Steve Delsohn: Investigating Sports Careers in PR and Journalism - a podcast by Brian Clapp - Work in Sports

Steve Delsohn, Founder and President of Delsohn Strategies Public Relations firm and former Investigative Reporter for ESPN's Outside the Lines joins us on the Work in Sports Podcast!Hey It’s Brian --- today on the WorkinSports podcast Steve Delsohn former investigative reporter for ESPN’s Outside the Lines and current owner operator of a sports PR firm representing clients all across the sports landscape… but before Steve, let’s talk about the Work in Sports Academy.Everyone listening to this show is trying to learn things that will help them in their sports career, right? Maybe you’re looking for that first job, maybe you dream of getting hired by ESPN like Steve, or maybe you’re in college trying to find your way through the sports career options. Well, we’ve created a series of online courses that will teach you the strategies and tactics necessary to get hired in sports. You don’t want to just blend in with a bunch of other resumes applying for jobs, you want to stand out, and our courses are there to help. Extremely affordable, each course is just $39 or you can buy all four courses for a massive cost savings. Check it out today - WorkinSports.com/gameplan Alright let’s start the countdown...  Hi everybody, I’m Brian Clapp Vice President of Content and Engaged learning at WorkinSports.com and this is the Work in Sports podcast…When I first started in the sports industry back in 1996 as a production assistant at CNN/Sports Illustrated, I was a sports fan. I loved watching games, debating players, arguing strategies and playing as often as I could in my spare time.Sure, I had some skills for the job or else I wouldn’t have been hired, I could edit video and audio, operate a camera and things of that nature. But I lived for the events.I grew up with a subscription to Sports Illustrated, and while my grandmother, who got me the yearly subscription, thought I was really engaging with all the longform storytelling, truth is I was lazy. I’d read the opening 20 pages of short stories based on what happened with the teams I know and loved… and then when it came to the langer articles with meaning, from Frank Deford, Leigh Montville, Tim Layden and Sally Jenkins… I’d skip through and look at the pictures.It wasn’t until March 14th, 2000 -- four years into my career at CNN Sports Illustrated that I truly grasped the power of journalism, reporting and storytelling.Our investigative reporting team toiled for months and month on a story about Bob Knight, the bombastic coach of Indiana University. A man feared for his temper tantrums, but admired for his winning. He was a God to many in Indiana, but not everyone. I won’t rehash the story - I can link to some old articles if you arte interested in reading more - but suffice it to say our reporters blew open a monumental story into events that happened behind the scenes of his empire that would have made your head spin. I’ll tell you, as someone who had nothing to do with the story, but had access to the reporting, there were dozens of horrifying stories that didn’t make the final cut….and that final cut was still a full 30 minute story that left people with their jaw dropped.Bobby Knight was fired shortly after our programming aired.I remember talking to one of the people who worked on it closely, he was being pressed on what it meant to be part of a story that got the great bobby knight fired… and he consistently said - the job of the journalist is to present the story as reported, not to strive or reach for any result, he wasn’t trying to get Bobby Knight fired, he was trying to present the truth. I admired this approach -- this idea that now people know what happens there. You can still decide to go to Indiana, or later Texas Tech and play for knight, but if he strangles you on the sidelines,

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