It all started at The Beacon: ESPN signs Malika Andrews

 

2016-17 Beacon editor-in-chief Malika Andrews covering the 2018 Super Bowl for the New York Times. ESPN has signed Malika to cover the Chicago Bulls. Milwaukee Bucks and Minnesota Timberwolves.

Pretty heady stuff for someone whose bachelor’s degree is less than two-years-old. Here’s the full story (by Hannah Sievert) from The Beacon:

Malika Andrews, 2016-17 editor-in-chief of The Beacon, has joined ESPN as an NBA regional reporter. Less than two years out of college, she will cover the Chicago Bulls, Milwaukee Bucks and Minnesota Timberwolves out of ESPN’s Chicago office. The job includes writing and reporting, TV appearances for ESPN’s NBA coverage and weekly radio appearances for shows across the ESPN platform.

“I’m honored to have them see some sort of talent in me,” Andrews said. “Following in the footsteps of those incredibly talented journalists and doing that sort of important work is absolutely a dream come true.”

According to Andrews, she is ESPN’s only female regional NBA reporter — well-known ESPN women reporters Jackie MacMullan and Ramona Shelburne are national — and the only woman of color covering the NBA for ESPN overall.

Before ESPN, Andrews was working at The Chicago Tribune covering the Chicago Bulls. Prior to the Tribune, she was a James Reston Fellow at The New York Times for her first year out of college. Her new job will include frequent traveling and getting to know the players she covers.

“It’s definitely a grind,” she said. “The unknown and bouncing around and new cities and new voices is part of what keeps this job exciting.”

Malika Andrews interviewing Terry Porter in 2016, right after he was named coach of the UP men’s basketball team.

Andrews always knew she didn’t want to work the traditional nine-to-five workday, although she didn’t always know that she wanted to be a sports reporter. She started working at The Beacon during her sophomore year, and quickly moved up the ranks from reporter, to sports editor, to editor-in-chief her senior year.

“When Malika first started working at The Beacon her sophomore year, she had zero journalism experience,” Nancy Copic, assistant director for student media and adviser to The Beacon, said. “But her moxie, willingness to learn and intellectual curiosity made her an immediate standout…Nothing about Malika’s success as a young professional surprises me.”

Malika Andrews working the sports beat for the Chicago Tribune in mid-2018. Next Stop: ESPN

While she was editor-in-chief, Andrews covered difficult stories like UP’s basketball transition from the firing of head coach Eric Reveno to the hiring of Terry Porter, and the story of a sexual assault allegation. With her best friend and 2016-17 News and Managing Editor Clare Duffy (’17), Andrews spearheaded the transition from weekly newspaper to all-digital.

Andrews’ Beacon stories won numerous awards at the state, regional and national levels.

Her work at The Beacon also led to summer internships at KOIN TV and the Denver Post, as well as the New York Times. She covered the Portland Trail Blazers for the Associated Press while she was on The Beacon staff.

Andrews credits her experience at The Beacon for teaching her the skills she relies on in the professional world.

When Andrews was a sophomore, then-editor-in-chief Katie Dunn transitioned the sports section from centering on sports highlights and game coverage, to focus on how sports extends to culture and politics. That transition reflected what was happening in professional sports journalism.

“I think that mindset was definitely a Beacon-driven mindset, and has served me at my job now,” Andrews said. “I learned the fundamentals at The Beacon and the fundamentals of writing are so incredibly important.”

For those who want to make it to ESPN one day, or into a high position in another industry, Andrews recommends reaching out to professionals and asking them how they got to where they are. She also recommends taking advantage of opportunities outside the classroom, such as student media or another extra-curricular in a desired field.

“Writing every day, studying those in your industry who do it best, being curious and working really, really freaking hard will serve you well,” she said.

This week, Andrews’ hard work pays off in her new position at the Chicago ESPN office. After seeing her on the weekly Arthur and Andrews segment with Ben Arthur (’17) a few years ago, students may now see Andrews on TV or hear her on the radio working with people who have been her role models for years.

“If someone had told me that I would get to do all of these really cool things and meet all of these insanely talented people less than two years out of college, I would have told them they were nuts,” she said.

