What steps do I take to work as a Broadcaster at ESPN?

Hello Markalah,

• Step 1: Earn a Bachelor's Degree
  Students interested in becoming sports reporters should consider earning bachelor's degrees in journalism or a related major. With the expansion of technology creating new forms of media, many programs offer majors for different journalistic mediums, such as broadcast or online journalism.

Many institutions offer students a concentration in sports journalism. Students in bachelor's degree programs learn basic journalistic skills, like reporting, editing, feature writing and communication ethics. Students might take courses in English composition, communications, multimedia journalism, sports in society and current issues in sports journalism.

• Step 2: Find Work

The best chances for new graduates to find work will be at smaller publications or online media, as jobs with major newspapers and magazines will remain competitive. Students may also be able to find job opportunities within the companies they interned while in college.

Complete an internship. Applicants can improve their chances of finding employment with internship experience prior to entering the job market. Journalism programs may require students to complete internships or cooperative education programs in order to graduate.

• Step 3: Gain More Experience to Advance in the Field

Sports reporters may advance to a larger newspaper or magazine after acquiring experience at a local or regional paper. As sports reporters work their way up, they may be given popular assignments or may be allowed to specialize in a specific sport. They may also move up to positions such as sports editors or directors of sports news.

http://study.com/how_to_become_a_sports_reporter.html

Take a look on ESPN website. The company has some opportunities for students:

http://espncareers.com/college/internships

Good Luck!!

http://espncareers.com/working-here

A good place to start is by working with you school newspaper, radio, tv station, and audio visual club and get to know and work closely with the people in those activities and the advisers of those programs.

Sent thank you notes to those who help you.

Keep me posted. I would like to help more if I can.

Hi Markalah, Being a sports analyst usually has a couple paths. Neither is easy as you can imagine these are highly coveted jobs. One path, is to become a great athlete in a major sport; don't leave out upcoming e-sports, have a great career, and "retire" into broadcasting. I would call this the long path but it is the one you see most of our analysts take. The second path, is to pursue a career in media broadcasting. While digital communications is growing, TV is still a big part of the market.

Your learning should focus on video production; everything from shooting to editing to writing. Look for schools with the latest software and good broadcasting programs. Then you should get some experience with a local station or events production. We rarely, I mean almost never, hire anchors or reporters from within. We like to see how they build their chops in other markets and then invite them in. While you are working at the local station, you should round out your experience with behind the camera work; everything from Production Assistant to Editor to Producer--this can only help you on screen presence. My final piece of advice is to get an on screen mentor--someone who can share their path and be a sounding board for your ideas. Best of Luck! ---Jason"

Hello,
It's great you have such a specific goal in mind! In addition to what suggestions have already been made, I would encourage you to seek college-level courses which offer hands-on, practical experience. There are many higher education programs providing a lot of great classroom study but look for a program which also provides hands-on experience with broadcast equipment and offers you the opportunity for real experience in front of and behind the camera. Don't discount radio as a source of that hands-on experience. Some universities (as in the one I attended) have programs which will use student participants to actually manage the school's broadcasting of sports events - manning the cameras, play-by-play, statistics, graphics, etc. Invaluable experience!

You might also join the broadcasting society of Alpha Epsilon Rho (nbs-aerho.org). They have several university chapters and offer more learning opportunities, conventions, and (still?) scholarships.

Also, you might want to broaden your education to include sports management or something related just for extra credibility in the field. Don't discount starting in a related field and working your way into your ultimate goals. Working in PR or media relations for a sports team or general news broadcasting/reporting can help you move laterally when the opportunity arises.

It's an exciting journey. Best of luck to you!