Internship Opportunity: Association for Women in Sports Media

The Association for Women in Sports Media is now accepting applications for the 2014 scholarship and internship program. Please click here for the application site. The program is open to female undergraduate or graduate students working toward careers in sports media – from newspaper and online writing, to broadcast journalism, to magazine writing, to sports media relations.

Winners will receive up to a $1,000 scholarship and be placed in a paid internship for the summer of 2014. The organization's 2013 interns worked at ESPN, Sports Illustrated, MLB.com, The Denver Post and The Colorado Springs Gazette.

For the fourth consecutive year, an AWSM intern will attend the intensive SJI training before beginning her sports writing internship.

Finalists will be chosen by a panel of AWSM board members, and winners will be selected by the organization's prestigious group of employers.

Applications will be accepted through Oct. 31. Winners will be notified in December/January. Students need the following to apply: resume, three references, a letter of reference and five work samples.

For more information about our internship program, please visit our site.  For questions, please email awsminternship@gmail.com to get in touch with Internship Coordinator Lake Litman and AWSM Vice-President of Student Programing Stacy Hicklin Bauman.

"Rolling Stone Writer Believes Aaron Hernandez Could Be Back in NFL ‘Within Three or Four Years’"

From NESN

Analysis by Adam McElrath in SRM 334 (section 2)

With the Boston Marathon Bombings and the Aaron Hernandez arrest happening all within the month of June, the New England area has been the center of attention for the media in recent months. Jake and I have focused our attention to how the Hernandez arrest became all that was talked about on numerous television and social networks. We also wanted to take a different approach to our presentation and look at the future of Hernandez after coming across an article by Mike Cole of the New England Sports Network titled, “Rolling Stone Writer Believes Aaron Hernandez Could Be Back in NFL ‘Within Three or Four Years’” This article is interesting in many different ways. First off, at this point in time it seems farfetched that a return to the NFL for Hernandez is remotely possible. Also, in this article Cole interviewed Rolling Stones journalist Paul Solotaroff, who is responsible for writing a polarizing article delving into the criminal’s dark past with interviews involving close family and friends of Hernandez. From Cole’s interview with Solotaroff and his viewpoints on the legality of the case, we see a distant possibility of the John Mackey Award winner returning to the league. If this ever does happen and Hernandez is found innocent or completes a short term in prison, the media will have a frenzy speculating which teams will be willing to take the risk.

The media was in uproar when the story first broke back in the middle of June. With the bulk of the action being located in the town of Bristol, Connecticut, ESPN was one of the first to report on the subject. Shortly after ESPN arrived at Hernandez’s home, the word was out everywhere and from a viewers standpoint, it was almost impossible to escape the talk as Twitter and Facebook exploded with rumors and stories and how all major television networks were right in the heart of it all, covering it 24/7.

The mass media continues to put large emphasis when any new, developing stories arise involving the possible sentence Hernandez will face. TMZ outbid Barstool Sports for $20,000 over a handwritten letter from Hernandez in his jail cell to one of his friends as Hernandez kept pleading his innocence and how “God” has a plan for him all while begging his friend to keep this off social media. In this day in age, no matter how close of a friend he might be to the former Patriots’ tight end, no way was he not going to take this opportunity to bank a lot of cash.
All in all, as a student in a Sports in Media class, it is easy to see how the media loves to get their hands on intriguing stories before their competition does. And it is also obvious to see how these same people feel the urgency to be the first to break a story to the public. But with this being the case many rumors can start making their audience “trust” that they are being provided with facts ultimately leaving no chance for other opinions on the subject matter. In the Aaron Hernandez situation, the media has portrayed him in any way possible as a criminal, a convict, and a murderer.

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Analysis by Jake Porter in SRM 334 (section 2)

While researching articles for this presentation Adam and I found a vast amount of reports that have detailed the Aaron Hernandez murder case. This made it very easy to find a relevant report even though we had to sift through and find what was fact and what was speculation. Our main article written by Mike Cole gives a somewhat fresh viewpoint on a story that has already been blown out of the water by major news outlets like ESPN, CNN, CBS, etc. This article introduces the idea that Aaron Hernandez could possibly be integrated back into the NFL, given that he beats the multiple murder charges standing in front of him.