Throwback:

Clare Duffy and Malika Andrews with a cart of Beacon newspapers outside the Beacon newsroom in Spring 2016. They spearheaded The Beacon’s transition from weekly print newspaper to 24/7 all-digital news operation the following fall.

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New York takeaway roundup

Holding our Best Facebook Page (2nd Place) Award Front L to R: Annika Gordon, Hannah Sievert, Nat Rubio-Licht, Clare Desmarais, adviser Nancy Copic Back row L to R: Kyle Garcia, Connor Lorber, Sam Cushing

There’s nothing like taking seven student journalists to a media convention in New York. This year’s College Media Association conference left these Beacon staffers energized, inspired and more knowledgeable. Here are just a few of the takeaways they shared with me and the rest of The Beacon staff. (more in their own blog posts here)

Natalie Rubio-Licht, reporter:

1. There are a lot of different ways to get the information you need to write a story. Make a list of all possible resources and reach out to as many as necessary. For example; social media posts, cell phone videos, audio, texts between students, documents, first-hand accounts, police/medical/campus reports, second-hand accounts. Do not use anonymous unless there is a real need to!
2. Historically, there are different phases of coverage of POC (people of color): exclusionary phase, threatening issue phase, confrontation phase: creates social tension, stereotypical news selection phase. Colleges are often stuck in the stereotypical news selection phase: example, rarely report about POC outside of their holidays or heritage months
3. There are a lot of simple mistakes that people make during interviews without actually noticing. One panel highlighted some deadly sins of interviewing, including: questions with no query, compound questions/too many at once, trigger words, too much sharing–the interview is about them, judgement in question, and closed questions that should be open.

Kyle Garcia, sports editor

1. Focus on building a narrative–if there’s a story to be told in your story, then tell it in a compelling and meaningful way. Don’t just write facts, but instead use the facts to help supplement the bigger story.
2. Always be observant–there are stories out there, but it’s up to you to look for them and stay vigilant.
3. Know who you’re interviewing–There’s no formula for interviewing people that applies to everyone. Understand what kind of person you’re interviewing and let that guide your interview.

Connor Lorber, videographer:

1. From the photo contest- Don’t be afraid to go and talk to people. Being shy can lead to great stories/photos being lost because you were too afraid to talk to someone.
2. From the gaming guy and the Rolling Stones guy- Do what interests you. Whatever your passion is, work in that area. You will create better content when you are excited to be creating that content.
3. From Lauren Duca- Don’t be afraid of the ‘backlash’ from doing something out of the ordinary. Traditionally, journalists don’t share their voices/brand as much as Lauren does, and while she does get a lot of death threats/criticism from voicing her opinion, she is passionate about the movement she is sharing her voice on.

Annika Gordon, multimedia editor:

1. We have to stay professional because the world out there knows and recognizes us.
2. In interviews, ask for names and all other relevant information at beginning AND end of recording just to make sure you have it for real.
3. Shoot everything that your sources talk about.

Claire Desmarais, reporter:

Diversity:

• Research stories dealing with diversity or underrepresented groups
• Never assume
• Always ask: “Is this offensive? Is this the correct viewpoint?”
• Don’t make mistakes. You lose trust with your readers from underrepresented groups

Interviews:

• Body language matters— Mimic what your interviewee is doing with their body because it makes them feel more comfortable. When they lean back, you lean back because they are becoming defensive

Creative/Story Ideas:

• Think about what makes you angry, and often times there is a story that can be puled from it
• Talk to people during the day you wouldn’t normally talk to so you can broaden your scope and get a variety of ideas
• Ask your friends and professors what stories they want to see written

The student photojournalist on the right got maced during a clash over the appearance of Milo Yiannopoulos at her school, University of California, Fullerton.

Hannah Sievert, editor of the Living section:

• When writing an opinion or column, write what you would rant to your friends about when you see them at dinner, what makes you mad, what you notice, what you would naturally discuss with others.
• Having a beat is largely about building a relationship with the person in that beat, checking in with them, having them check in with you
• Write some stories about how we do our reporting, have viewers go behind the scenes, with explanation of who reporting was conducted through link. It encourages reader trust to see what kind of ethics we follow.

The session on using FBI strategies for interviewing was so popular, some Beacon staffers had to sit on the floor.

