Christian Clark
Sports journalist catches new experiences
By Julian Berger
Christian Clark has returned to UNC-Chapel Hill’s School of Media and Journalism this week for the Chuck Stone Program to gain more experience in media. It’s been less than a week since he attended another journalism program there.
The aspiring sports journalist just attended the Carolina Sports Journalism Camp led by Tim Crothers, which had broadened Christian’s knowledge in the subject. He was able to learn many aspects of sports journalism, such as sports articles, broadcasting, interviews, and social media.
“My dream is doing something related to sports broadcasting,” he said. “I thought it was really cool how I could practice applying what I had learned in the classroom and then immediately go out and interview UNC basketball player Theo Pinson or even UNC soccer player Megan Buckingham.”
Christian’s passion for sports started when he played football as a freshman for Cosby High School in Moseley, Virginia. He decided to stop playing the sport since he didn’t agree with the culture of the football team since some members of the team partook in substance abuse and spoke in vulgar language. Christian switched gears in his hobby of sports and decided to pursue sports journalism.
Although only 17 years old, Christian has been the sole creator of his own online sports network, NFL Updates Express, for more than four years. His role in the network includes creating weekly recap videos about NFL games. Christian also sporadically has guest speakers on his network such as colleague, Dylan Moore.
“My channel has helped me to develop my skills because I can listen to myself and I can see how I’ve grown,” he said. “I also listen to other broadcasters and I’ve learned from them. So when I do my YouTube videos, I grow my skills in NFL Updates Express.”
Christian lives in a small town while having big dreams and believes that attending the Chuck Stone Program will help him step into the field of sports journalism.
“There are a lot of people right now sitting on their couch, maybe not knowing what they want to do, but I think it’s really important to get out there in the world and meet people who can help me further my knowledge in the field,” he said.
In addition to gaining experience at the summer programs at UNC, Christian plans to study broadcast journalism at a university. Meanwhile, Christian is patiently waiting to reach his dream job as a sports broadcaster on ESPN.
“I feel like everyone has a story to tell, and I believe that people’s stories have inspired me to tell my own stories.”