Sports Division

Welcome to BEA's Sports Division, established in April 2008.  For a long time sports wore the tag of the "toy store." No serious study of the media could include a look at sports.  But, times have changed. Academics as well as non-academics have seen that, for better or worse, sports are an essential element of U.S. and worldwide culture. This has led to a surge in academic organizations that recognize and embrace sports as a legitimate intellectual pursuit.  A number of academic journals have been developed all devoted to sports, and schools that have sports-related classes, and even majors, are growing in number as we speak.  All of those things helped spur BEA to begin a Sports Division.

Sports Division Bylaws 

Sports Programs & Partnerships Survey
We are interested in learning more about academic sports programs, the students they produce and any sports media company partnerships that schools have with companies like ESPN and CBS Sports.  Partnerships can be defined as jointly produced training workshops, use of students or faculty to film/record and/or edit sporting events, assistance in developing curriculum, etc.  Please fill out this brief survey to help us understand more about the collaborative efforts between educational institutions and sports media companies.  The survey will only take a few minutes of your time to complete and will help give us valuable information.  Thank you in advance for your input.

Leadership

Chair
Kenneth Fischer
Oklahoma University
Gaylord College of Journalism & Mass Communication
395 W. Lindsey
Norman, OK 73019-4201
Office: 405-325-4220 | Fax: 405-325-7565 | kfischer@ou.edu

Vice Chair
Wayne Hepler
Harford Community College
Visual, Applied and Performing Arts
401 Thomas Run Road
Bel Air, MD 21015
Office: 443-412-2358 | whepler@harford.edu

Web Manager & Newsletter Editor
Steve Hill
University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point
Division of Communication
CAC 329, 1101 Reserve St.
Stevens Point, WI 54481
Office: 715-346-3887 | shill@uwsp.edu

Paper Competition
Rob Bellamy
Duquesne University
Department of Journalism and Multimedia Arts
600 Forbes Avenue
Pittsburgh, PA 15282
Office: 412-606-5045 | bellamy@duq.edu

Student Production Competition Coordinator
Tommy Booras
Western Kentucky University
School of Journalism & Broadcasting
1906 College Heights Blvd., #11070
Bowling Green, KY 42101-1070
Office: 270-745-6497 | Fax: 270-745-5835 | tommy.booras@wku.edu

Faculty Production Competition Coordinator
Denise Belafonte-Young
Lynn University
3601 N Military Trl
Boca Raton, FL  33431-5598
Office: 561-237-7334 | DBelafonte@lynn.edu