Syracuse, N.Y. - Chris
Villani has being carving a name for himself in the Boston sports media world
since 2007. From hosting talk shows to being an update anchor to doing
play-by-play announcing, Villani has found success in his sports media
career. But in 2013, a new opening with an local newspaper, the Boston Herald, began a shift in direction. It presented a opportunity he just couldn't pass up, to cover another passion of his: politics.
"There is some people that just eat, live and breathe sports. I've just never been one of those guys. I like sports, I like sports a lot, but I'm not one of those that everything has got to be glued by the television, if it's not compelling."
Speaking
via telephone from his home in Boston, it was a brief moment to discuss his
career to this point; 30 minutes later, he was off to work another position, as
a co-host for sports radio WEEI's weeknight show.
He's
still a sports guy. But for Villani, a 2007 Syracuse University graduate,
taking on a new media focus is part of becoming a well-rounded journalist.
"...I love politics, I love news, always changing, you never what you're going to be covering on a daily basis. And I think it's great to be able to broaden your skill set," Villani said.
Since being picked up by the Herald, Villani's roles have expanded. Just last month, he picked up the General Assignment beat, covering current events and breaking news in addition to writing columns and hosting radio shows on the newspaper's Internet radio extension, Herald Radio.
When bringing up his goals for his new positions at the Herald, the excitement was evident. An interview with a presidential hopeful provided a lot of fodder for his show and content for the newspaper as a whole.
"Today for example, there's been a back and forth on sanctuary cities and immigration policies, going on with Bobby Jindal who came in studio earlier today, and we talked with him for about a half-hour or so, then the Mayor of Somerville, a guy named Joe Curtatone and his response to it, and it sparks some news and been picked up nationally," Villani said.
"These
are the types of things that I think will help us build the platform of Herald
Radio and also the digital side, and there's so much content that can come from
something like for example, Bobby Jindal today, makes a comment about sanctuary
cities and a proposal that he'd like to see pushed through Congress. We get a
reaction from a local politician here. Three web stories are immediately are
up, that's clicks on our website, that's people going to bostonherald.com, the
audio is obviously up, people can listen to the unedited interview, they can
listen to sound bites online, download the app and be able to download podcasts
of the interview," Villani said.
Villani says he is embracing his new roles at the Boston Herald, and is looking to help the company any way he can.
"So it's a fast paced job, but it was
born again more so of than anything, out of the continued desire of the Herald,
like many places, to innovate and to find new ways to deliver content to
people," Villani said.
James Anderson: To start with, i know you
just landed, uh recently, I know you've been working at the Boston Herald for
some time but, uh, you've started up a new morning show for the Boston Herald,
the uh "Herald Drive, from 6 to 9, uhm, how did that come about? I know
it's, i know you've been doing radio shows with them, columns with them, uh,
how did the, how did the "Herald Drive opportunity come about for you?
Chris Villani: Well, it was really the
position, itself that was created, to sort of suit a couple different things.
One, that fact that I brought a skill set that they felt that was a little more
diverse than just a typical reporter, or a typical radio person, somebody that
can kind of do both, and also born out of the fact that, you know, radio,
television, newspaper, any time of media, needs to continue to evolve, continue
to push forward. The death of the newspaper industry are those that think that
this should be about just writing and print, whatever happens the day before,
kind of retelling those stories, that's the death of the industry. So the idea
of being multimedia, the idea of being multi-platforms, all this stuff's very,
very important, increasingly important in the digital world where people are
consuming content on their phones probably more so than on their televisions,
or certainly more so than reading newspapers, especially the younger
generation. So essentially my function is the multimedia reporter. I'm part of
the radio from 6-9 in the morning, interviewing guests, discussing topics, kind
of looking ahead to what the news is going to be that day, what might be in the
news that day, and also recapping some of what might have happened previous
day, and the rest of my day, i'm a general assignment reporter. I have a
political focus generally speaking, but you go where breaking news is, and it's
the kind of job where I might be covering, and this is not so much a
hypothetical as something that happened maybe a week or so ago, a rally about
immigration prices in Haiti, then getting a Congressman's reaction to a new
Boston Olympics proposal, and then having to shift gears and drive someplace
because there was a construction accident and a worker was killed. So it's a
fast paced job, but it was born again more so of than anything, out of the
continued desire of the Herald, like many places to innovate and to find new
ways to deliver content to people.
