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| Kevin Blackistone, a panelist on ESPN's "Around the Horn," visited class, talking about the rich sports stories that can be reported beyond the game stories. |
His jobs in journalism have brought him all over the world -- including to Vancouver for the 2010 Winter Olympics and to South Africa to cover the 2010 World Cup.
He said the stories that have meant the most to him, though, are the transcendent ones, which touch on themes of race and culture and society. While he was in South Africa, for instance, he said he made time to visit the prison on Robben Island where Nelson Mandela was imprisoned before the fall of apartheid.
What points from Blackistone's talk resonated the most with you?
Did you find any points in his talk inspirational?
15 comments:
What resonated with me the most about Kevin Blackistone's talk was his understanding and passion for the importance of transcendent stories. Throughout his career, he has been able to combine his passion for sports simply as a fan with the passion any normal, intelligent person should have on the issues that plague our society today. I remember him saying that his real interest in writing about sports has turned out to be less about the games themselves and more about the issues that surround the games, which (in my opinion) adds more depth to his writing voice and to his career as a journalist in general. His talk gave me the impression that he is extremely proud of what he's doing with his career and feels like being a journalist is much more than simply writing down and reporting facts, which was inspiring.
Blackistone's determination and work ethic was inspiring, too. The fact that he told us that "No doesn't necessarily mean no...no is just a stop sign, you get through and you might have to come back to it" helped me to realize that if I want to be a journalist, I can't expect for everything to go according to plan all the time. I can't expect to get the job of my dreams right out of college or right when it's convenient for me- it's a journey, and it involves pushing through rejection and continuing to work hard until you get where you want to be. I had never heard of Kevin Blackistone before, so learning about his career and getting to know him was really interesting and I was pleasantly surprised with how fun he was to be around!
Kevin Blackistone's talk had a lot of interesting and inspirational stories that he covered, ranging from is internship at the Boston Globe to his coverage of large sporting events such as the 2010 Winter Olympics and the 2010 World Cup. The point he made about finding stories resonated with me at a high level because as humans, in addition to reporters, we often find ourselves to be placed in unforeseen situations that test our abilities. For Prof. Blackistone, it was moments in Vancouver involving figure skater Joannie Rochette as well as the family in Boston whose son died that tested his ability to cover stories as well as deal with the human element of reporting. Those experiences resonated with me because they helped me analyze that there is more to a story than knowing who, what, when and where. There is an understanding of what people go through that is required.
I found the broad scope of his coverage to also be inspirational as I found it very exciting when he told us "no two days are alike in journalism." He made journalism sound very action-packed and exciting which made his talk fascinating. Blackistone's attention to specific details in events around the world and how they correlate to journalism has resonated with me as well. His analysis of how the first place the coup in Turkey went to was the media was reveling of how much power journalists have.
I enjoyed Kevin Blackistone talk on on Thursday, he really gave a peak into what it is like to bounce around in many fields of journalism like column writing, news stories, and sports journalism. I personally resonated with his sports journalism stories and points because that is the field I hope to enter someday. He talked about how at anytime a sports story can turn into breaking news, like the 1972 Olympic massacre. He also talked about his three weeks in Europe and covering the World Cup, British Open, and the Tour de France.
He also gave me a sense that I can really be curious and follow my heart to write a story. He talked about how you have to be passionate and not be fearful of what you are reporting. Those are things that I think some reporters forget in order to get the big story and he keeps those principles and shares them with the next generation. He is inspiring from where he comes from to what he has become and it was truly an honor to hear him and have him talk to us on Thursday.
After hearing Blackistone's talk, what resonated with me the most were his thoughts on the importance of curiosity and being able to exercise that curiosity as a journalist. He said that journalists must be passionate, curious, and have a little bit of humility. He followed up by saying, "just because we think we know the answer doesn’t mean we shouldn’t ask the question, because we may not know the answer." To me, these were important words because sometimes I fear asking questions because I never want to sound nosy or even dumb. But, as a journalist, one must not be afraid of asking questions even if he/she believes it is a dumb question. To Blackistone, there is no such thing as a dumb question.
