In August 2023, Carlton Wiggins, KLN ‘23, attended and covered the National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ) convention in Birmingham, Alabama. Before the convention, Wiggins spent ten weeks as an intern at ESPN. Both of these experiences were made possible by the Stuart Scott Sports Task Force Internship-Scholarship that Wiggins officially received at the convention.
During the spring semester, Assistant Professor of Practice Denise James told Wiggins about the Internship-Scholarship, a collaboration program between NABJ and ESPN. Recipients like Wiggins spend ten weeks as production assistants at ESPN before heading to the NABJ convention, where they cover the event for the NABJ News Student Project.
“The worst they could do is say no, so I just gave it a shot,” Wiggins said.
Shortly after graduation, Wiggins moved to Bristol, Connecticut, to start his time at ESPN. He made highlights and packages for outlets such as First Take, NFL Live and SportsCenter At Night. The experience made him realize that he had a larger interest in sports reporting than he thought, though he hopes to eventually go into community or political journalism.
Recent University of Connecticut alum Layan Alnajjar also interned with Wiggins at ESPN. Both were part of the production group of interns in the ESPN Next program.
“I think one of the first things I noticed about him was his superb level of professionalism,” Alnajjar said. She noted his ability to do well in professional settings while representing himself and Temple University.
In the middle of August, Alnajjar dropped Wiggins off at the airport so he could fly to Birmingham for the next part of his program: covering the NABJ convention.
From the minute Wiggins landed in Birmingham, he worked long days editing footage, conducting interviews and working in the studio. Wiggins experienced everything from anchoring on the desk to trying his hand at being a weatherman.
Wiggins had several mentors at the convention who guided him as he attended the career fair and even explored his family history.
When one of the founders of NABJ, Allison Davis, walked back to the hotel alongside some of the interns, she asked if anyone had any roots in Birmingham. After Wiggins told her that his family was from there, the two worked on a story to explore his family history.
Wiggins and Davis began looking for names of family members in the Census and calling his mom, who was born and raised there, to confirm the information they found. This led to his mom and another family member flying down to join Wiggins and Davis as they dove deeper into their history.
“I hope he continues to look for ways in which he can not only tell his story but know more about who he is through his stories,” Davis said.
James is proud of Wiggins for embarking on the journey of the internship-scholarship, especially because Stuart Scott was a mentee of hers.
“He’s very collaborative at a time when collaboration in newsrooms is more critical than ever,” James said.