Jemele Hill is an American Sports journalist who currently writes for The Atlantic and co-hosts Vice’s Cari & Jemele (Won’t) Stick to Sports. Jemele worked nearly 12 years for the sports conglomerate ESPN ad wrote a column for ESPN.com’s Page and formerly hosted ESPN’s His and Hers.
Hill is one of the most inspiring black journalists today, especially since she is a double minority – being an African-American and a woman. Hill’s career inspires me as she worked her way to the top of the journalistic totem pole through hard work and dedication.
Hill started her career as a general assignment sports writer for the Raleigh News & Observer. From 1999-2005, she became a sports writer with the Detroit Free Press, where she covered Michigan State football and basketball. During her time at the Free Press, she covered the 2004 Summer Olympics and the NBA Playoffs. Hill Worked hard during this time frame and obtained a job at the Orlando Sentinel from 2005-2006.
Through all of her accomplishments and accolades, the work that touched me the most by Jemele Hill was her tribute to the late NBA Legend Kobe Bryant in an article published in The Atlantic entitled “The Kobe I Knew Became a Champion for Others.”
Hill’s soliloquy about Kobe Bryant was beautiful as she elected to discard the traditional inverted pyramid seen in journalism and elected to tell her own personal narrative. She introduced the story stating her first real interaction with Kobe Bryant how they disagreed about dismissive comments toward the 2014 shooting death of Trayvon Martin.
One important component about Hill’s text that is important to note is that she did not use many in-text pictures of Kobe Bryant nor did she reference the video where she explained the dispute on Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen.
Posting the video as an in-text link would have made the post more emotional and surreal during her soliloquy of the late Kobe Bryant. The piece written by Jemele Hill is one of the most eye-opening and emotional pieces that I have ever read.
She continued in her story by stating she interviewed Kobe Bryant for the BET Awards prior to his final season in the NBA. She was successful in giving a brief history of Bryant’s accolades and his life after basketball.
Jemele Hill has always been adamant about her opinions and views. In September 2017, Hill created a series of tweets regarding former President Donald Trump, including the proclamation that he was a “white supremacist.” Trump demanded an apology and other political entities said it was a “fireable offense for ESPN.”
From my perspective, Hill’s bravery and poise as an African-American journalist and woman who is not afraid to defy the ethics of journalism and speak her mind for the greatest good of her people. I aspire to write my stories like Jemele Hill and become the multimedia personality that she has grown to be. She embodies the ethics of moral journalism, spirituality, and love for all mankind … even at the expense of her career.
To read the story about Kobe Bryant visit: https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2020/01/kobe-bryant-i-knew/605560/
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