Broadcaster and television reporter for Fox Sports Chris Myers took the time to speak to Cal State Long Beach journalism and public relations students on Thursday afternoon inside the USU.
Myers, an employee at Fox Sports since 1998, discussed his career and experience working with celebrity athletes on television and his journey on the radio. After speaking to a room of around 40 people, Myers spoke with the Daily 49er about his favorite moments on the job and the importance of building a network for student journalists going into his industry.
What’s been the best sporting event you’ve covered?
One game was when the Patriots were in the Super Bowl. It was their perfect season and they were facing the Giants and had they won that, they would have finished with a perfect season and New England was winning late, but then of course the Giants came back and won the game. Then I had to interview Bill Belichick after the game. Then I had a situation in college football where Boise State was playing Oklahoma when a player [Ian Johnson], who was one of the heroes, proposed to his girlfriend afterwards. Johnson, who I was interviewing about the game, said he wanted to propose to his girlfriend on national television. So I rushed through that, thinking he maybe forgot, so that stood out. Then there was a moment as a reporter for the Red Sox. We were doing the World Series when the Red Sox finally broke through. I was the first the guy on the field and to interview the players and I’m not a Red Sox fan but for them and their history it was a special moment.
Why did you decide to come speak with students at Cal State Long Beach?
There are two reasons for that. One is when I was younger, anytime someone came to our school to speak about the things I was interested in, it had an impact. There were people that left impressions about sports and broadcasting and whenever you’re young and the more you hear from real people who are the real jobs that is always helpful. And two is a little selfish, I always learned from doing these types of things. You hear what people are asking about the profession, what’s important to them, the profession sometimes changes or things in the profession. It’s kind of a win-win, they might learn from me and my experience, but I’ll take their enthusiasm and their curiosity with me and carry it forward.
What kind of advice do you have for student journalists and public relations students looking to go into the field?
The simple things for any job I always say: show up on time, get along with people and do more than the job is required– and those three things can apply to anything. In broadcasting, I would add to that; versatility and contacts are important and variety. And by versatility, be able to do different types of jobs, for variety have your interests lightning up so if someone says can you write something, can you report on something, can you cover a light story or can you cover a news story, [you can]. That’s where some journalism comes in; be aware of the difference. And contacts are important, [having] an internship, getting hands-on experience and also watching people in the business to see what works for you and what doesn’t.