By: Corinne Arel ‘24
Senior Lecturer Steve Fox founded the Sports Journalism Concentration and has served as its Director for almost eight years. Next fall, Lecturer Greeley Kyle will step into the SJC Director role. Learn more about the concentration– with cameos from Michael Jordan and Reggie White– from its two core faculty members in this Q&A.
Tell us about the Sports Journalism Concentration, how it started, and how it has evolved over the years?
Steve Fox: For the first couple of years that I was here, I taught the sports journalism class by itself. It was pretty popular. There were a few semesters where I taught two sections, so after a couple of years, one of the assistant deans approached me about setting up a concentration having a four-course sequence along with an internship option. It took a couple of years to get it off the ground, get it through the faculty senate, set it all up, and get it in place, so overall it has probably been around for 10 years.
Greeley Kyle: I have about four or five classes that fit under the sports journalism concentration, where students learn how to create videos and learn how to shoot, write, and edit for television and the web. I have a sports talk live class where they learn to do Sports Talk Radio and live stream their shows. In the broadcasting class, they do television shows, and in the documentary class they do short-form documentaries. So we brought a whole other level to the concentration when I came into the program.
What new plans or ideas are you hoping to bring to the Sports Journalism Concentration in the coming semesters?
Greeley Kyle: There has been a lot of growth in live digital sports programming. There is a 24-hour lacrosse channel, and all kinds of places, that need production people who know and love sports. So the department has added a couple of classes that teach live digital sports production. Students use professional cameras to shoot games in the Mullins Center, including hockey, basketball, softball, and a lot of the Olympic sports for live streams and to go on NSN and ESPN. They learn how to handle that end and they also learn the control room end in the second class, where they learn how to be a director, a producer, a graphics operator, and run replay for that huge market exploding out there in sports broadcasting.
Steve Fox: There are still different areas to expand into, and there is a great desire to have a class on sports column writing and sports opinion writing. We are just two people, so we can only do so much, but that is one of the things we want to do. Greeley and I have talked about doing a sports investigative class as well. I think it would be a nice capstone class to have at some point down the line. Students can bring together all their skills from their four years here and spend a semester or a year doing an investigative project.
Having been involved with sports journalism and having a passion for sports, what has been your greatest moment of sports glory?
Steve Fox: When I was a journalist covering sports, one of my highlights was covering the Chicago Bulls and Michael Jordan during their hay day. I was able to interview Jordan a few times. I remember being underneath the Phoenix Suns stadium doing a series of interviews, and Dennis Rodman was walking backward being pushed by a television crew when he bumped into me. So my claim to fame is Dennis Rodman bumped into me.
Greeley Kyle: I was a scholarship athlete playing for the University of Tennessee way back in the day. That's probably the pinnacle of my actual sports achievements as an athlete, but as a journalist, I got to cover many ball games and Liberty Bowls in Memphis, where I was working. I covered the Liberty Bowl several times. The USFL was in Memphis, so I covered Reggie White and a lot of the big star players who were with that league, and I covered all kinds of things. I love sports. It's something that I have a great passion for covering. The highlight was probably when I got to watch the Lady Balls win the SSC Championship. I was live on the air as they scored the final points to win and end the game.
What advice would you give journalism students interested in the Sports Journalism Concentration?
Steve Fox: The world is your oyster, as they say. You're learning the skills here, so we tell students to get internships so that they'll have a solid resume when it's time to look for jobs. But always aim high.
Greeley Kyle: I would tell anyone interested in the sports journalism concentration, or any journalism concentration, that you're limited only by your imagination, drive and work ethic. We have the equipment that's available for you. We can teach you the skills you need to shoot, write, edit, interview, and broadcast, but what we need is your drive.