ESPN.com, ESPN The Magazine Editor-In-Chief Chad Millman on ESPN’s National Headliner Awards citations
· Wright Thompson – First Place – Magazine Feature Writing by an Individual on a Variety of Subjects
· Chris Jones – First Place – Magazine Column
· Rob King and Patrick Stiegman for ESPN.com – First Place – Television Affiliated Website
· Bonnie Ford, Don Van Natta Jr., David Fleming and Paul Kix for Outside the Lines – Third Place – Online-Only Writing
· Victor Vitarelli, Jose Morales, Valerie Gordon and Lauren Stowell for “Richie Parker: Drive” – Third Place – Broadcast Feature, Sports or Human Interest
The National Headliner Awards recently named its 2014 recipients, and multiple honorees from ESPN were selected for outstanding achievement in print, digital and broadcast categories.
As newly appointed editor-in-chief of ESPN.com and ESPN The Magazine, Chad Millman spoke to Front Row about the significance of the awards and what it says about ESPN’s multiplatform journalism:
What does it mean for you, in your new roles, to see both print and online divisions at ESPN honored with first place citations by the National Headliner Awards?
Obviously, I’m thrilled for everyone who was honored. Especially so because, long before my new gig, the two groups were working pretty seamlessly together, especially from an enterprise perspective. You see the blurring of the lines in the stories that were mentioned in all the categories.
Senior writer at ESPN The Magazine and ESPN.com, Wright Thompson and ESPN The Magazine back page columnist Chris Jones are consistently strong storytellers. What about their work in 2013 stood out to you?
Mostly the consistency. For both of them, every story raised the bar for the next one, and for everyone else writing for both print and digital.
(Joe Faraoni/ESPN images)
What do you think is the biggest accomplishment in ESPN.com’s online journalism that you hope to carry on, now that the EIC torch has been passed to you from your predecessors Senior Vice President, SportsCenter and News, Rob King, and Vice President and Editorial Director, ESPN Digital and Print Media, Patrick Stiegman?
Rob and Patrick collectively oversaw more growth in terms of quality, quantity and traffic than any editor before them. And fortunately, Patrick will still be influencing the direction we’re going. More than anything though, it’s been innovation. Both of them have been incredibly smart about marrying what’s available technologically with how people are consuming information to deliver on the promise of what espn.com can be.
Rob Tobias contributed to this post
