By Pulaha Roy
Syracuse, N.Y. -- There are some unusual things about Anthony Riccobono.
For starters, he is a triplet. He mentions that when asked what's the most interesting thing about himself and his work.
"I have never seen triplets," Riccobono says, laughing.
His brother Rob even went to Syracuse University's Newhouse School with him. Their sister Dana too a different path to FIT in New York City.
"I have never seen triplets," Riccobono says, laughing.
His brother Rob even went to Syracuse University's Newhouse School with him. Their sister Dana too a different path to FIT in New York City.
“We also have an entertainment section and I cover the sports aspect of it," he says in a telephone interview. "I basically just do straight sports and entertainment where I cover professional wrestling too.”
Working for the International Business Times, you need to know numbers. So Riccobono puts together his wrestling interest and adroitness with figures.
“One of the things I’m doing now is covering the Connor McGregor vs Floyd Mayweather fight," he says. "I’m covering like how much money is being involved,”
Riccobono reports on such things as how much money both men might make, how much money the pay-per-view might bring in, who gets the money, how much split is there, what percentage goes to Mayweather’s camp and what percentage goes to Connor McGregor’s camp.
In short, you need to be a good multitasker or diversify and that’s where he applies his radio skills.
“I was more of a radio guy because it needs personality, charisma and the energy," Riccobono says. "Everything is live and you don’t really know what’s going to be thrown at you.”
The online media is making forays into turning the whole content into videos, Riccobono says and that’s where his radio skills are coming into play. .
“I’m glad that I have my radio background and that’s going to prepare me for my video background,” he says.
But the transition from a radio guy to a sports reporter to one day shooting his own videos has been and will be smooth thanks to where he want to college, he says.
“It wasn’t that difficult. Newhouse had prepared me. The newspaper classes and digital journalism classes, like I said you are going to Newhouse you will be prepared for it.”
Q- Tell me about you work? IBT is a business paper if I’m not wrong?
A- I mean yeah that’s the name. We also have an entertainment section and I cover the sports aspect of it. I basically just do straight sports and entertainment where I cover professional wrestling too. I’ll do some TV stuff once in a while. We do focus a lot on business.
Q- Since its a business paper have you ever done a story with a business angle to it?
A- There are sometimes we have to do different kind of stuff like financial aspect. One of the things I’m doing now is covering the Connor McGregor vs Floyd Mayweather fight. I’m covering like how much money is being involved, how much money both guys might make, how much money the pay-per-view might make, who gets the money, how much split is there, what percentage goes to Mayweather’s camp and what percentage goes to Connor McGregor’s camp. So yeah, I do cover a little bit of that stuff as well.
Q- So this fight will it fall under the entertainment section?
A- We don’t have a full fledged sports section. I’m part of the entertainment section and I’m allowed to write about sports but that’ll go on to the sports page.
Q- You had also done radio commentary for ESPN?
A-When I was in Syracuse I did the WAR Radio and I worked for ESPN Radio. There was one station in ESPN Radio and then it switched to another station and I worked for both. I was an intern and then I was a producer for two years. I also hosted a couple of shows. I originally wanted to do radio.
Q- So how is working for ESPN different from working from IBT?
A- The biggest difference is that its print. We do have video department. But when I do an interview I try to an in-person interview, in offices or when I go to a press conference, meeting with someone and getting a video of that. But the biggest thing is when you are on the radio and everything is live, there is no take and everything is live. And you can’t edit it and everything is live. What I do now when I do some original reporting, I do a story well. So when you are doing a story you can only take certain quotes and make a story out of that.
Q- Which one is more challenging?
A- I was more of a radio guy because it needs personality, charisma and the energy. Like I said everything is live and you don’t really know what’s going to be thrown at you. While working for W.A.R was getting post-game shows for Syracuse basketball, football and lacrosse I would get phone calls and you have to be quick-on-your feet. With print there is more time to digest. It's still difficult because you have to find a good angle to a story.
Q- What was the transition like?
A-Because I went to Newhouse, Newhouse had prepared me. The newspaper classes and digital journalism classes. It wasn’t that difficult. Now I do a lot of opinion pieces. Like I said you are going to Newhouse you will be prepared for it.
Q- Most interesting thing about yourself and your work?
A- Umm, maybe I’m a triplet (Laughs). I have never seen triplets. As for professionally, I don’t know, I get to cover a lot of different things. Like the Floyd Mayweather- Connor McGregor press conferences. I was in the Barclay Centre. One of the big things I cover is professional wrestling. That’s more of a niche thing and I get to talk to all the biggest names in the industry.
Q-A flip side to your profession?
A- In online journalism, there has been a lot of layoffs. Fox Sports got rid of their entire writing stuff. We had lay offs one year ago and we are hiring back now. Companies are finding it very difficult to monetize their articles now. And people are switching to more video now. That’s where people think the future is. Make sure you have skills to do other things. I’m glad that I have my radio background and that’s going to prepare me for my video background. If I have to transition that’s kind of more the important thing.
Q. So how important is multi-tasking?
A- Yeah. Like when you read an article there is a video attached to it. Everything is turning into video online.
No comments:
Post a Comment