Sam Cushing, reporter:

1. When taking photos with your phone for a story (ex. breaking news) make sure to clean your lens, zoom with your feet (get closer), keep an eye on exposure (make sure subject is well lit), center and focus your shot the most important element, and vary your shots. Especially for reporters without much photography experience, and usually use their phone for pictures. Also try different photo apps to optimize settings: Hipstamatic, Filmic Pro.
2. Develop your stories before you pitch them at meetings.

Before you pitch a story, you should know:

• Who are you interviewing, and have they agreed to talk to you?
• Why should I (the reader) care?
• Why does this matter?
• Have we (The Beacon) covered this before?

For the pitch itself, highlight what you know and what you don’t know to give your editors as much information as possible to help direct you.

      3. When searching for stories, make sure to engage the community. Meet with people. Attend community events (Use Facebook and other social media to find them).Learn who/what matters to students, faculty, staff and find the story in there Ask for feedback from people you talk to or interviewGet connected – join Facebook groups, follow Instagram and Twitter pages, and ask your followers/friends for story ideas and events to attend.Work non-traditional hours, cool stuff happens on weekends and breaks.

Most of all: Be a person, connect with people and make them want to help you.

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A highlight for everyone in our group was meeting up with last year’s editor-in-chief, Malika Andrews, who graduated last May and covers sports for the New York Times. Among her many exciting assignments recently: covering the Super Bowl.

2016-17 Beacon Editor-in-Chief Malika Andrews met up with our group to talk about her job at the New York Times.

-Nancy Copic

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Internships and beyond

Several Beaconites who graduated last May and some of this year’s seniors spent the summer interning in media jobs. Here’s rundown of what they did in their internships and what they’re doing now.

2016-17 Editor-in-Chief Malika Andrews interned as a sports reporter (a James Reston Fellow) at the New York Times. It went so well , she’s still there.

Last year’s Managing Editor Clare Duffy interned as a reporter at the Portland Business Journal and was asked to stay an additional nine months to fill in for award-winning reporter Matt Kish, now on a fellowship at Columbia University.  Clare is now covering Nike, Adidas, Under Armour, banking, finance and more.

She also has been interviewed on KGW News about stories she’s written on Nike’s recent layoffs and the arrest of an Adidas executive accused in an NCAA scandal involving alleged payoffs to collegiate athletic recruits.

Former Beacon Sports Editor Ben Arthur was a summer intern at the Denver Post, and is now part of the Seattle Times’ team covering Husky football (University of Washington).

Ben was also selected to be part of the student newsroom at the National Association of Black Journalists’ (NABJ) convention in New Orleans in August, where he won an award for his Beacon story about UP soccer player Benji Michel. 

Ben recently spoke on a panel in an NABJ webinar about advice on internships. You can listen here.

Former Beacon Sports Editor Ben Arthur (near the middle, wearing black slacks and gray shirt) with other members of the NABJ Student Multimedia Project, which covered stories from the group’s national convention in New Orleans in August.

2017-18 Beacon Editor-in-Chief Rachel Rippetoe was a reporter intern at the Eugene Register-Guard as part of the Charles Snowden Program for Excellence in Journalism.

Rachel covered a wide variety of news and feature stories. She was also one of two of the 18 interns in the Snowden program to win the Ethics Award.

Working through case studies on journalism ethics with a mentoring editor is a hallmark of the Snowden program. The word on Rachel is that she went beyond the theoretical cases and initiated conversations on ethics as actual situations came up in the newsroom and in her reporting.

This year’s News and Managing Editor Olivia Sanchez spent the summer reporting for the Portland Tribune.  Olivia covered everything from DACA to water quality along the Willamette to mermaids. (Yes, mermaids!)

All that Olivia learned at the Tribune is coming in handy as she leads The Beacon’s news coverage.

2017-18 Senior Beacon Reporter and Multimedia Producer Rachel Ramirez  (front row, third from left) was one of just 15 collegiate journalists selected nationwide to be part of the VOICES program, a team of student journalists chosen to attend  and receive mentoring at the national convention of the Asian American Journalists Association (AAJA)  in Philadelphia. Here’s Rachel’s video project on refugees, which she produced for the program.

