Back On The World Cup, Back On The World
I made a brief cameo on The World yesterday. It was a cool full-circle moment for me.
My journalism career started with a trip. I went to South Africa to cover the 2010 World Cup — the first time the tournament had been held on African soil. Truth be told, I really just a wanted to have a big adventure, experience the tournament (the allure of Cape Town was strong), and get as much reporting experience as I could. I had hopes, but no expectations, of it going anywhere beyond the tournament.
Through a former advisor, I was put in touch with an editor at NPR, so I pitched her a few stories once I arrived in Cape Town. Much to my surprise, she responded to my email and said she liked two of the three story ideas, and that I could try to do them ‘on spec’ (meaning no guarantee of payment if they don’t accept the final story). She also sent some very helpful tips on how to tell stories in sound. I was thrilled and appreciative of her help, and I immediately got to work.
A week or so later, I sent her my story (about homeless people being relocated from Cape Town stadium) and thought, “Well, at least I tried.” But, much to my surprise, yet again, I got a call that same day from the editor, saying she liked the story and they were going to air it. I was flabbergasted.
A few days later I was listening to NPR host Robert Siegel mispronounce my name on the national airwaves (I didn’t care a lick about the error) while huddled in a frigid bedroom in Cape Town. By the end of the tournament, I had done three feature stories for NPR, and they all appeared on either Morning Edition or All Things Considered.
It felt like my journalism career was suddenly up and running.
When I got back to Michigan after the tournament, exhilarated and exhausted, I got a phone call from a producer at PRI’s The World (its name at the time). She had tracked down my phone number through my soccer camp website, and called to see if, number one, I was the same guy who was reporting from Africa (yes), and, number two, if I’d be interested in doing some freelance work for them from South Africa (also yes).
I went back to Cape Town and spent the next two years working as a stringer for NPR, PRI’s The World, and the CBC. Then, in 2012, PRI’s The World offered me my first full-time reporting job — covering health and development in Africa. It was an honor and one of the best experiences of my reporting career.
Fourteen years later, I’m once again reporting on the World Cup, albeit in a different capacity. Yesterday, I got a call from an editor at The World, this time asking if I could comment on the visa kerfuffle that has embroiled the World Cup. This new project, The People’s Game, even got a shoutout.
It was a very brief cameo. But I decided to do what I had done way back in 2010 — I pulled out my laptop and listened to my voice on the national airwaves, while in a foreign country (this time, Mexico).
I took a moment to appreciate the full circle feeling. And this time, the host didn’t mispronounce my name.