As aspiring journalists, we are all curious human beings. And because of that, Blackistone said that we should never be fearful of exercising our curiosity. If journalists do exercise their curiosity the way that they should, they might be able to see things through different lenses and more clearly, something that Blackistone said is an important aspect in his journalism career. Maybe if journalists asked more questions, past reporting could have unveiled more truth and even had a bigger impact on society.
Blackistone made several points in his talk that deeply resonated with me. I grew up with an older sister who always knew what she wanted to do with her life. Since she was little she wanted to be a marine engineer. I however, had no idea what I wanted to do when I grew up. I often felt lost and behind because of this. It wasn’t until my freshman year in high school that I discovered I was a good writer and that I liked it. I loved writing enough that I chose to take a journalism class as my elective sophomore year. Finally, I had found something I loved that I could make a career out of. It felt like something had clicked, there was something about journalism that I knew I needed to be a part of. What resonated with me was when Blackistone said, “It is almost like a calling. It’s not a job you pick off the list.” I knew then that I felt called to journalism, what clicked was I had found my calling.
Another point that resonated with me was how he said journalism had taken him all around the world. I have always felt that you can learn more about history, culture and society by travelling than you can in a classroom. It’s inspiring that Blackistone has travelled around the world to cover sports, but experienced the culture and history of his location. For example, when he went to South Africa in 2010 to cover the World Cup he also went and saw the prison cell Nelson Mandela was kept in. He even met some people who were imprisoned with Mandela.
Finally, I was inspired by how Blackistone always tries to see every side of a story. He recognizes that the world sees everything through a lens and “For too long, the lens has been only through one set of eyes.” It’s inspirational how he tries to bring another lens to everything he does as a journalist.
I really enjoyed Kevin Blackistone talk last Thursday. He opened my mind to lots of fields that I'm interested in. I completely enjoyed how he talked about being curious on and not scared to report things and to take a leap. I didn't relate with him that much because his main focus was sports though. I'm more interested on the columns, and breaking news. He was also very motivated to get where he wanted to be in life, and I hope to be as successful as he was. He told us how it was okay to ask questions and be extremely curious to get news out to the public. I wouldn't mind being in sports with the way he told it. With the global events, and national events that I didn't even think about were in the sports category. He also said that how covering death is difficult so that told me that maybe I wouldn't want to be the reporter covering the police and gory subjects. I really appreciated his tips and it was really nice learning this information from him.
I really enjoyed having Kevin Blackistone come in last Thursday. Hearing all about his life and how he got himself to success was very great. Blackistone really drew out the point that journalism is a passion, and because of that you can apply it so many places. He said that he didn't even think of it as a job, more as a calling. Because of this, Blackistone has worked in many fields of journalism, including everyday news,economics, and now sports. He went on to say,"the best journalist is a versatile journalist." Even though he now mainly works sports, he recently wrote a column on the shootings in Dallas.
It was very inspiration to hear that all it takes to become a good journalist is to study hard and have a lot of passion. Blackistone was very inspirational in all he said. He gave lots of advice about how to become a good journalist. "Just because we think we know the answer, doesn't mean we shouldn't ask the question," said Blackistone. That quote really resonated with me because its a constant reminder to be curious and not give up. Thanks to Blackistone, I now have some advice to keep in mind as Im looking into the field of journalism.
Kevin Blackistone and his entire presence that day was very inspirational and eye opening. Blackistone did touch on many things that morning but what stuck to me was his explanation on why he became a journalist and how to know if it's the right fit for you. Blackistone went into journalism because he was drawn to it. It is his love for writing, reading and his massive curiosity that drove him to be the successful reporter he is today.
