‘Be First, Head First:’ The Journalistic Adventure of a UNR Sports Podcaster
A story of why it’s never too late to start building your career.
Pack Center, the only student run sports podcast in University of Nevada, Reno, and its current host Austin Paschke have been indispensable in supporting Pack sports and providing game news on air. Although journalism was made his major only a year and a half ago, Paschke has laid a solid career foundation by hosting a sports podcast and writing as a news editor at UNR. In terms of what motivated Paschke to be a sports journalist, his “go-for-it” spirit said it all.
What do you do as a host at Pack Center?
Before we had an editor, hosting involved setting up “the sheet,” getting all the background information for the sports, the talk points, and the statistics and facts that we want to bring up during the show. Then recording. And then editing — the bulk of everything. Editing took by far the most time because you want to get everything correct from the sound-mixing in music and the sound of mics. The last step is posting on social media. But the role of editing has been lifted off my shoulders as we got an editor a couple weeks ago. Thank god.
How long does it take to make an episode?
From the start of opening up Google doc to the end of posting it, making one episode could be a four-to-six-hour process. For a while, we were doing two episodes a week, so you’re looking at eight to 10 hours a week. With the editor, it takes around five hours to make one episode.
The difference between co-hosting and hosting is like a game play. The host is the one starting the play and giving the direction or the play call, while the co-host is the one that finishes at home [and] runs in for the touchdown.
You were a co-host before you took charge of the hosting part. What has been the biggest difference between co-hosting and hosting?
Definitely the editing. And then as a host I have to get the sheet together. Then it’s the show in general. The host is the one starting the play and giving the direction or the play call, while the co-host is the one that finishes at home [and] runs in for the touchdown. Other than that, there’s not really too much of a difference. You guys are both talking on air and doing the same work, but it’s just a little bit more responsibility for sure.
How has the experience of co-hosting helped you as a host?
Having someone be the host and learning from them was pretty big for me. And, once I became the host, I listened to myself back when I was the co-host. I noticed myself saying “um” a lot. I realized I had to become more fluent in my words, talk better on the air, and be more comfortable. Now I’ve gotten better just with the time.
What are the challenges that sports podcasting is facing?
One downside is the visual aspect. Humans are very, very visual people. Not having a visual component like broadcast news or ESPN is a hurdle that podcasts need to get over. My co-host and I have already been talking about getting at least one video podcast up before I graduate in May, setting a precedent of it. Now that we’ve gotten our feet solid in podcasting, it’s the natural next step for us to expand our horizons a little bit and get more people in.
Do you enjoy more as a podcaster or as a sports writer and why?
Though I do love writing, I would say podcasting is my favorite by close margin. Writing is very centralized on one subject whereas podcasting is a wide array of things. In podcast, we try to talk about every pack sport in everything. We give updates on swimming and diving while breaking down basketball and football. We have full range of doing whatever we want to do with it. Podcasting is where I have the most fun.
What motivates you as a podcaster and a news editor? What’s your ultimate goal in sports media?
Since I started late [as a journalism major], I wanted to really jump in. Be first, head first and just go for it. Just all in. I would say for me [it’s] just wanting to become the best journalist I really can. [It] takes a lot of time and effort, but anything worth doing is going to take a lot of time and effort. Ultimately I want to be one of the best sports journalists in the country. My goal is to be like Stephen A Smith. So hopefully I’m going to do big things in sports journalism. I don’t know what they are yet, but I’ll definitely keep pursuing it and keep fighting.
What suggestions you will give to those who are interested in sports media?
Get involved to do the most you could do. My big thing is I get involved and don’t stop working. It sounds cliché, but there’s always someone working harder than you. Journalism in general is all about just working hard at what you do. If you want to be a writer, write. If you want to be a podcast, do podcasts even if it’s just setting it up on your phone with your buddies. It’ll make you better in the long run. Don’t stop working. Put your head down and try to be the best you can. I think success will follow for sure.
Note: Quotes have been edited for clarity and brevity.
