Cronkite News Phoenix Sports Bureau
Get experience covering major sporting events and professional sports teams in the Cronkite News Sports Bureau.
Stories from the sidelines
The Cronkite News Phoenix Sports Bureau is a multiplatform newsroom from which students cover sports in the heart of the nation’s fifth-largest city. Phoenix is home to teams from all five major sports leagues, a Pac-12 university, two college bowl games, PGA and LPGA tournaments, NASCAR and spring training headquarters for half of the teams in Major League Baseball.
The bureau is located in a state-of-the-art newsroom on the second floor of the Cronkite School with views of the city. Students are within walking distance from stadiums that house the MLB’s Arizona Diamondbacks and the NBA’s Phoenix Suns. Students work at least two full days a week, producing sports video, photos and text for professional media outlets and Cronkite News, the news division of Arizona PBS.
Students pursuing sports journalism degrees at Cronkite report on MLB Spring Training for major metropolitan media organizations and national news outlets, including MLB.com, The Arizona Republic, U-T San Diego and others. Students also have reported on the Super Bowl for Sports Illustrated and NFL.com.
Students leave the bureau with strong professional work samples and are fully prepared to enter today’s competitive sports journalism field in careers such as sports reporting and broadcasting, sports photography and videography.
Roles in the Sports Bureau
Audio reporters and producers
The audio team pitches, reports and produces original in-depth audio stories on sports issues, teams and athletes that impact Arizona.
Digital and broadcast reporters
Sports reporters pitch stories, conduct interviews and produce multimedia journalism on sports issues across professional, college and high school teams and major sporting events in Arizona. Reporters produce content for multiple outlets, including Cronkite News on Arizona PBS, Cronkite Sports Now (a daily Facebook Live show), Cronkite Sports Report (a sports magazine show on Fox Sports Arizona) and clients across the state.
Broadcast producers
Broadcast producers manage all editorial aspects of the Bureau’s TV and video content: selecting stories, preparing presentation plans for reporters, writing scripts, building rundowns, creating graphics, editing video and managing on-air talent for the Cronkite Sports Report segment on Cronkite News on Arizona PBS, Cronkite Sports Now (a daily Facebook Live show) and the Cronkite Sports Report sports magazine show on Fox Sports Arizona.
Photographers
Students on this team produce visuals for stories on issues in sports across professional, college and high school teams and major sporting events in Arizona.
Digital and social media producers
Students on this team create data visualizations and lead digital production. The team also executes our social media strategy, including experimenting on TikTok and other platforms.
Course Prerequisites
Students who seek to use this course as a capstone experience must complete the following prerequisites. Please direct questions to the faculty listed below, or your academic adviser.
Undergraduate
Audio reporters: JMC 306 and JMC 302
Broadcast producers: JMC 306 and JMC 320
Broadcast reporters: JMC 306 and JMC 331
Digital reporters: JMC 306 and JMC 302
Digital/social producers: JMC 306 and JMC 302
Photographers/digital video producers: JMC 305/306 and JMC 301/302, or JMC 315 and JMC 351/352
Graduate
Audio reporters, digital reporters and photographers: MCO 502
Broadcast producers: MCO 502 and MCO 521
Broadcast reporters: MCO 502 and MCO 531
Digital/social producers: MCO 502 (MCO 561 preferred)