Amalie Benjamin: In It for the Stories

Photo via @AmalieBenjamin

Amalie Benjamin of the Boston Globe says sportswriting is all about the narrative, and she’ll do whatever it takes to capture the heart of a story.

Speaking on her cell phone while walking to the office, Benjamin described the ways players have reacted to some of the less-than positive stories she's written.

“I’ve received phone calls [from players] the next day, expressing their displeasure,” said Benjamin. “I’ve had guys yell at me in the clubhouse. It’s all sort of part of being a beat writer, there’s always going to be conflict.”

But Benjamin said those aren't the memorable moments. When asked about her favorite piece of work, she mentioned a feature story about former Red Sox first base coach Ron Johnson and his daughter, remembering how welcoming Johnson and his family had been.

"That’s what matters to me... when people let you in, and they let you sort of see their vulnerabilities and what they’re going through, and when they’re really honest with you," said Benjamin. "And that’s not something you get every day."

Full interview:

Kayla: I know that you joined the Boston Globe right after you graduated from Northwestern, can you tell me a little bit about your career trajectory?

Amalie: Sure. I think - more important with getting the job with the Globe were the internships I did. I did internships in New Orleans with the Times-Tribune, Chicago, with the Tribune, The Washington Post, and that was sort of what gave me the jump when I went to the Boston Globe. And once at the Globe I worked first as a high schools reporter in their Zone section, and then after about eight months to a year, I moved up to general assignments, from there to Red Sox beat writer, and features enterprise reporter, and now onto Bruins beat reporter.

K: Um, so what does a typical day look like for you when you cover the Bruins?

A: When I cover the Bruins... this is actually something new to me, so I don’t have that much experience, you know I’ve filled in here and there, but this is what I’m taking on for the upcoming season. It’s different than some other sports like baseball. What happens, on say, the day of the game, around 10:30 the team will have a morning skate, so while all the reporters will go to TD Garden or wherever we are on the road, and watch the skate, sort of see the line combinations, and then we’ll have some time in the dressing room, time with the coach, and then we have sort of some free time, in that middle where I’ll maybe work on writing my notebook, or work on some early notes. And then we come back, and we’re probably there at about 5pm, for the game, for a seven o’clock game, watch the game, and then we start writing our game stories, and refreshing our notes, and then post in dressing room.

K: What is the biggest difference between covering the Bruins and when you were covering the Red Sox?

A: You know, as I said, it’s a little hard to know right now, since I haven’t gone full time into the Bruins quite yet. But I think first one of the bigger differences is just number of games. I mean, with baseball you have a game every day, you always have something going on, something always changes. With the Bruins, you have a lot more time off, because you have - less than - you know you have about half as many games. So there’s some time where you have days off, you have practices, and that changes things. I think one of the other things is the guys are a little different. In hockey, you get sort of a different breed of guys, a player, a person, than you do in the other sports. Hockey guys are sort of well known as the best guys to deal with overall, and it’s not always easy to figure out why that is. Partially, it’s a lot of Canadians [laughs], partially it’s a league that doesn’t get as much interest as some of the others. I think part of it also is guys who really had to want it - you know, guys who are up at 5am for rink times growing up. Those are some of the big differences.

K: In covering the Red Sox or the Bruins, has there ever been a time where you maybe wrote something that was critical of a team or a player, and that affected your access?

A: Well, I certainly have written things that were critical or team, and you can’t be a beat reporter without doing that. It’s bound to happen at some point, sooner or later, and I’ve certainly done that multiple times, and I’ve had players unhappy with me. I’ve received phone calls the next day, expressing their displeasure. I’ve had guys yell at me in the clubhouse. It’s all sort of part of being a beat writer, there’s always going to be conflict. You know, if you’re only writing things that the players like, you’re probably not doing your job. I certainly have had players and staff unhappy with me, and sometimes they won’t talk to you for a little while, but the biggest thing in those situations is to make sure you’re there: to let them have their say, express your side, and hopefully it will reach a point where you say “Okay, I see your side, you see my side, and let’s move on to the next story.” 

