Columbia Journalism has launched a sports reporting YouTube channel for students training in broadcast journalism: CJS Sports.
Students manage and produce the channel as part of their broadcast training course “Video Newsroom: Sports,” with guidance from Adjunct Professor Jim Bittel, the school’s assistant dean of Broadcast and Multimedia Technology.
"We have long had students interested in sports journalism but lacked a dedicated multimedia course that would allow them to develop the skills needed to report on sports both on and off the field,” he said. “These reporting skills are a natural extension of the strong journalism foundation we teach at the J-School.”
Students have produced eight more episodes since the launch, including coverage of the Columbia University fencing team winning the Ivy League championship, a season preview of the women’s lacrosse team and a feature on the men’s basketball team’s honoring Coaches vs. Cancer Week, a nationwide event in collaboration with the American Cancer Society and National Association of Basketball Coaches initiative where coaches wear sneakers with suits to raise awareness and funds for cancer research.
“Having a course like this gives students a real foundation of pitching, shooting, writing, editing and producing sports packages in collaboration with Columbia Athletics,” said Victoria Newsome, ‘26 M.S., President of the CJS Class of 2026. “ I hope the class shows future applicants that sports reporting is a serious path at Columbia Journalism, that they can develop those skills here, tell local sports stories in the best city in the world and learn how to report on some of the biggest professional teams in the area.”
The students involved in the new sports channel are prime candidates for the David Marr Memorial Scholarship Fund, named in honor of the PGA champion golfer and sportscaster. The scholarship was established in 2002 thanks to the generosity of the Metropolitan Golf Writers Association. Each year, the Dave Marr Scholarship is awarded to a Columbia Journalism School student with financial need who expresses interest in pursuing a career in sports journalism.