Rob Werner: ‘I’ve had great opportunities’ in Phoenix

Rob is a fourth-year Cronkite student who elected to live in the Downtown Phoenix campus for all of his years in college. According to him, it was the professional opportunities that motivated him to stay, despite working multiple hours per week in Tempe covering Arizona State athletics.

The Downtown Phoenix campus provides plenty of benefits for sports journalism students. The facilities for two of Arizona’s professional teams, the Phoenix Suns and Arizona Diamondbacks, are about a 10-minute walk from the Cronkite School, enabling students the chance to attend games as well as coverage opportunities through internships and professional programs.

On top of that, the school is located near Arizona’s NBC affiliate, 12 News, and is tied directly with production opportunities at PBS. These stations provide students the opportunity to network with other professional journalists and take advantage of some unique experiences while in school.

But not every opportunity is available in Phoenix. Many of the student-led clubs, as well as some professional internships, seek heavy involvement while covering ASU’s athletic teams. These chances exist for the biggest sports, such as football, and small-scale sports like volleyball to get multiple students involved.

Typically, as Cronkite journalists progress through school, they receive more opportunities with larger sports. Over the last two years, I’ve covered football and men’s basketball as a print journalist through a student-led organization and now with Sun Devil Source, ASU’s website on the 247Sports network. Because of their magnitude, these sports require a lot of work and often several hours in Tempe, where the practice facilities and stadiums are located.

After his first year in college, Rob was able to have his car in Downtown Phoenix, enabling him to transport back and forth between the city and Tempe for his work at Sun Devil Source. If he didn’t have it, however, it could’ve been a different story.