LaChina Robinson, a former women’s college basketball player and accomplished national broadcaster, will join the East Tennessee chapter of the Society for Professional Journalists in a virtual forum on Tuesday, Feb. 21, to discuss co-founding Rising Media Stars.
She will talk about why she did it and what impact Rising Media Stars has had to help women of color gain positions in sports broadcasting.
At-a-Glance Forum Details: Tuesday, Feb. 21, 12-1 p.m. (EST), via Zoom at https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82589324086.
Robinson will explain the challenges of breaking into the broadcasting industry and how she has reached back to bring more women of color with her.
One of the graduates of Rising Media Stars is Andraya Carter, a University of Tennessee graduate and former Lady Vols basketball player.
The forum is being held in February as part of Black History Month and to boost ETSPJ’s efforts to provide programs that are representative and diverse.
Rising Media Stars is a program designed to help women of color gain positions in sports broadcasting.
Participants in the program shadow a broadcaster through the process from pre-production to game day, attend classroom sessions, get one-on-one mentoring from professional broadcasters and get a final reel of on-camera game day experiences and interviews that can be used as an employment tool.
Since the program began with co-founder Kevin Nixon in 2016, dozens of women have completed the process, including Andraya Carter, a University of Tennessee graduate and former Lady Vols basketball player.
Robinson joined ESPN in 2009 as a college basketball analyst and reporter, and her work has expanded into coverage of women’s basketball major events, including the NCAA Tournament, Women’s Final Four, WNBA Playoffs, Finals and Draft.
She also hosts the WNBA-themed “Around The Rim” video series on ESPN’s YouTube channel and originally launched “Around the Rim” as a women’s basketball podcast for espnW, which she hosted for six years.
Robinson has earned the Dawn Staley Excellence in Broadcasting Award (2018) and the prestigious Mel Greenberg Award (2021), which is presented annually to a member of the media or sports communications professional who best displays a commitment to women’s basketball and to advancing the role of the media in the women’s game.
She became just the second Black woman to win the award in its 30 years of existence – following in the footsteps of one of her mentors, Robin Roberts, in 2001.
In 2020, Robinson was recognized with the Giving Gracefully Award as co-founder of Rising Media Stars.
She played basketball at Wake Forest University and earned All-ACC recognition both in the classroom and on the court. A four-year starter for the Demon Deacons and a member of the 1999 ACC All-Freshman Team, she graduated with a bachelor’s degree in sociology.
Robinson makes her home in Atlanta.