Rachel was also a writing intern for Multnomah County government over the summer, and is now interning at Oregon Business magazine, in addition to her Beacon duties.

Hannah Sievert, editor of Living Photo by Annika Gordon

Hannah Sievert, now a junior and The Beacon’s Living editor,  interned at Artslandia magazine. 

This year’s (and last year’s) Community Engagement Editor Erin Bothwell did a marketing internship with Chamber Music Northwest. Erin runs social media for The Beacon and also writes the weekly email newsletter.

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Mapping Coding and Reporting at The New York Times

Rachel Rippetoe

 

The only reason I went to Larry Buchanan’s session on coding, mapping and reporting was because of the phrase “at the New York Times” attached to the end of its title.

I’ve always loved finding free templates for things like graphs, timelines, and calendars on the internet because they make me feel smart and techy without having to actually do much work, but coding felt like it belonged in the scary dark side of the web right next to hacking and Bitcoin. It was jumbled up letters and numbers that I didn’t understand and was always mildly terrified of. But then I saw the work that Larry did for The New York Times… and I knew it was something I had to learn.

As I’m writing this blog post, I’m struggling with how to describe the things he showed us accurately, and it just occurred to me that I can’t. The point is that the stuff Larry does is uniquely digital. It tells a story in a way that can’t be told in print. It takes you to the arctic and shows you exactly what the melting glaciers look like (in HD). It shows you every single home that was foreclosed in Detroit during the housing recession and it adds up all the money that was lost. It highlights every single crack (I am not exaggerating) that was recovered in a famous but decrepit church in New York City.

The craziest thing: He does it in 15 seconds or less. No long article to read, no 3 minute video to listen to; all you have to do is scroll. Which, according to Larry, is what every American loves to do now: scroll. The analytics show that they don’t click on things and they don’t finish articles, but they can scroll through a feed and look at stuff for HOURS.

In theory, Larry should scare the shit out of me. As a person who loves to write and tell stories through her words and other people’s words, I feel like this guy has me beat. I mean some of his pieces didn’t even need an anchor paragraph let alone full written stories. The ones that did had the articles attached at the very bottom.

Yet Larry isn’t replacing us he’s supplementing us. He’s taking a boring local story about recovering an old church, one I probably wouldn’t read, and making it into an art piece I’d tell my mom about and anyone else who might listen.

I was sitting on my hands trying not to jump out of my seat as The New York Times graphic designer showed us all the work he and his team produced. This kind of stuff is perfect. It silences all the nay-sayers that say real journalism and real reporting are dying. It’s visually interesting and engaging but at the same time requires some real reporting too.

The most exciting thing about Larry is that he isn’t some highly functioning tech wizard. He wasn’t a computer science major in college. He studied journalism and taught himself how to code, thinking it would make him some money free-lancing. He never could’ve guessed it would eventually get him a desk and a byline at The New York Times.

I decided after listening to him speak, hearing about what he does, and seeing what he does, I want to be a Larry. I want to delve into the deep scary world of coding because no online template can produce the kind of visual art that Larry produces.

Here are some online tools and programs he told us about for coding, mapping, and learning how to code. The New York Times actually uses a lot of them.

For coding: (the obvious ones) HTML/CSS/Javascript, GA-Dash (for learning how to code, Raw, R (he calls this one scary but powerful), Quartz Chart Builder (for graphs)

For mapping: QGIS, Mapbox, Tilemill, Natural Earth, and Open Street Map

Other advice: focus on formatting for phones and tablets because that is what your readers are more likely to be using. Similarly, cut vertical videos for mobile phones so that readers don’t have to flip their device. Also, when working with data and interactive digital media, use google docs for a spread sheet instead of Excel because Excel doesn’t transfer as well to anything.

Here’s the website he showed during the session with all the samples I saw of his work. Be sure to check out the visuals he added to the Justin Bieber and Skrillex video the NYT put out a while back. (Bieber says some dumb stuff about music)

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New York Times journalist visits The Beacon newsroom, chats with staffers

Mark Leibovich, Chief National Correspondent for The New York Times Magazine visited The Beacon newsroom this week and shared his insights and advice with some staffers. Cool guy!

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