More Than Sports

By Nick Richardson

SYRACUSE, N.Y. - Morgan Gordon wants to be in front of a camera.

As a former Division I track and field athlete at the University of Cincinnati, she is certainly no stranger to the spotlight. Her studies at Syracuse University's S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications would make you think that a career in the field of sports journalism is a given.

You would only be half-right.

To be sure, Gordon wouldn’t be where she is without envisioning herself covering sports in the future. But she doesn’t want to limit herself to one set field.

Gordon says she sees her education at Newhouse as a stepping stone into journalism as a whole. Covering the world of entertainment in a manner similar to that of her idol Giuliana Rancic of E! News holds a distinct appeal.

Being in front of the camera is the ultimate goal for Gordon due to her confidence in that area as opposed to others such as writing.

“If I could strengthen my writing I could see myself as a columnist. Right now I see myself on the warfront because I don’t feel like my writing is where it needs to be,” Gordon said.

In the end though, Gordon simply wants to be in the business.

"I'm open to anything," she said.

Link to audio: https://soundcloud.com/user483013939/interview

Interview Transcription

Q: So, we’re here at Newhouse. What was the attraction of the program and why did you choose it?

A: Newhouse is like, the name you think of when you think of going to school for journalism. So when I applied, I really applied thinking, “I’m not going to get in but I might as well try, because, you know, it’s Newhouse. Like, no one gets into Newhouse. I got in and I was like, “I’m part of one of the best programs in America.”

Q: So obviously a lot of the people that come in have people that they look up to in the industry. Can you name one or two people that you admire, that you try to emulate as you go forward?

A: I would say Giuliana Rancic and Rachel Nichols.

Q: I know who Rachel Nichols is, but what does Giuliana Rancic do?

A: She works for Entertainment, E! News. She’s not going to be working there the next three months. So she is like the host on E! News. She is the face of E! News. So yes, I look up to her.

Q: Now the sports industry is a tough field to get into. I want to ask you where do you want to be in five years assuming you can get in somewhere?

A: Somewhere in sports?

Q: Yeah, the sports industry. If you could pick one place to wind up in the near future.

A: Honestly when we had the interview in class and we talked to… I forget her name right now. But the girl that writes the…

Q: The Bottom Line.

A: Yeah the Bottom Line for ESPN. I thought that was really cool. So honestly I think I doubt my abilities in this industry so if I could do something like that I would be happy.

Q: So in your mind, for Newhouse, it’s not necessarily a stepping stone for sports in particular but into the wider field of journalism?

A: Yes, definitely. I see myself doing either entertainment like Giuliana Rancic or being a, what’s the name of it? A correspondent for like E! News or having my own talk show or even being like a sideline reporter for a sport.

Q: Is there, can you look back on a specific moment or time in your life where you realized that you wanted to be in journalism, to be in the sports or entertainment world in that capacity?

A: Yes, when I was in high school I used to want to write for a magazine. So I always thought that was far-fetched so when I got college I was just like, “OK well let’s just try it, I’ll study journalism.” But when I did that, I was also running track, D-I. So if it doesn’t go with their practice schedule we couldn’t do it. So I had to change it. So I changed my major to social work.  But to answer your question I’ve always known that I wanted to be a journalist. So yeah I would say maybe since I was 16.

Q: If you could choose one sport if you were going to go on to be an athlete, what sport, professionally, would you like to compete in?

A: Like and want would be two different things. I guess I would like to compete in soccer because I love soccer, it was always my first love. But when I was growing up I had to choose a sport, between soccer and track, which is what I did. But because the seasons would kind of run into each other, I had to choose. So I would want to do track, I mean to do soccer, but I would be better at track professionally.

Q: So you mentioned the sideline reporters. Could you see yourself working maybe behind-the-scenes? Do you have any desire to be a columnist or is on broadcast where you really want to end up?

A: If I could strengthen my writing, I could see myself as a columnist. Right now I see myself on the warfront because I don’t feel like my writing is where it needs to be. But yeah, if I could strengthen my writing, sure I’ll write. Like I said I used to want to write for a magazine until I realized, “Hey, you really can’t write that well.” So, yeah, really anything, I’m open to anything.

Q: Alright, that will just about do it.