Loral Winn stands on the playing field.
A student at the University of Mississippi’s College of Journalism and New Media was recently selected as one of five SEC/CBS Sports Title IX Ambassadors for the SEC Football Tournament, a program that educates young women about sports journalism, media, and broadcasting.
We asked Winn a few questions about herself and the opportunity ahead of her participation in November and December.
The Dresden, Tennessee native studied television and video storytelling while minoring in Spanish. In her fifth year of athletic eligibility, she will work towards a master’s degree in journalism.
It is also worth noting that the School of Journalism and New Media has added a Beginning in the fall, a sports journalism focus will be offered to incoming students.
Q: Can you tell us a little bit about your background?
A: I ran cross country and track at Ole Miss, which was one of the main reasons I even started looking at this college as a potential future college. However, during my official visit, I fell in love with the campus and community, and was impressed with Ole Miss’ top journalism program. I knew almost immediately that this was where I wanted to spend the next few years of my life as a student and athlete.
Q. For those who don’t understand what this opportunity is, can you explain? How did you know?
A. The Southeastern Conference (SEC) is celebrating Title IX in February 2022 with a campaign titled “Title IX 50th Anniversary – Creating Opportunity.” One initiative in that campaign is the SEC’s partnership with CBS Sports to create a program called Title IX Ambassadors. The SEC said the program “is designed to educate young women about the inner workings of careers in sports journalism, media and broadcasting.”
I was fortunate enough, with the help of Laverne Gilbert, Director of Social Responsibility and Engagement in our University Athletic Department, to be selected by the SEC as one of five women to cover (travel to) the SEC Football Tournament in Atlanta, Georgia November 30-Dec 3 days.
Ravin has done a fantastic job helping each of Ole Miss’ student-athletes find exemplary internships and opportunities, as well as jobs after graduation. She excelled in her role, helped me get my foot in the door with the SEC, and helped me find opportunities as a promising future sports broadcaster. With her help, I’ve been able to do some really neat things.
While covering the championship game, I will follow CBS producers, directors, on-air talent, operations executives and executives while being able to interact with them and ask questions about their jobs and positions.
Q: What do you hope to gain or gain from participating?
A: For me, it was a very unique opportunity to meet and talk to people who work in television and sports broadcasting, which is not always easy for students to do. Rarely do you get the chance to sit down with CBS Sports producers, directors and broadcasters. I’m excited to learn from the people I follow and gain an in-depth, up-close look at what major sporting events are covered.
I’ll be in Atlanta for a few days, which means I’ll be following the same schedule as the CBS live talent as they interview coaches and players and get ready to cover games. I’m really excited about this opportunity and plan to absorb all the knowledge I can. This was a great stepping stone for the career I hope to pursue as a sports reporter and broadcaster after graduation.
Tags: CBS Sports, Loral Winn, MS, Ole Miss, Oxford, SEC, sports, sports broadcast, sports news, Title IX, University of Mississippi, women in sports
