Many years ago, a young man who wanted to be an editorial cartoonist sent out 70 letters to editors’ desks across the nation. He received 48 rejection letters and 22 non-responses.
That young man was Rob King, now the vice president of SportsCenter and news at ESPN. Things have turned out pretty well for King.
“It’s going to work out, you just don’t know how yet,” King said to the audience gathered in the First Amendment Forum at the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication.
King was the first speaker this week in a daily speaking series in anticipation of Super Bowl XLIX about sports journalism called “Must See Sports.”
Understanding the audience of a publication is important, King said.
“One of the reasons I got those rejection letters was because I said I wanted to be their editorial cartoonist, but I didn’t even know what the issues in those towns were,” King said. He said he sent out cartoons as blind shots and received rejection because he missed the point.
King said the new generation of journalists has access to countless materials that journalists never used to have. Journalists now also have media outlets and other journalism-related opportunities.
“You don’t have that world,” he told the crowd.
Since his appointment as vice president, King has received much praise. He was named as one of Fast Company’s “Most Creative People 2014” just five months after he received his position.
That creativity leads his SportsCenter staff, especially when it comes covering difficult stories, such as this year’s Super Bowl Media Day, which took place prior to the speech.
The SportsCenter staff decided to cover the press conference given by the Seattle Seahawks running back Marshawn Lynch, where he said the same phrase 29 times, by showing him saying the phrase all 29 times with a counter going as he spoke.
“We cover Media Day every year, but to take advantage of that and letting somebody go with an idea and be really creative, it’s just fun,” King said.
King values an entertaining and efficient newsroom. He said there are things that today’s young journalists need to work on to improve the newsrooms: utility to the public and a balance between certainty and curiosity.
“[Utility] is definitely something journalists need to keep in mind because everything now with journalists is about the audience,” broadcast journalism junior Laurie Mendoza said.
Taking advantage of events like this one and immersing yourself in everything Cronkite has to offer is important in furthering your education, said Cronkite freshman Bobby Kraus.
“‘It’s going to work out, you just don’t know how yet’ is going to stick with me, because I’ve been wondering that myself,” Kraus said. “Like he said, it’s going to be out there, I just want to make sure I commit myself and give myself the best opportunity to make it.'”
The “Must See Sports” series continues on Wednesday with Michael Wilbon, co-host of ESPN’s “Pardon the Interruption.” The talk starts at 7 p.m. in the Cronkite School’s First Amendment Forum.
Contact the reporter at madison.alder@asu.edu
