Sports Media Program

The Bachelor of Arts in sports media is specifically geared toward students seeking communication careers in sports-related fields, such as sports journalism, sports broadcasting, public relations, marketing communications, and sports information.

Like all Jandoli School of Communication programs, sports media is accredited by the Accrediting Council on Education in Journalism and Mass Communications.

A focus on fundamentals

Students enrolled in the major learn the same solid communications fundamentals as in the Jandoli School's undergraduate majors in journalism, strategic communication and broadcast journalism. They then focus on sports-related classes including "Sports Writing," "Sports Commentary and Analysis," "Sports Photojournalism," and more.

A primary focus of the sports media program is equipping students with solid writing skills, the bedrock on which all successful sports media careers rest.

Internships & opportunities: Put your education to work

St. Bonaventure's NCAA Division I athletics program, with nine men's and eight women's sports, offers sport media majors the opportunity to learn while doing, without leaving campus. Jandoli School students broadcast the university's D-I games on ESPN+. It's just one of a number of on- and off-campus internship opportunities available to our students.

All Jandoli School majors are required to complete 400 hours of internships, a combination of on-campus and off-campus experiences.

Internship Requirements
Campus Media Opportunities

Adrian "Woj" Wojnarowski, ESPN's Senior NBA Insider, speaks during the induction of his friend and fellow SBU graduate Michael Vaccaro (in sportcoat), lead sports columnist at the New York Post, onto the Jandoli School's Wall of Distinguished Graduates.

Jandoli grads achieve success, from ESPN to USA Today

Graduates of the Jandoli School hold some of the most prominent positions in the most respected sports media organizations in the country.

Adrion "Woj" Wojnarowski, Class of 1991, Senior NBA Insider at ESPN, has long been considered the most dominant force in reporting on the NBA. He has been named National Sportswriter of the Year three times by the National Sports Media Association.

Woj's good friend, Mike Vaccaro, Class of 1989, lead sports columnist for the New York Post, has a trifecta of his own, having been named New York Sportswriter of the Year three times by The National Sportscasters and Sportswriters Association.

Donna Ditota, '83, sports reporter for Syracuse Media Group, is the first woman to be named New York Sportswriter of the Year by the National Sports Media Association. Ditota has also been selected for the U.S. Basketball Writers Association Hall of Fame.

Tim Bontemps, '07, is an NBA writer for ESPN; Rachel Axon, '06, is a sports investigative reporter for USA Today; and Todd Dybas, '99, is a senior writer at NBC Sports Washington..

Jandoli Graduates in Sports Media

Program Information

Sociology professor explains how emotions drive decisions on politics and policy

Aug 04, 2020

A St. Bonaventure University associate professor contends that emotions have become more central to political life in America than facts and knowledge.

Dr. Benjamin Gross “Social scientists and journalists alike have largely been trained to think of the public as rational, unemotional, objective-minded information seekers who exchange ideas in a public space to create a more informed democracy,” Benjamin Gross of the Department of Sociology and Criminology wrote in a research essay posted by the Jandoli Institute. “Today’s political media ecosystem seems to be more tribal, more emotional, and more apt to denounce fact in favor of fiction.”

Gross’ paper, ”Identity over Information: A Sociological Explanation to Why President Trump Can Get Away with Saying Anything,” is the seventh research essay in the Jandoli Institute’s summer Media Studies Across Disciplines project.

In the paper, Gross argues that polarization toward parties and their members influences how people feel about the news media. Americans have “grown quick to reject media reports (and entire news organizations) as biased,” he wrote. “Rebuilding broken trust between news audiences and journalists would be helpful, although it is not clear how that will be achieved.”

Gross also explores the manner in which President Donald J. Trump has used an “identity-first political news media landscape” to strengthen support among his base.

“The way that Trump has used anger and emotion to consistently make political differences salient in the minds of audience members puts these forces into overdrive,” he wrote.

Since June 23, the institute has posted a new Media Studies Across Disciplines essay on its website every Tuesday. The series will continue through Aug. 11.

The essays were authored by St. Bonaventure faculty members who used their knowledge and expertise to provide insight and analysis from their own individual perspectives. Faculty from the biology, history, nursing, philosophy and sociology departments contributed to the project, which was funded by the Leo E. Keenan Jr. Faculty Development Endowment and the Jandoli School of Communication. The essays were selected through a blind peer-review process.

The Jandoli Institute serves as a forum for academic research, creative ideas and discussion on the intersection between media and democracy. The institute, accessible at jandoli.net, is part of the Jandoli School of Communication at St. Bonaventure University.