My name is James Morel and I am a Sports Journalism major at the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism. I was born in Mount Prospect, Illinois and later moved to Hampshire, IL where I lived for 11 years before moving to Surprise, Arizona.
My love for sports guided me to where I am today as I played Football, Basketball and Baseball growing up but gave it up at the end of High School to pursue a career in Journalism.
Growing up I loved writing and found that for some it’s a way to give a voice to the voiceless, which is why I fell in love with the idea of attending Cronkite.
It felt like now is the perfect time to chase down a career in journalism simply because of where we are in the world, we live in a world that is striving for fair representation and equality which leads to commentary being so important. Which is also why I took this class, not only for my love of Sports but also to write human stories that matter and that carry emotional weight, which is something I think is being lost over time with the advancement of technology and the obsession of being first.
In the sports world alone we have seen time and time again reporters try to be the first to stories and be incorrect like, Tom Brady’s retirement or “Arson Judge” to the Giants tweet. These inaccuracies are so detrimental because not only does it hurt their reputation, it hurts the reputation of the industry as a whole.
We also live in a world with everything at our fingertips and over the last year we’ve seen time and time again the dangers of technology like AI and how it can affect the playing field for Journalists and Writers. In 2023 there were events like the SAG-AFTRA strikes showing we are at a real risk of technology extending too far and it’s leading to stories that lack any human element, which is something I believe the new generation of Journalists and Writers should fight hard to save.
