Bristol, Connecticut serves as the main campus for the Entertainment and Sports Programming Network (ESPN), the worldwide leader in sports.
After completing the Sports Journalism Institute (SJI), a program designed to attract talented students to journalism through opportunities in sports reporting and editing, I was fortunate to receive a 10-week internship with “the worldwide leader”.
At ESPN, I work in the digital media department on the copy desk and personalization teams.
I spent five weeks working on the personalization team where I assisted other writers, helping them to produce content through the ESPN NOW section for teams that fall within the four major sports (NFL, NBA, NHL and MLB). I scoured the web searching for news and potential blog posts for various teams that do not get the coverage that most teams get on a daily basis. Thus, much like the more popular teams in the sports world, these teams were filled with the most up-to-date information as well.
Currently, I work on the copy desk team. In this department, I edit features, columns and blogs on ESPN.com for spelling, grammar, style and content.
Beyond working in two departments, I have had the opportunity to learn about the company, meet ESPN President John Skipper during an intern symposium, network with employees in various departments and see so many talented journalists, coaches, commentators and analysts.
Here is an interesting fact I have learned while interning. It is harder to earn and receive an internship with ESPN than it is to receive official employment with them.
Knowing this piece of information, I have taken advantage of the networking opportunities, learning about the company and how it continues to grow and adapt with the constant changes in journalism, technology and business.
Like many young sports journalists coming out of college, it was my goal to work or intern for ESPN. I would not trade this experience for anything. It has been amazing.
I hope that one day I will be able to obtain my dream job at my dream company.
