On the bright morning of Friday, March 21, students eagerly gathered in the Annenberg Hall Atrium, ready to learn more about the sports media industry. Temple University students, along with classes from local high schools, were in attendance. With a standing-room-only crowd, the Claire Smith Center for Sports Media’s 13th Annual Sports Media Summit was already a success.
John DiCarlo, KLN ‘98, ‘06, managing director for the Claire Smith Center and student media at Klein College of Media and Communication, invited high local schoolers to enroll in several Klein offerings through Temple University’s Pre-College Workshops. In addition, Professors Claire Smith, KLN ‘79, and Matt Fine promoted the new sports media major that will be available starting August 2025.
The Sports Media Summit was initially slated for February 14; however, the Philadelphia Eagles' success at Super Bowl LIX resulted in many alumni panelists hitting the streets to report on the team, game and parade. The event was rescheduled, and quite fittingly, the morning keynote was titled “The Eagles Anecdote.”
Morning session panelists included Eagles Insider Dave Spadaro, KLN ‘87, Fox 29 anchor Breland Moore, KLN ‘14, NFL draft and Eagles analyst Fran Duffy, KLN ‘11, and Eagles beat reporters EJ Smith, KLN ‘16, and Bo Wulf. They described what it was like to cover this monumental event in Philadelphia sports history.
“It reminded me of why I wanted to be in the business, to be with a team that I grew up with and celebrate," said Moore.
The panelists also gave students advice on how to build up their professional profiles. Students were advised to plan their content creatively and find ways to stand out.
With the media world rapidly changing, Wulf believes that young sports media professionals should use that to their advantage and pitch new ideas to market themselves. Spadaro stressed acquiring as many skills as possible – writing, filming, social media and being on camera. The most prevailing advice was to network as much as possible.
“The way the media works is that you start from the bottom and work your way up,” said Spadaro.
After the morning keynote, attendees had the opportunity to participate in two different breakout sessions. Lauren Bullock, STH ‘03, director of the new sports media major, hosted a talk on crisis communication in sports.
Bullock emphasized the importance of stakeholders to a team and its organization. From fans, ticket agents and team owners, a crisis can impact the entire organization. She noted how everyone plays a role in crisis management, but it’s typically the public relations staff involved in crisis communication. The public relations team must navigate the situation carefully, crafting the story while remaining true to the facts.
Jeff Idelson, former National Baseball Hall of Fame president and co-founder of Grassroots Baseball, spoke on the importance of sports and documentary photography during the second breakout session. He talked about the major shift from print to digital in the media world, and how that has given more accessibility for amateur documentarians.
Grassroots Baseball is a non-profit organization that supports amateur baseball around the world. Idelson believes it’s important for him to use his platform to give back to historically underserved communities. The organization especially focuses on increasing access for women to play baseball. Grassroots Baseball’s documentary See Her, Be Her will be released in theaters later this March. The film follows women around the globe, in the past, present and future, fighting for equality and respect in the game of baseball. Idelson believes that documentaries are a way to educate the wider public by placing global issues into a sports context.
The event concluded with an afternoon keynote address, “Crossing Broad Comes to North Broad.” Keynote speaker Kevin Kinkead, the senior managing editor of Crossing Broad, shared how important it is to be adaptive in journalism. He noted that the sports media field is ever-changing, and journalists can learn something new daily. Kinkead also emphasized how easy it is to start a social media platform. Although it can take time to build up a following, the more work that’s put into the profile, the faster it will grow.
“Anything can be content,” said Kinkead. “What’s stopping you from talking into your phone and posting it?”
After the speakers concluded, students gathered in Annenberg Hall Atrium to recap their time, exchanging thoughts and new knowledge.
“I think it was a great experience,” said Sienna Conaghan, a sophomore journalism major. “It’s great to hear from people who were once in my shoes and have the opportunity to speak with them.”