VOICES Publishing from the AAJA National Convention
Carolyn Hong and Leighton Ginn were frustrated.
After several AAJA national conventions went by with no sports-related panels, Hong, a coordinating producer for ESPN, and Ginn, who recently worked for a political campaign in Washington, decided to take action.
Following conversations with AAJA officials, they were told that there needed to be more of a demonstrated interest in sports journalism for them to justify planning panels on the topic.
“We talked it over and said, ‘You know what? Let’s just launch our own group,’ ” said Hong, the organization’s director. “By starting this group maybe we can create our own networking and create a general awareness at AAJA that there are more sports journalists than they may think.”
In 2014, they created the AAJA Sports Task Force, which has become a strong affinity group within AAJA.
Hong said the group started with roughly 20 members. In the two years since, the Sports Task Force’s membership has blossomed. There are more than 100 members in the group hailing from sports media outlets across the country.
Ginn said the group’s main focus is to provide mentorship opportunities for the younger generation of up-and-coming journalists.
“It’s important to see that you can succeed,” Ginn said. “You can come in to our group and hopefully that will encourage you to move forward. I think it’s inspiring to sit in a room with people like (120 Sports and former ESPN anchor) Michael Kim, (current ESPN anchor) Kevin Negandhi and Carolyn Hong.”
Cary Chow, an ESPN anchor, runs the task force’s mentorship program. He said there are around 60 people involved with the STF’s mentorship program.
“There is no chance I would be where I am if not for the opportunities provided by the AAJA,” Chow said. “You not only learn technical skills for journalism, but also networking skills through mentorship.”
Josh Tolentino, a student member of the Sports Task Force and a recent intern at the Chicago Sun-Times, is one of Chow’s mentees, but has also been mentored by several others within the group. Those mentorships opened several doors for him.
Tolentino covered the 2016 NFL Draft as well as a Chicago Bulls game–opportunities that stemmed directly from his connections through the STF. He also won a scholarship sponsored by Don Yee, the agent for New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady, which covered his travel expenses to this year’s AAJA convention.
“Everyone who is involved with the STF program has just been immensely helpful with everything that I’ve wanted to do,” Tolentino said. “Throughout my internship they helped me with my stories and editing.”
And Tolentino is also spreading the word about the group. He convinced two of his colleagues from the student newspaper at Illinois State University to come to this year’s convention. Hong said that members of STF spreading the word about the group has been a big part of its growth.
The group’s growing reputation and membership is partly due through the speakers they bring in. Last year, ESPN sponsored a screening of “Student/Athlete,” a short documentary about former Notre Dame kicker Reginald Ho. Afterwards, Ho spoke to those who attended the screening.
This year, ESPN and the STF will bring in Yee and former University of Hawaii football coach Norman Chow.
“That’s what resonates with people,” Hong said. “I think these are important topics we cover. Norm Chow will be talking about race and media through the sports lens. It’s a broader topic that impacts a lot of journalists and it’s a particularly important time to be discussing race as journalists.”
But while bringing in speakers excites Hong, what is most fulfilling is seeing student members like Tolentino succeed in the field.
“I am so proud of our students,” Hong said. “Everyone is picking up the lead and carrying forward. It’s giving me hope that we hit the nail on the head. This is what they want. This is what’s going to help young people get into the journalism world when they weren’t really sure if that was the path for them.”
