The Passion that Lies Within

The Passion that Lies Within 

Bailey Arredondo has always been infatuated with the magic behind sports. “I always knew I wanted to do something in sports just because I couldn’t keep my eyes off the T.V.. I would love it, and I was just so fascinated by these athletes because that was something I could never do.”  

From childhood to now, Arredondo has continued to relentlessly pursue sports media through his attendance at Texas Christian University, where he obtained a bachelor’s of science in news and media studies. He then transitioned to working for two years at the local Fort-Worth Star Telegram where he reported on all sports ranging from high school football to TCU’s Women’s Basketball. His passion for sports continued to manifest in a way that allows him to work tirelessly to understand the stories of each player, beyond the lens of a fan. 

Arredondo stated, “We’re providing a lot of this stuff to the public and a lot of the public don’t get the firsthand experiences that we do, so it’s our due diligences to report ethically, morally right and really report the truth.”   

Arredondo knows that Newhouse will propel him towards a meaningful career where he can continue to impact both players and fans.  

Transcription of an interview with Bailey Arredondo 

Ellis: “Why do you want to do broadcast journalism?” 

Arredondo: “Okay so, growing up, frustrated athlete. If you asked me, I was a kid growing up, probably till I was about 16/17, I would’ve said I wanted to be a professional basketball player, tennis player, wish I took golf more seriously. Growing up in where I was in California, in Monterey/Pebble Beach was very country club oriented, very tennis/golf so I always knew I wanted to do something in sports just because I couldn’t keep my eyes off the tv. I would love it, you know, I was just so fascinated by these athletes because that was something I could never do. I could never dunk. I could never throw a football super far, so that was something I was always so intrigued on and so I just ventured out and knew I wanted to do broadcast and digital journalism somehow. Applied to different schools went to TCU, so it was either going to be between TCU, Oklahoma State, and Butler so I knew I kind of wanted get out a little bit. TCU is just amazing, so love that school, love what Texas brought to me and through the whole four years it just really opened my eyes to how much more this industry isn’t just reporting. Ya know, it’s like you said, building those relationships, it’s going that extra mile, it’s really kind of an investing and not just like sport, but your work. Because we’re providing a lot of this stuff to the public and a lot of the public don’t get the first hand experiences that we do, so it’s our due diligences to report ethically morally right, and really report the truth. I don’t know I love it, and I love athletes. I wish I was an athlete. So it’s just, it’s all fascination to be honest. 

Ellis: “So at TCU did you work within sports?

Arredondo: “Yeah, so what I did was, I interned for two years at the local paper, it was a Fort-Worth Star Telegram. And then they transferred me over to the Dallas Morning News to do a little bit of high school football, but I covered high school football, I covered college football, I covered college basketball, college baseball, tennis, golf. I really did as much as I could, but kind of where I knew that I didn’t want to stay in Texas was, ya know besides it being Texas, and a little bit away from home, nothing wrong about Texas but my boss that originally hired me at the Star Telegram. He got moved up to an editor position, so a new boss got put in. And that boss, I worked for him, this is going to be crazy, I worked for him for a year and two months. I did not meet him once. I did not meet him once. I asked for him to meet me. I wanted to meet him, but he never seemed to either care or was interested. He always would just email me my assignments or text me and it was just really frustrating. Ya know I really felt that I was going out of my way to just, you know, be in this job, be in this work force, do a lot, ya know really do good reporting. I was doing games, they never put me on ya know a lot of the men’s games, I was covering a lot of TCU’s Women’s Basketball. A lot of TCU’s Women’s sports, which I don’t mind, I don’t care if it’s: Women’s, Guys, Kids, I’ll watch my sister’s 8-year-old soccer league, I love it all. But I really just didn’t feel like they were invested in me and for me I’m such a personable, I need to see that person ya know? I’m such a visualizer so that was just a step for me where I realized, I’ve gotta do something with my life. I can’t do this anymore.” 

Ellis: “So is that how you got to Newhouse?” 

Arredondo: “That’s how I got to Newhouse. So I knew that I had to be surrounded by like-minded people because if I’m surrounded by like-minded people, I feel like we can all achieve a common goal. I’m more, not more motivated, but I feel like I’m more inspirational more like pepped up when there’s other people that are excited about what I’m doing too. So that’s what I found in Newhouse and came here and all the people that I met, it really just felt that this was the way that I needed to go. And all the people that I look up to, in my business and what I want to do either, ya know, went to Newhouse or other accredited, so I knew this was a good first stepping stone to kind of getting into that professional world that I want to be in.”  

 

Duration: 03:57