K: Okay. You’ve done on camera work for NESN, I used to see you doing the Red Sox pre-game show, and you’ve also done some videos for Boston.com. What’s the preparation like for that as opposed to writing?

A: Oh, those two things - it’s totally  different. The good thing with the NESN work was that it really was just me talking about the stuff that I know. I was being asked questions about what was happening in the clubhouse, and what was happening... you know, stuff that I had to know anyway, so really the biggest piece of preparation I needed to do for any of the video work is know my job, know what I’m talking about. It’s a little different with all the stuff we’re doing on the Boston Globe, because that sort of spans a lot more sports, it goes into things that I’m not quite as expert in. So there is a lot of research that goes into that: reading stories, seeing other people’s takes, forming your own, really thinking through what you’re going to say, looking at stats, being prepared to know what to do. So it is very different, and I think the funny thing about some of the TV work that I’ve done is, the biggest preparation thing I had to do before the first time I was on TV was go buy TV makeup, because I certainly didn’t have that.

K: Speaking of makeup, I guess, what is it like being a woman in a field that’s pretty male-dominated still?

A: Absolutely. You know, I’m not the only one wearing makeup, given that there are so many TV guys, so that doesn’t distinguish me. But, it’s an interesting sort of scenario. I mean, at this point, nine years into my career I’m used to it, but it sometimes helps you can it sometimes hurts you. You’re going to have conversations with guys that they may not have with a male colleague, and there are conversations that players might have with a male colleague that they would never have with you, so you try to, as much as you can, limit the places where it hurts you, and use the places where someone might tell you something that they might not tell a fellow colleague. I’e been lucky enough to be generally pretty well accepted, especially by the other writers. I haven’t felt that anyone really was looking down on me - with very few exceptions - because I was a female, but it’s not the easiest place to work. I mean it’s not always 100% welcoming of an environment. I mean, first of all, you’re in dressing rooms and you’re in locker rooms and clubhouses and those are not places you necessarily want to be as a female. They’re not necessarily comfortable but you know, you start to figure out it’s part of the job, and you learn when to approach guys. I mean some of my male colleague will approach players when they’re not fully dressed - I will never do that. I don’t think that’s appropriate, whether you’re male or female I don’t think it’s appropriate, but, you know, for my comfort and for their comfort, that’s one of those things that I don’t do. You sort of find your own boundaries in those situations, and the more you’re in those situations, the better you are able to sort of handle that. 

K: What is your favorite either event or piece of work that you’ve produced or covered during your career?

A: Sure, absolutely... You know it’s interesting. I’ve covered World Series, I’ve covered Super Bowls, covered Stanley Cup Finals, I’ve covered Eastern Conference Finals in basketball, I’ve covered NCAA Final Fours. I’ve been very lucky to cover a lot of things. I think... Honestly, it’s amazing. One of the things that actually stands out the most to me... two things, I’d say. I was lucky enough to cover the Turin Olympics in 2006, which was really an incredible experience, i was very young in my career, and it was totally new to me, but I got to cover a very wide range of sports. I covered everything from the Lindsey Jacobellis fall in snowboarding, to curling, to sort of everything in between. And I think the second thing is - everyone sort of thinks is funny - is the Home Run Derby with Josh Hamilton. It doesn’t even count for anything, but it was one of the most incredible feats I’ve ever seen. It was the last All-Star Game at Yankee Stadium, and it was just an incredible sort of moment. And everybody sort of realized they were watching a moment. The piece that I’ve done that I’m most proud of, you know I think there are a couple things, it’s hard to narrow it down to just one. But I did something a couple years ago with one of the Red Sox base coaches, who had been - his daughter had lost her leg that summer, and I was the first one that got to go down, to Ron Johnson’s house in Tennessee... in December of 2010, and he just opened his home, and his family opened up to me. It was really a pretty incredible thing to be able to do. That’s what matters to me is when people let you in, and they let you sort of see their vulnerabilities and what they’re going through, and when they’re really honest with you. And that’s not something you get every day.