By: Thomas Scott
Without the encouragement of a friend, Branson Wright may have given up on journalism before he even had the opportunity to start.
Wright nearly gave up on journalism when a year had passed since he graduated from the University of Cincinnati and he had yet to get a job. While in college he wrote for the student paper and was an intern for a few small papers.
While working as an extra in a movie, he befriended an actor who told him not to get discouraged; soon after he got his start as a professional writer with The Lexington Dispatch, a small paper in Lexington, NC.
Wright has now been a sports journalist for 20 years. He spent seven years as the beat writer for the Cleveland Cavaliers and is now covering the Cleveland Browns for The Plain Dealer.
Wright’s latest project is a documentary about Dwight Anderson, a college basketball player who could have been great in the NBA. Wright is excited about his new project which will also have former NBA greats like Isaiah Thomas and Dominique Wilkins commenting on Anderson.
T: Mr. Branson Wright, could you start off by introducing yourself, and then go into how you began your career in sports journalism.
B: Ok, is this recorded? Or...
T: Yes
B: Are you going to print this, or is this going to be a recorded interview?
T: I’m making a recording, then I’m going to write a story using quotes...
B: Oh, OK. Alright I can talk slang if I want. (laugh) That’s where I’m getting at. I’m just joking. How I started. When I came out of college, for a year I couldn’t find a job. I couldn’t find a job in the. . . I was working a lot of odd jobs to the point where I questioned if I was even going to be a journalist. And shortly before I got my first job I had applied to the police academy in Cincinnati, and I went through all the tests and did all the procedures and got down to the point where I was going to go to the police academy. But at the same time I was an extra in a movie, and during the time I was being an extra I became friends with one of the actors and was telling him what was going on. You know, I really wanted to write, but I wasn’t able to find a job. I had interviews, but nobody hired me. So, he was just really encouraging, telling me to go for my dream and just continue to work my craft, and get better, and just to keep looking for a job. So I decided not to go to the academy, and then a short time later I got my first job in Lexington, NC.
T: What job was that in NC?
B: It was a newspaper job. Small paper, maybe 30 miles south of Winston-Salem.
T: What was the name of the paper?
B: The Lexington Dispatch.
T: What college did you attend?
B: University of Cincinnati
T: Did you have any journalism experience while you were at the University of Cincinnati?
B: Oh yeah, I worked first for a student paper. I was an intern at a paper in Kentucky. I was an intern at The Dayton Daily News, and I was a free lance writer for a few city papers, The Cincinnati Post, that is now debunked, The Cincinnati Inquirer.
T: How has your experience been covering sports in Cleveland?
B:What, repeat that question?
T: How has your experience been covering sports in Cleveland?
B: It’s been great. Covered high schools, colleges, I was a beat writer for the Cleveland Cavaliers for seven years, and now I’m on a team covering the Cleveland Browns. It’s been a great experience.
T: What have you enjoyed the most about it?
B: The people. People that I’ve met and people that I meet covering the beat, and I’m not just talking about the athletes. I mean, just your everyday people. People on different teams, and fans and different people like that I have really, really enjoyed.
T: Being with the Cavs for seven years, you obviously witnessed the drama with LeBron James. Can you describe how that was?
B: It was crazy. The fans here, and Cleveland is a football town. Really passionate about the Browns, but I think they really latched on. I mean it’s easy to latch on to LeBron, he’s just so good, but they really saw that this was an opportunity to break that streak of not winning a championship since ’64. The fact that he left , and the way that he left on national tv announcing that he was leaving. I think it was more of a, it’s sort of like breaking up with a girlfriend, I think for a lot of the fans because they were hurt that he left. He had brought so much hope with the thought of a possible championship to the city and then walk away. A lot of people were really disappointed.
T: Can you still sense a bit of the debris of the bitterness over LeBron or has Cleveland gotten over it?
B: A lot of people have gotten over it. It’s not as bad as it was. People realize that in some way he was right to leave. I mean, his intentions of leaving was to win a championship and that’s what he did. But the thing about Cleveland fans that still feel that you betrayed them or did them wrong; they may not hate you as much as they did when it happened, but you won’t be on the top of their list of favorite people so. A lot of people would like him to come back. For those that are disappointed with him, I think they would forgive him if he came back, but there are still some fans that are not happy that he left the city and because he doesn’t play here; even if he would have left, I don’t know how he could have left any other way. Say if he got traded, fans are not going to root for him.
T: What tools do you use that make you a multimedia journalist?
B: I use a camera. It’s a XLR SONY digital camera
T: In addition to The Plain Dealer, do you post blogs also? Do you write personally, or is it all through The Plain Dealer?
B: I write a personal blog. It’s been on the shelf for quite a few months because I’ve been busy with so many other projects. I’m working on a documentary on a former basketball player. But I do have a blog I publish myself, and I promised myself that I would write more often than I have.
T: Who is the documentary about?
B: This guy named Dwight Anderson. He played for University of Kentucky and USC.He was the number one player in the nation coming out of high school in ’78. He was a can’t miss guy. And in my documentary I have former NBA greats that, like Isaiah Thomas, Dominique Wilkins, Mark McGwire, and guys like that and just talked about how great the guy was. And uh, he blew it. So many people with drugs and things of that nature, but he’s getting his life back together and helping others in his community. He even became homeless at one point. As a writer, my first intention was to write the story, but the way people described how he played and how great he was, it’s more of a visual story to me. So I’m excited to do the documentary.
T: If there’s anything else you want to add about your experience as a sports journalist, feel free to comment.
B: As far as experience and even advice is I like to tell people definitely a lot of your professors and people that have experience in the business, definitely talk to them and pick their brains quite often. And I was a young reporter too, used to think that I knew it all and that I didn’t need any help , but I’ve been in the business over 20 years and I still try to get advice from veteran reporters. And even my peers now. You’re never to young or to old to learn. I think that’s good advice for young reporters to listen to.
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