Indiana University

National Sports Journalism Center

Based at IUPUI with programs at IU Bloomington SPORTSJOURNALISM.org

Our Programs


The highest priority of the National Sports Journalism Center is to provide a high-quality education in sports media for our undergraduate and graduate students.

Dave Kindred (left), George Solomon (middle) and Kit O’Meara — daughter of Red Smith — at Red Smith Hall of Fame Opening on IUPUI campus in April 2009
– Zach Hetrick/Photo
  • In fall 2010, the center is offering four undergraduate sports journalism courses on the IUPUI and Bloomington campuses. All of those classes are being offered via videoconference between the campuses. Our undergraduate sports courses, along with the broader journalism curriculum offered by the university, will help prepare students for careers in online, print, broadcasting and public relations.
  • Beginning with this fall's semester, the center is welcoming its first class of students in the master's degree program in sports journalism on the IUPUI campus. This is the nation's only graduate degree program in sports journalism.
  • In addition to the academic courses, the center has launched a speaker series that features prominent national sports journalists, athletes, academics and administrators discussing the major sports media issues of the day. Several of these events also are aired nationally on the Big Ten Network and Indiana public television.
  • The center is creating real-world experiences for its students. Last spring, the center partnered with the NCAA on the creation of the first Student News Bureau at the men's basketball Final Four in Indianapolis. A dozen students were selected to cover the games and the festivities in the city, and their stories were distributed to more than 70 commercial and student publications around the nation. The center also will operate a Student News Bureau at the women's Final Four in Indianapolis next spring. Other programs are in the works.
  • With this website, the NSJC has built the nation’s most comprehensive forum for breaking news and discussion of major issues in sports media.
  • The center, home of the Associated Press Sports Editors and its Red Smith Award Hall of Fame, also is a national resource for training of current sports media professionals in this rapidly changing environment. The NSJC, working with other professional organizations and universities, offers seminars on topics of interest to professional sports journalists.
  • Finally, in summer 2010 the center hosted its first Diversity Sports Media Institute for inner city students who are interested in pursuing careers in sports journalism. The program was made possible through a grant from the McCormick Foundation.
Learn more:

Contact us for more information about courses and programs, or schedule a visit:
  • NSJC Director Tim Franklin
    Indiana University
    School of Journalism
    535 W. Michigan Street
    Indianapolis, IN 46202
    IUPUI phone: (317) 278-5335
    IU Bloomington phone: (812) 855-2949

For questions about the graduate program and admissions, please contact:
  • NSJC Academic Director Pamela C. Laucella
    Indiana University
    School of Journalism
    535 W. Michigan Street
    Indianapolis, IN 46202
    IUPUI phone: (317) 278-5334

Our Voices

Eric Deggans
on Sports Broadcasting
Eric Deggans

Changing Lanes creator takes difficult, uncharted path

Aug 31, 2010

It’s tough enough to challenge prejudice when you’re just looking at one side of the equation. So what can you say about a guy who has chosen to bite off both sides of the problem in tackling NASCAR’s historic focus on white guys driving cars? Already a pioneering African American in the sport, Max Siegel is attempting the equivalent of walking while chewing gum as you execute an Olympic-level backflip off a balance beam perched on top of Mount Everest. He’s going to put NASCAR on Black Entertainment Television.

Jason Fry
on Sports New Media
Jason Fry

The Curious Case of Jerod Morris and Damien Cox

Aug 30, 2010

Two summers, two columns, two different results. Last summer, Jerod Morris of Midwest Sports Fans wrote a blog post about Raul Ibanez of the Philadelphia Phillies and the excellent season he was putting together. Responding to jibes from a fellow fantasy-baseball GM, Morris tried to prove it was unfair to speculate that Ibanez’s numbers were the result of performance-enhancing drugs. He reluctantly concluded that he couldn’t single out other factors that would clear Ibanez of suspicion, and blamed Major League Baseball for the fact that such suspicions are now routine.

Dave Kindred
on Sports Writing
Dave Kindred

Building the brand? Or losing one’s freakin’ mind?

Aug 27, 2010

More than once, frightening things have happened to me on the golf course, though I’m hard-pressed to remember a more chilling moment than occurred one morning on the first tee when the producer of the ESPN teevee thing, “Around the Horn,” asked if I’d like to be on the show. This was early in the long, successful, rollicking life of ATH. My pal Woody Paige was in the rudimentary stages of developing his ATH persona, which he would come to define memorably: “I am not an idiot, I just play one on TV.”

The Buzz

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