UO AWSM wrapped up its events for the 2018-2019 school year last week by hosting Ashley Young and Lindsey Wisniewski from NBC Sports Northwest. Here are our chapter’s five takeaways from the event:

1.”Know your SH!T” When looking to impress editors, hiring managers or even sources, always do some research ahead of time. Come over-prepared, have more to talk about that not enough. Ashley stressed always knowing you who are talking to and who you want to be talking to and why. Impress people by being able to talk about more than what’s on their LinkedIn bios.

The first lesson [of the] journalism field is to know who you want to work with and why. It’s important to know who you want to work with and who you want to work for.” @AshleyHopeYoung

2. Understand that every path is different and that is OK. After sharing their personal journeys and their path to their current roles at NBC Sports Northwest, both Lindsey and Ashley expressed how everyone gets to where they are supposed to be on their own time through their own obstacles. Very rarely are you going to find people who “jumped” right into their careers after school. Rejections are a reality, take them and learn from them.

3. Be unapologetically you.  The more you make your true personality known, the more people can relate to and get to know the real you. By using your own voice in how you write, how you tweet and how you report, your work becomes stronger and you become more confident. This is something that Ashley said she has become more comfortable with through working in sports media.

“This field has really allowed me to find my voice. As you get further into this career, be confident on yourself. When you find your confidence, you find your voice. It has allowed me to be this fun, crazy person.” @AshleyHopeYoung

4. Be able and open to do a little bit of everything. Lindsey and Ashley do everything from working cameras and digital platforms to writing stories on deadline. They said this versatility has allowed them to create content that can reach multitudes of audiences and makes them more valuable as an employee as well.

5. Create for what you would want. Both women said when creating content they always try to imagine what they would want if they were the ones reading and watching their clips. Include more than just the basic information; go the extra mile and create something that you would actually enjoy as a consumer. This makes you more passionate about the work you do.

Here  is a list of advice that both Ashley and Lindsey believe makes a great journalist:

Last Wednesday, UO AWSM had the pleasure of hearing from the women of TrackTown USA: Sasha Spencer Atwood (director of external affairs and TrackTown Tuesday host) and Jessica Gabriel (director of strategic communications). Here are our five takeaways from the event:

1. You never know where your path will take you. After her professional running career, Sasha became a chef, where she would consult and cook for professional athletes in Atlanta, Georgia. Through this experience, she got the opportunity to work on the set of The Blind Side. Ultimately, Sasha’s career path came to a point where she had to decide whether to continue this passion or start a family in Eugene.

2. As the host of TrackTown Tuesday, being a former runner for Georgetown serves Sasha well. She spends a lot of time researching athletes, looking at their social media to find out more about them and comes up with creative questions for her role as the show’s host. Sasha said it is rewarding to see one of her questions resonate with an athlete when she interviews them on stage.

3. The sport of track and field is “starving for better storytellers.” Not many people are telling the stories of the sport’s athletes, or if they are the work is not accessible. TrackTown USA’s goal is to give people more than what they can read in an article.

“There is no other stand alone company that is dedicated to the fundamentals of track and field like TrackTown USA.”

4. Jessica stated that it’s important to have a diverse background. If everyone looks the same, the work will reflect that. TrackTown USA aims to incorporate different voices and goals to create better content.

5. Never underestimate the power of an opportunity. Having people who challenge and believe in you is how you grow. Learn how to ask for help and have people in your corner!

“It’s important to be in a position that continues to challenge you, but it’s also important to be challenged by the people you surround yourself with.”

Apply to be part of the AWSM Executive Board for the 2019-2020 school year! We have a variety of positions for those who are eager to lead and become further ingrained in the sports media space.

You can access the application here. Applications are due Monday of week 8, May 20.

Please print and slide completed form under Lori Shontz office door 309B.

University of Oregon alumnus Beth Maiman Skyped in with our chapter last week to discuss how she founded the AWSM chapter, her experiences working as a sports reporter and her journey in becoming an Emmy Award winner. Here are our five takeaways from her visit last week:

1. Be confident! You may think you’re not ready for a position, but others can see that you are.

2. Branch out as a reporter and get comfortable covering multiple sports. Beth explained how she did not know much about hockey when she first began covering it. She said she reached out to other reporters for help and built relationships with the players.

