My name is James Lotts and I’ll be honest – I never really planned on getting into journalism growing up. I knew I always wanted to be in the sports world in some capacity and my dream job was always being an athletic trainer for a professional sports organization. I actually began this journey when I went to Northern Arizona University as an exercise science major. I chose NAU because I had lived in Surprise, Arizona for my entire life at that point and I wanted some change. After only one semester of nearly all science classes, I learned my real passion wasn’t in sports medicine. I actually wasn’t sure what I wanted to do. That’s when I found journalism.
After two years of living in Flagstaff at Northern Arizona University, I was in a pretty bad spot mentally. I had switched to journalism for my major and I just felt kind of lost. NAU didn’t have a sports journalism program and the most fun I had was working at the student radio station, KJACK. I had my own show where I had total creative control over the subject and songs I played during that hour. My show was called “Life is a Movie” and I just talked about my favorite movies. It helped me find my voice and gain some confidence in that voice. The COVID pandemic happened during my sophomore year and cut my time at KJACK short. I decided that I needed a change and I took a break from school. After that break where I worked everyday for about a year, I was ready to get back into the swing of things and finish up my degree. I decided to stay at home and transferred to Arizona State University in pursuit of a journalism degree.
Originally, I wanted to pursue a sports journalism degree, but I was told it would add a lot of time to my graduation schedule. I settled for plain old news journalism and after a semester of news journalism I had to ask my advisor about sports journalism again. I didn’t feel like I was using my full potential because I wasn’t interested in anything I was covering. After speaking to my advisor again, the school credited me for my classes as a journalism major and I switched to sports journalism which led me here today. I have a passion for telling the stories of athletes. I love learning about what makes them tick and who they are off the court, field, ice or whatever they play on. Sports writing is something that makes me feel fulfilled. Attending Cronkite has been one of the best experiences of my life.
The thing I love most about sports journalism is there is some room for opinion. Despite the criticism many people in the sports media world get for their takes, I think it’s important that everyone is allowed to voice their take. The reason I took this class is because I want to learn how to form a more thought out and informed opinion. I think one of the problems the industry will end up facing is determining who is throwing out hot takes for the sake of it and who actually has a formed thought about things. That’s what makes me excited for this class because I believe it will better prepare me to enter the world of sports journalism knowing that I am qualified to speak on certain topics.
