Berri Economics Professor, Southern Utah University He researches and writes prolifically about sport and gender. We talk about the challenges facing women in sport, both on the field and in the sports media business; the WNBA, Women’s soccer, women in the broadcast booth and in sports journalism. Berri brings a deep knowledge of the subject, with historical perspective as well.
April 2019 Aron Oberholser talks about "The Needle" - the term used by commentators to refer to Tiger Woods. Oberholser says Woods doesn't move the needle on golf interest, he is the needle. He has some thoughts about Woods's drive for three more Grand Slam titles, which would tie Jack Nicklaus's record; about what other players, especially in this new generation of golfers, feel about Woods; and how live announcers tend to steer away from too much off-the-course talk about players on the PGA To...
MIKE’L SEVERE Host, The Bottom Line radio show New Host, Big Red Wrap-up on NET We talk about the new TV gig, his radio show, how to reach the audience. The Nebraska sports scene. (interview recorded April 17, 2019)
MITCH SHERMAN He is the new Nebraska/Huskers staff writer for The Athletic, which is a digital-only sports journalism outlet. He spent eight years with ESPN after more than a decade with the Omaha World Herald. He will cover the Huskers and college sports mostly. He’s leaving the biggest sports media company to join what could still be considered a startup. (Interview conducted March 28, 2019)
JOSH SUCHON Enters his 7th season as the voice of the Triple-A affiliate of the Colorado Rockies. He does nine innings by himself 140 times a year as the voice of the Isotopes. He is intensely interested in getting a Major League PxP job. He's a former journalist who brings a journalist's approach to announcing games. He hosts a podcast, "Life Around the Seams." Josh is also voice of the University of New Mexico women's basketball team.
Stan Bunger has been the morning news show anchor on KCBS Radio in San Francisco since 2000. He’s worked at the station for nearly 30 years. Steve Scott has been the afternoon news show anchor at WCBS Radio in New York since 2006. He spent 25 years in Chicago, most of the time at WLS Radio. We talk about the process of doing news, why it’s still relevant in the days of new media delivery, the values of people listening to a human voice, the challenges and opportunities for people in the business...
STEVE SIPPLE AND JAKE SORENSEN Hosts of the show Early Break on KNTK, 97.3 FM, THE TICKET in Lincoln. They have hosted the show since May 2016. They do two hours of sports talk live, 6-8 am. This Watch the Media program includes an interview with the hosts during which they talk about what they do, how and why they do it, and it includes excerpts of their program. This show includes short interview segments with their producer Scott Ayers. Included in the excerpts are local sports reporters Park...
Rick Klein is the Political Director of ABC News, based in Washington. He helps direct the daily and big picture coverage of politics. He also hosts a weekly podcast with White House reporter Jonathan Karl, "Powerhouse Politics." Klein has acute insights into the place Donald Trump holds in politics, journalism and American culture, as well as the state of journalism in America.
KEVIN SJUTS is the Sports Director of KOLN/KGIN Television, Channels 10/11 in Lincoln, Nebraska. He is a winner of the state Sportscaster of the Year. He shoots video, produces, writes and delivers sports at least five nights a week. We talk about his career, the process of doing local sports in 2019, balancing high school and the Huskers, and balancing work and family life. The show includes a few minutes of comments from the station’s news director Mikel Lauber.