JA: So it fills the role for the Herald,
and obviously, they, you know, very pleased with yourself, for you, it's a bit
of a step in a different direction, because obviously, you don't mind me
saying, I see you as a sports guy, and I think that most people would see you
as a sports person, for you, was this something that you had in the back of
your mind that you wanted to do at some point to make that transition, or was
it just the right time, right opportunity, with the Herald providing the uh,
you know, the assignment desk, and for the radio show?
CV: A little bit of both again, I
actually had been part of a discussion around a different opportunity for a
show, and it more along this focus, news and politics and breaking news and
things like that, that opportunity didn't work out, but it certainly got me
thinking about where I wanted to go. There is some people that just eat, live
and breathe sports. I've just never been one of those guys. I like sports, I
like sports a lot, but i'm not one of those that everything has got to be glued
by the television if it's not compelling. The Red Sox are a great example right
now...
JA: Yes.
CV: ...Hard to watch, not compelling
television. They're not a good baseball team. To have that be my job, to have
to sit in front of that, that's a chore to me. But I love politics, I love
news, always changing, you never what you're going to be covering on a daily
basis. And I think it's great to be able to broaden your skill set. To use a
sports analogy of one of the teams right here in the New England area, the
Patriots, they like to say the more you can do, the more you can do for us, so,
this is a good opportunity for me to be able to broaden my own horizon, still
keep one foot squarely in the world of sports and sports radio working with
ESPN and working at WEEI, but also be able to cover things on a regular basis,
and you know let's face it, this is not something they always talk about in
Newhouse classes but when they offer you good money and a really good full-time
salary, that's a nice enticement too, because as much as professionals will
tell you, it's all about getting in it for the glory of journalism, the glory
of journalism won't pay your rent at the end of the month. So it's good to be
recognized in that respect as well.
JA: Last question for you is, what uhm,
what do you hope to achieve now with this new role at the Herald and kind of
expanding your focus and being able to help them out in various ways, what's
the you know, maybe not like ten years down the road, that might be a little
far-sighted, but perhaps like what's the, what's the end goal, at least for
like this year and to get that show's momentum rolling and to expand your work
with the Herald, and just in general for yourself, looking down the road maybe
three to six months?
CV: Well, i think a big part of our focus
now in that timeframe you mentioned is on 2015. The big advantage we have being
here in Boston, is it's a major market that happens to be right next door to
the first primary state. So, all the candidates tend to be more than willing to
talk to us and make news with us. Today for example, there's been a back and
forth on sanctuary cities and immigration policies, going on with Bobby Jindal
who came in studio earlier today and we talked with him for about a half-hour
or so, then the Mayor of Somerville, a guy named Joe Curtatone and his response
to it, and it sparks some news and been picked up nationally. You can read
about it on CNN, Business Journal, a number of different places have been able
to pick it up, so that kind of thing is great for us, it'll allow us to have
news makers on, allow us to talk to the people who are going to be influencing
policy and we've hit almost, trying to think, a couple of candidates we haven't
hit the democratic side of the aisle, I think just about every Republican, so
there's a very good chance, i'd say it's pretty much a lock that we will have a
interview with the next President of the United States, maybe multiple
interviews with the next President of the United States at some point in the
next three to six months. These are the types of things that I think will help
us build the platform of Herald Radio and also the digital side, and there's so
much content that can come from something like for example, Bobby Jindal today,
makes a comment about sanctuary cities and a proposal that he'd like to see
pushed through Congress. We get a reaction from a local politician here. Three
web stories are immediately are up, that's clicks on our website, that's people
going to bostonherald.com, the audio is obviously up, people can listen to the
unedited interview, they can listen to soundbites online, download the app and
be able to download podcasts of the interview...
JA: Right.
CV: Then, we've talked to other people,
and I talk to other people throughout the day to get more context on the
comments and practicality of his proposal, that gets forwarded to a print
story, that'll be in tomorrow's newspaper. So it's kind of hitting all of those
platforms with one interview, and that's the type of potential I think we have
with this, to really talk to news makers and have them make news. And it's a
little bit different than in sports when, yeah you might talk to Bill Belichick
every week but how often, especially him, that he's going to say something
that's all that newsworthy, when you're talking to Presidental candidates, well
they're in this to break news, to get people talking about their ideas, and we
can be a great conduit for that, so they use us to their advantage but we
certainly get a lot out of it as well. I think we're gonna do more of that in
the next three to six months, we even have a studio in Manchester, basically
right in the heart of all the campaign headquarters, so really looking forward
to covering that.
JA: Chris Villani, again, thank
you for your time, I really appreciate it.
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