John Denton was presented with the Communications Department Distinguished Alumni award at the 2021 Communications Department Awards Ceremony on Thursday, April 15.
Denton graduated from UTM in 1992 and is an alumnus of the News-Editorial sequence. He worked as a sports writer for the Orlando Magic for 10 years before the pandemic hit in 2020 and the Orlando Magic laid-off thirty-one of its sports writers. Now, he is a free-agent sports writer.
He grew up in Milan, Tennessee and attended the University of Tennessee at Martin, where he worked towards his goal of being an sports writer.
This year’s Communications Department Awards Ceremony was held via Zoom. Faculty, staff and students attended the ceremony online, and there was no in-person element.
After the awards ceremony, Denton spoke about his career to those who chose to stay after. He spoke about the many places his career has taken him all over the world, from San Diego to Shanghai to Australia.
“I just want to encourage you guys that anything is possible. UT Martin is a perfect launching point. You have excellent teachers today, we have excellent students. Take that money, take those awards, and let that fuel your passion,” Denton said to those who received awards and scholarships at the awards ceremony.
He then walked viewers through a slideshow of pictures from his career. He discussed the famous players whom he had the pleasure to work with, and provided tips on interview conduct when interviewing an athlete. He emphasized the importance of making eye contact, researching your subject and asking good questions. He said that these things will help you establish relationships with the players, which can make interviews easier.
He discussed what it was like to be in a “scrum,” a room where a pack of reporters were allowed to ask athletes questions. He said that there could be anywhere from two to 30 reporters in a scrum, so you had to ensure you were asking good, important questions, including those that may be more demanding for an athlete to answer.
Throughout his discussion, Denton reminded students that it is important to appreciate the process that may come before you reach the career you’re working towards. He said that you will probably not work in the job you want right away. He encouraged students to take advantage of any opportunity that will allow you to practice.
“Regardless of how many reps you get, you gotta keep pinching yourself and realizing how lucky you are, ” Denton said when explaining the importance of remembering that you can always get better and improve.
Denton spoke on the constantly changing nature of working in the media. Throughout his career as a sports writer, he has experienced major changes to the career that he had to quickly adapt to. Now, a writer is expected to do so much more than write and edit.
“In this business, as you guys know, it’s an ever-evolving business. You’ve gotta be able to do TV, you’ve gotta be able to do podcasts, you’ve gotta be able to film stuff, write. If you can do a little bit of everything, that makes you more valuable to prospective employers,” Denton said.
While looking back on many of his favorite interviews, Denton reminisced on a time in Shanghai where he got to eat pizza with LeBron James and Drew Gooden. He said that moments like these are what fuel his passion. He reiterated that passion is crucial to your career because it’s what motivates you.
The end of the Zoom was opened for questions from students and faculty. Dr. Andrew Brown, professor of Communications, asked Denton how he handled going from just a writer to working with the NBA and being on TV and having to juggle all the demands of working with different formats.
Denton then emphasized the importance of educating yourself on the field you want to work in to become an expert on it. He said to follow the people who are the best at what you want to do to learn from them because you have to know these things to be successful.
“If you understand your subject matter and you’re passionate about it, and you understand your subject matter, you’ll can talk about it, and your passion will come through,” Denton said to students.