“Grabbing onto as many experiences as you can and meeting as many people as you can is key.”

3. You’re not married to anything. Beth explained how tough it can be to get your first job or internship, but it’s important to understand that, no matter what you do, be the best at it. Your first job won’t be the rest of your life.

“No matter what job you can get, you can gain some skill from it. Work your butt off to be an expert in anything.”

4. Don’t rush into anything. One of Beth’s rules was to make sure you give yourself enough time to search for a job, and when you get one, ask yourself, “is this really where I want to be?”

5. Lastly, Beth encouraged us all to take chances and pursue anything and everything you want.

“The time is now!”

By: Ruby Quintero-Walton and Maggie Vanoni

UO AWSM hosted Soccer Night on Feb. 6. We were fortunate to host Therese Bottomly (Oregon soccer alum and Editor and Vice President of Content at The Oregonian), Kat Mertz (Oregon soccer head coach) and Kayla Knapp (Content and Strategy for the Portland Timbers and Thorns). Through the experiences of each woman, we learned about how media coverage of women’s soccer has changed throughout the years and this has impacted teams, players, coaches and the journalists who cover the sport. Here are our five takeaways:

1. There are non-controllable barriers that prevent equal representation between men and women sports, specifically with soccer. Kayla and Therese talked about how most team sponsors put most of their time and money into promoting men’s sports. With her role at the Oregonian, Therese mentioned that during times of newsroom shrinkage, publications have to keep their story priorities on the stories they know are going to get the most clicks. And often times, the stories about men sports get more readership.

“We try really hard to do equal amounts of coverage across the board. We‘re always trying to be cognizant of each side. But there are barriers that exist that don’t allow it to happen.” –Kayla Knapp

“When newsrooms shrink, then you have to make choices and decide what’s going to get covered less. You don’t want to cover things that people aren’t going to read. It’s a struggle.” –Therese Bottomly

2.As a reporter, show you care. Kat emphasized that she would like to see more reporters show that they care about the team and its players during coverage. She said, as a coach, she can tell when a reporter is just on assignment and trying to make a deadline vs a reporter who has done their homework and wants to learn.

“Care. Invest. You can tell when the reporter is doing an assignment because they’ve been told they need to cover women’s soccer. You can tell when someone is invested. I think it’s important to be in it. I think investing and showing that you want to know more about it would be helpful.” –Kat Mertz

3. Be confident and always stand up for yourself. Kayla emphasized that even just pretending to be confident, allows one to feel more confident. This goes a long way in how you carry yourself and how others see you, and how they will treat you.

“I’ve never felt more respected [as a woman] at a job [than I do now]. I’ve found that standing up for myself, being confident and being strong goes a long way to get people to take me seriously [in this industry].” –Kayla Knapp

4. Your social media presence is an important part of who you are and how you’ll get a job. Be aware of your posts and your audiences. All three women expressed making sure your social media channels are clean and professional because you never know who can see something. They suggested that if you want to have a platform to express yourself more loosely, to create private accounts and make it clear that it’s not a professional account.

“I have my own personal presence [on social media] and I’ve changed a lot. I can say whatever I want and I’m thankful that my organization is cool with that. But I try to preserve my relationship within the team. I think it’s important to be your authentic self but also [think about my posts when] it comes to my job. I try to be even keel. You pick and choose and be smart about what you’re putting out there, but you still need to be authentic.” –Kayla Knapp

“I think there’s a line of being authentic and understanding what my base is. And I want to be true to who I am. I won’t go off on certain politicians or teams. Nothing is private, and I’ve been more aware about what I post [on social media].” –Kat Mertz

“You do have to change [your social media]. If you’re representing something, you have to look at your social media and look at your bias. What we want them to do is recognize that what they do on social media, that is how the public is going to perceive them.” –Therese Bottomly

5. Journalists have a responsibility to treat men and women equally. We are a team.  People are beginning to call journalists on their gender bias and how that affects the public treatment of someone. The way you treat a male you’re interviewing should be the same for a female. This respect is also important in the media workplace as well.

