By Johanna Huybers, Arizona Republic
Lynn Worthy is a sportswriter for the Binghamton Press & Sun-Bulletin.
JH: Why did you apply for the fellowship?
LW: It was suggested as a way to meet other journalists from other parts of the country and who are working in different newsrooms. The idea being to get some insight on how others are going about serving their readers on a daily basis, and develop some more relationships within the business.
JH: What do you want to get out of the fellowship?
LW: I hope to make some friendships and meet some journalists like myself and develop relationships where we can serve as sounding boards, advisers and confidants for one another. I also hope to learn more about the APSE and its membership and meet some experienced journalists who can help me shape my career path and accomplish my career goals.
JH: Why are you a sports journalist?
LW: I love sports and the types of people you find involved in sports, the rich stories, the emotion the events draw out of participants and spectators. I believe a good sports story is a good story that involves sports. I enjoy sharing good stories that inform, entertain and inspire readers.
JH: What are you most proud of in your career?
LW: Versatility. I’ve interned in news and held a position that was focused entirely on the web. I’ve been the guy on the scene to report on fires or automobile accidents. I’ve covered school committee meetings and local government budget discussions. I’ve also been the guy visiting police stations and checking arrest logs and accident reports. I’ve covered sports from the youth level up through the professional ranks, and I’ve covered a wide range of sports. I’ve won awards for columns/analysis as well as features. I’ve also used various platforms in my reporting for about as long as I’ve been reporting.
JH: What advice would you give to your younger self?
LW: Remain curious about things outside of sports and your profession. Remember that the foundation of reporting doesn’t change despite all the bells and whistles that may come and go. That knowledge should always be a source of confidence. Don’t be afraid to zig when others zag.
JH: Is there someone who shaped your career? How has that person influenced you?
LW: There are several people who’ve shaped my career. I’d start with my parents for both their encouragement and instilling things like work ethic and a sense of right and wrong as well as how to treat people. The editors and writers I worked with at The Lowell Sun in Lowell, Mass., also played a big role. Not only was that my hometown paper growing up, but it was where I interned and first worked as a full-time sports reporter. Marc Spears of Yahoo! Sports and the National Association of Black Journalists has also been someone who I’ve looked to as a mentor. Matt Traub, my former editor in Binghamton, has also been a person I’ve looked to as a mentor and an adviser.
JH: What are your career goals?
LW: Before I’m done writing and reporting on a full-time basis, I want to be a national writer focused on one sport for a daily newspaper and/or website, and I also want to progress to the role of a full-time sports columnist.
JH: Where do you have the most room to improve?
LW: Because I’ve worked in places where I’ve always juggled multiple duties, I haven’t had the opportunity to focus solely on one team/beat. I look forward to the challenges of covering a single beat on a year-round basis, but I haven’t been in that situation thus far in my career.
JH: What are you currently reading?
LW: I recently finished reading the book “Molina” by former major-league catcher Bengie Molina with Joan Ryan. I liked the book because it was as much a story about a family as it was about baseball.
JH: Tell us who you are in one word.
LW: Storyteller.