In the article Mike Cole interviews Paul Solotaroff, writer for the Rolling Stones, who claims that Hernandez can easily beat the alleged murder charges set before him. The article explains that Hernandez is likely looking at about 3 years of jail time for gun charges, but Aaron is young and pending his release will have, "very low mileage on those legs of his and a lot of time to heal up" (Cole). Paul is later quoted in the article that he would not be surprised if some NFL teams pursued Hernandez if or when the charges are dropped against him.

No one knows what the future really holds for Aaron Hernandez. The future may l look grim to some, but there are plenty of optimists out there that would not be surprised to see Hernandez back in the league within the next half decade. During the course of this project it has been interesting to see the role the media has played in this case. From the day the story broke to the weeks following it seemed that most major news outlets covered every minute detail. Even though the story has died off in recent months, the media can still play a big role in the future. Hypothetically if Hernandez is released and charges are dropped, the media will play a huge role integrating him back into the league, because they have the influence to turn a man once seen as a monster back into a cherished NFL superstar.

NFL hopefuls try to gain attention of league via YouTube

From Yahoo! Sports and Fox Sports

Analysis by Cory McCagh in SRM 334 (section 2)

Last year there were 254 collegiate athletes selected in the 2013 NFL Draft. After their college season ends, some players are invited to participate in front of NFL scouts at combines and camp workouts. For under the radar players trying to make their way into the NFL, players have started using social media sources such as Youtube to gain the attention of scouts. Rather than work out for scouts in person, displaying their overall skills, players have started using Youtube to market a particular skill. Youtube has developed a way for players to go from being completely unknown to Youtube celebrities in a span of a few weeks. Youtube is one of the most popular websites on the Internet, reaching over one billion users a month and it is a great spotlight for unknown players to get their name out to NFL scouts.

Essentially these players are relying on Youtube users to view their video until it becomes popular enough to be seen by NFL teams. Alex Tanney had just finished his senior season at Monmouth, a Division III school, and was not invited to the NFL combine or expected to be drafted by any teams. Tanney, along with a few friends, made a five minute video composed of the D-III quarterback making spectacular trick shots. After quickly becoming Youtube famous with now over 3 million views, the video made it around the league and Tanney was invited to attend the rookie minicamps of multiple teams. Norwegian player, Harvard Rugland, put together an impressive enough kicking video to convince NFL scouts to invite someone for a tryout who had never even played a real football game in their life. Youtube has presented low profile players with a way to make NFL teams more interested in them in a matter of a few minutes than they were throughout their entire season.

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Analysis by Cody Fazenbaker in SRM 334 (section 2)

Havard Rugland, a 28-year old from Norway, has recently become an internet sensation with a video he posted on YouTube. Having never played a game of football before, he was able to catch the attention of NFL scouts and coaches in a video displaying a wide variety of kicking skills that Rugland possesses. After seeing the video, the Detroit Lions contacted Rugland and offered him a try-out.

From a media and communications standpoint, this was a very smart and successful move from Rugland. He had never played football before and knows nearly nothing about the rules and yet was contacted by multiple NFL teams. Without using social media like YouTube, his skills and ability would have gone unnoticed. By placing the video online, it was able to spread quickly to millions of people. As the 4-minute video gained popularity, it started to reach members of different NFL teams who immediately took an interest in Rugland. The media also became aware of the video, and Rugland earned himself an interview on Good Morning America and a long article in the New York Times.Without the use of YouTube and other social media sites, Havard Rugland would not be who he is today. He would not have had these opportunities presented to him. This article is relevant to this Sports Media course because Havard used the media to get exposure and become recognized globally. In this digital era, he was able to use technology to his advantage and become successful. If he wasn’t able to put this video online, it’s safe to say that not nearly this many people would recognize his name.