I appreciated Blackistone’s presence because he was able to give me my final confirmation on if journalism is right for me. It isn't, journalism is for those who are willing to go the distance and do almost anything to find a good story or to expose the truth. It’s for those who can write on the world and become interested in all of its little problems. Blackistone expressed to me that journalism isn’t for everyone. By that I have found myself not in the creation of stories to spread to the people but to the reactions from the people from the actions of today’s society.
Listening to Kevin Blackistone talk, I felt like I could relate immensely to his early connection to journalism. He described how he enjoyed both reading and writing, which led him to gravitate toward the field. Additionally, he elaborated how he knew he wanted to study journalism by the time he was a senior in high school. Likewise, I knew that I wanted to pursue a career in journalism around the same time that Blackistone did, due to my deep love for writing. Blackistone went on to explain how he covered crime and investigative stories before his sports reporting career, which I find to be a fascinating subset in the field of journalism.
Although I am not particularly interested in covering sports as a journalist, I found that Blackistone’s outlook on the ties between sports and race to be both accurate and unique. He explained how 2/3 of football players are black, but people of color are typically not chosen to be executives in the NFL. To remedy this problem, Blackistone said since sports stadiums are built with taxpayers’ money, legislation should be passed that says “unless the team is working towards a diverse workforce, they should not be able to use tax-funded stadiums.” His opinion on the role of race in relation to sports offered a brand new solution that I had never heard before, which I found to be truly interesting.
Lastly, the advice Blackistone offered towards the end of his talk was very inspirational for me. Blackistone gave us invaluable advice on becoming a successful journalist that I will without a doubt remember throughout my life. One particular piece of advice that stood out to me was when he said, “The best journalist is a versatile journalist…particularly in the ability to metamorphosize into an arts writer etc.” Blackistone is living proof that this is possible. Additionally, the fact that Blackistone has traveled the world to pursue his passion encourages me to go out in the field and pursue anything I set my sights on.
I thought that his answer to my question on the impact of race in journalism really insightful. When I asked him how much of an impact being black had on him as a journalist, he described how everyone has a lens though which people view the world and that his race has a great impact on his lens. When he gave examples from the different ways media outlets covered the recent shootings between Blacks and police, he told how the NY Times acknowledged the deaths of Alton Sterling and Philando Castile in their headline, unlike The Washington Post. He made a thoughtful explanation for how people can be radicalized when they feel oppressed, citing Carnival of Fury and the Dallas police shooter as examples. It made me more aware of the perspectives of others.
I found his advice to be encouraging and inspirational at times. When he talked about rejection, he said, "No doesn't mean no. ... it's temporary." Hearing him talk about his innate love of journalism as a calling was heart-warming. He advised that someone wanting to be a journalist should be versatile, saying that, "If you get the good journalism skills, you can do anything." His message really resonated with me as someone who likes to pay attention to the media.
Something that inspired me from Kevin’s talk and from reading about him is how he worked his way up in the journalism world, delivering papers at a young and later discovering an interest for journalism while in high school. Kevin’s story is also easy to relate to as a high school student interested in journalism it makes it seem possible to do anything I set my mind to. He also stayed true to what he was interested in throughout his career; writing on race and pursuing stories
If I ever become a journalist I would like to travel around the world like Kevin to cover stories and also become immersed in the culture. Something that stuck with me from the talk was when he said “Do not be fearful of exercising your curiosity” in a world where there are not many original ideas or even thoughts we need more writers to be curious and not only exercise their curiosity but imagination.
The last thing that stuck with me is when he said “If you get the good journalism skills you can do anything”. That quote inspires me to work on my journalism skills so I can have a wider range of options so select from and more things to write about. Kevin’s talk was filled with great advice and a lot of his points will stick with me for quite awhile.
One of the elements I found the most helpful about Kevin Blackistone's talk to our class was a piece of advice he gave, "There are people who remain dumb out of fear for asking a question." This piece of advice is especially helpful when it comes down to interviewing people. A lot of the time you have to ask tough questions and if you never ask, you'll never know what story you could have gotten with that information.
