Four sports
journalists with varying ties to Washington State University spent roughly an
hour Wednesday after educating students on the significance of being observant
when reporting in the field.
The panel
featured three former Edward R. Murrow College of Communication alumni Joel
Knip, sports producer for KING-TV in Seattle; Dana Haynes, formerly a news
anchor for KHQ-TV in Spokane; and Ben Wineman who graduated in 2016 and now
works as a sports anchor for KTMF-TV in Missoula, Montana.
Knip shared a
personal story involving former Cougars quarterback Ryan Leaf helping him find
the financial aid office while Knip was recovering from a knee injury. The anecdote
paired with a real life journalism tip from Seattle Times college sports
reporter Stefanie Loh, giving students the ideal playbook to journalism before heading
into the profession.
“One of best
stories I wrote was a guy at every football practice,” Loh said, reflecting on
her 2013 story on San Diego State offensive lineman Nico Siragusa and his
father, seeking a second kidney transplant.
“[He was] waiting
for a kidney, had kidney failure, and the family went through a whole ordeal
just to allow him to go to practice,” Loh continued. “Nico went to SDSU to be
close to his dad. You don’t get that story unless you get that random dude.”
While the panel
acknowledged that stories like Siragusa are important, having young journalists
begin their career in a small market and forced to find stories that aren’t so
obvious, but that still are just as crucial.
Haynes suggested
recent journalism graduates should “do a 360 and look all the way around so you
don’t miss the story,” adding that a story about someone who is always on the sidelines
but maybe without a role or obvious reason is the richer story, not the final
score.
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