KOKOMO, Ind. — With a love of sports and writing, a career in sports media is a perfect fit for Toby Turner.
He gained hands-on experience as an intern with the Indiana University Kokomo athletic department, crafting home game recaps, running production and cameras, and navigating other aspects of working for a college athletic department.
“I’ve always been into sports, pretty much my whole life,” said Turner, a senior from Peru. “I realized this field made sense for me. Sports media is a broad field, so there are lots of options for me to go into.”
He doesn’t have a concrete plan for after he graduates from IU Kokomo in May, but does have an idea of a long-term goal.
“When I think about my highest goals in the field, I think about being involved in television or radio for a company like ESPN,” he said.
Turner has worked for the athletic department for nearly two school academic years, in addition to writing sports stories for The Correspondent, the campus newspaper. He’s especially proud to have written for the IU Kokomo alumni magazine.
“I wrote a long form article about all the sports on campus,” he said. “It was a great experience. I loved it. I do a lot of recap articles, so it’s more fun when I get to do a more specific niche assignment.”
Brent Martin, assistant athletic director-communications, said Turner has been a dependable part of the sports communication team.
“Toby has been a huge help in the department, from writing game recaps to producing our livestream for soccer and baseball,” he said. “He’s also been in charge of fan engagement through DJing at volleyball and basketball games.”
Turner learned about the internship opportunity in a journalism class with Erin Doss, associate professor of communication art.
“The athletic director gave a presentation to our class about opportunities in athletics,” he said. “Dr. Doss told him, ‘This is your guy, I think he would be interested.’ I reached out over email, and that’s how I was able to get involved.”
The internship and Doss’s class helped him confirm his career choice.
“When I came to IU Kokomo, I had chosen my major, but I wasn’t sure it was quite right,” he said. “As I took more and more communication classes, I started to realize this was what I wanted to do. I had great classes with Dr. Doss, and that solidified my interest in the field.”
Doss commended Turner for his passion for sports, and his enthusiasm for writing on the subject.
“He is an excellent sportswriter and enjoyed helping other students understand how to read and write sports stories,” she said. “He has continued to develop his writing skills through working in the athletic department and writing regular game and match website summaries. I have enjoyed watching him grow and develop as a sportswriter and am excited to see where he goes with his career.”
Education is KEY at Indiana University Kokomo.
