Sports Journalism Institute coming to ASU in 2019

The Sports Journalism Institute, a program celebrating 25-plus years of enhancing racial and gender diversity in sports media, will conduct its 2019 boot camp at Arizona State University’s Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication.

This institute will host its weeklong residential summer boot camp at the Cronkite School on the ASU Downtown Phoenix campus. The boot camp features rigorous training sessions in sports reporting and editing by leading professionals.

Students leave the boot camp with paid internships in digital, electronic or sports media outlets. Students returning to college receive a $500 scholarship upon successful completion of the program.

“We are thrilled to be moving to Arizona State for 2019,” said Leon Carter, who co-founded the institute in 1992 and is currently a vice president at ESPN. “The Cronkite School offers a wealth of resources, including sports venues in close proximity.”

The Cronkite School is home to immersive professional programs in which students regularly cover professional and intercollegiate sports from bureaus in Phoenix and Los Angeles. Since the Cronkite School announced new sports journalism degrees in 2014, students have covered major sporting events including the Super Bowl, the Summer Olympics and the Final Four.

“The Sports Journalism Institute is a terrific program that has played a significant role in improving diversity in press boxes and sports departments across the country,” Cronkite School Dean Christopher Callahan said. “We look forward to welcoming them to our school for this important initiative.”

Most recently, the Sports Journalism Institute has been hosted at the University of Missouri’s School of Journalism.

“Our seven years at Missouri represent the longest we have ever held boot camp in one location, and we hope to continue that partnership wherever we conduct classes,” said Sandy Rosenbush, an Sports Journalism Institute co-founder with Carter. “Missouri has been a great partner for SJI.”

Students of diverse backgrounds are chosen from universities nationwide each winter, then brought together in late May for a week of classroom instruction and deadline-intense coverage preparation. After that, the students work in paid internships facilitated by the institute.

Students can apply for the camp at http://sportsjournalisminstitute.org/apply/.

In addition to Carter and Rosenbush, the boot camp is run by Greg Lee, a graduate of the institute's second class who has served as president of the National Association of Black Journalists and currently works as director of editorial at NBA.com for Turner.

The Sports Journalism Institute is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that partners with the National Association of Black Journalists, National Association of Hispanic Journalists, Asian American Journalists Association, Scripps Howard Foundation, Gannett and Associated Press Sports Editors in class selection and placement.

Disney and ESPN also are strong partners, with ESPN the 2017 title sponsor of the Sports Journalism Institute's 25th class celebration at the National Association of Black Journalists convention in New Orleans.