Last Wednesday, we had the pleasure of hearing from two of The Register-Guard’s very own: Sports Columnist, Austin Meek, and Sports Reporter, Chris Hansen. Here are my five takeaways:

1.  You want to maintain relationships with people. If you rip someone in the paper, there’s a chance you’ll run into them around town.  If you play favorites, it will be shown in the column. Put the column first, and the rest second. Think of the question, how will writing this article affect my relationship with this person?
2.  There’s a lot of jobs out there if you know how to play the “new journalism” game. Be adaptable and flexible. No longer can you go into this game with the mindset, “Once I get my dream job I’ll be set.” Be comfortable with change because your dreams are constantly changing. Don’t stress too hard about what your job should look like. Be versatile, learn as many things as you can while you’re young and that will make you really valuable to potential employers.
3.  There is some pushback that comes with being a columnist. It is provocative and so, if no one reacts to it then that indicates it is not a very good column.  You want to get deep into the issue to get the conversation started. That will push people to read the columns and engage with them, which is active feedback.
4.  This is a grind. You’re writing stories every day, and sometimes even multiple stories each day. It involves strong mental and planning sides because you always need to keep a list of ideas, “What is that next story going to be?”
5. Your voice should be heard in your work so people get a feel of who you are. Sometimes your best work comes from ideas of the community.

On Wednesday, November 7, UO AWSM hosted AJ McCord, a sports reporter and anchor at KOIN 6 in Portland. Growing up in San Diego, McCord was raised in a house full of women who explained the game of football to the men. Women talking sports was a norm for McCord and it was one of the main reasons why she wanted to pursue it as a career.  We had the opportunity to sit down with McCord to discuss her life leading up to KOIN 6. Here are five takeaways:

1. Preparation is key! Arrive to your reporting assignment with your homework already done. AJ stressed the importance of being prepared, especially when you cover multiple teams in one night.
2. The first 20 seconds of your highlight reel are the most important: “Put your best, most engaging stuff first because news directors are likely looking at hundreds of them.”
3. Be open to change: “You’ll feel the fear of failure often in this job. It’s easy to get discouraged, but be open to your dream changing. Realizing what you want to do now can change. Sometimes you might feel like you’ll never get what you want to go, but maybe you don’t want to get there.”
4. Find a stress reliever. AJ has fallen in love with the outdoors and has been able to appreciate the PNW on her days off. This allows her to step away from the constant work and pressure this industry brings.
5.  Do not apply to a job through their website. AJ explained how imperative it is to find a direct email to apply through because you want to make it as easy as possible for them to higher you.

On Wednesday, we had the pleasure of hearing from Matt Herb. Matt has been covering Penn State football for nearly three decades, and talked to us about enhancing our script writing and gave us important tips on play-by-play. Here are five takeaways from his talk:

1. Make sure you know information about the opponent. Make sure you know the strength of the opponent so you can know what type of challenge the home team is facing and what they need to do to win.

2. Look at the local newspaper, for reports on injuries, suspensions, and feature ideas to help build your story for the game.

3. Put the game in context. Figure out if the game is a trend from the season or a break from what’s been happening. Once you find that key trend, use it as the lead for your story. 

4. If you cover a blowout game, look at individual performances rather than focusing on key plays where there might not be as many.

5. Lastly, it’s most likely most people have seen the game by the time you get to publishing, so aim to make your story unique and include something interesting that has happened from the game outside of the football played.

By Emma Childs

We had the lovely opportunity of getting a visit from University of Oregon SOJC alumna Stef Loh. Loh is in transitioning from sports reporter covering the Seattle Seahawks and the Washington State Cougars for the Seattle Times to the assistant sports editor!

Here are our five takeaways from her visit last week:

1. Access is key! Build relationships with athletes families and friends, be trusted and you will be able to get good stories.
2. “Don’t be picky once you graduate. Cast a wide net and prove that you can do the job, even if it’s in the middle of nowhere.”
3. You should feel supported in a newsroom. Loh speaks from experience and worked in a place where she wasn’t completely supported. She hopes that future journalists are keen to those situations.
4. Use “creative Googling” to your advantage. You can find out almost anything you need for a story.
5. Take time if you are crafting a story. On her experience writing Tyler Hilinski’s story, “We wanted to do it right, not do it fast.”