Another thing I found interesting about Blackistone personally was the diversity behind the articles he's written. Blackistone has written about world issues (shootings), music, sports, economics, and business. He really focused on the diversity needed to write for a news publication and that you can't only be able to write about one field of interest. This really resonated with me because the reason I was drawn to journalism was to hopefully one day write about entertainment, and I focused a lot of my energy into exclusively researching schools that major people in the entertainment industry, such as Giuliana Rancic, went to. When he talked about all the topics he has written on, it pushed me to become more diverse in my writing abilites and look at other topics that interest me such as politics.
There were many points from Blackistone's talk that resonated with me, but the few that stuck out the most were his talk about race disparities in the sports industry, how versatile his career has been, and his travels during his career. These points resonated with me the most because I found these points to be relatable and inspirational.
Blackistone brought to light how there are many disparities in the sports industry, starting with the lack of minorities in the coaching positions of many franchises. This is particularly peculiar due to the fact that more than three-quarters of NBA players, 70 percent of WNBA players and 65 percent of NFL players are black, according to diversityinc.com. According to Blackistone, even though the Rooney rule is in place, it isn't very effective. Blackistone states that since many of the stadiums being built use taxpayers' money, there should be a law put in place that if a sports company is not working toward diversity, the stadium should not be built. This type of innovative thinking is crucial towards bringing forward change for minorities in the sports industry.
Blackistone also talked about his experience as a reporter, and how versatile his career has been. From covering everything from economics to sports, the subject area of his writing has definitely been around the block. He advised our class, "The best journalist is a versatile one." I believe that's one of the best pieces of advice someone could give to an aspiring journalist, especially one who doesn't know what he or she wants to write about yet, myself included. His piece of advice has inspired me to write about anything that interests me, even if I want to write about topics that are completely different from each other.
Blackistone also shared stories about his travels to Vancouver for the 2010 Winter Olympics and to South Africa to cover the 2010 World Cup. The chance to be there, and experience a major sports event that has such a high level of importance- that's incredible. It's inspired me work hard in school, so that sometime in the future, I may have the chance to experience something amazing as that, and later have the privilege of writing about it.
When Kevin Blackistone visited our class, he talked about various topics. The part of the discussion that really resonated with me was his answer to Crystal's question. She asked him if being an African American affected his job and Blackistone answered that it did. He continued on to say, "We all have a lens and a prism through which we see things. ... For too long, the lens has only been through one set of eyes." As an African American girl wanting to become a journalist, this quote motivates me to believe in myself. It makes me believe that I can make a difference in journalism.
The RTDNA/Hofstra University Annual Survey finds that 11.1 % of the TV news workforce is African American while 76.9% is Caucasian. This gives blacks less of a chance to see a situation through the eyes of the everyday black person on the news on the TV since very little of their race is in the TV newsroom. The survey, also, shows that African Americans only make up 3.4% of the radio news workforce while Caucasians make up 90.6%. This makes it less likely for blacks to hear news over their radio station from the perspective of someone that lives through their same everyday situations. Both of these statistics show that Caucasians mainly make up the workforce in TV and radio news. This means that the news being presented to the public is mainly through the eyes of the everyday white person.
I want to be able to not only open the door for blacks to get the news from their perspective, but also to get more blacks jobs in journalism. The percent of African Americans in the United States is steadily on the rise, but yet the amount of us in the journalism industry is so low. Journalism jobs need to be given out fairly and according to the ability of the person. I'm not saying that Caucasians need to be fired or anything. What I'm saying is we need more African Americans in the newsroom and radio news workforce. I want to be able to make this dream a reality for the little black girls and boys coming up after me.
I'm glad you found Kevin Blackistone's career and advice inspirational! I do, too!
And Megan, you may be interested to know that Giuliana Rancic took JOUR 201 (a sophomore-level reporting and writing class) with me. I remember her well!
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