Helping women and minorities into newsrooms since 1993
Helping women and minorities into newsrooms since 1993
Kyle Goon, a sports columnist for the Baltimore Banner and a member of SJI’s Class of 2010, finished second in column writing in the 2023 APSE contest Category B Columns section.
The winner, Jesse Washington, has written columns for Andscape since 2016. Goon transitioned from 13 years of beat reporting to column writing in 2023 and said he initially had doubts about whether it was the right move.
“It took some convincing from other people I know and other columnists I know to tell me that I could do it,” Goon, a Baltimore native, said. “A lot of my friends and colleagues saw that potential in me before I saw it. So it took me a while to even tell the Banner that I wanted the columnist job and that I thought I could do it.”
Goon’s path has been filled with strong reporting work. After he graduated from the University of Maryland, he spent eight years as a basketball beat reporter on the high school, college and professional levels at the Salt Lake Tribune. In 2018, he joined the Orange County Register as a Lakers beat writer.
After more than a decade away from home, Goon returned to Maryland. The experiences in Utah and California eased his move to columnist writing. Goon said that finding perspective in the differences between the local and national sports conversations can be one of the toughest adjustments for a new columnist.
“[I] got to see not just the team and the dynamics, but also just how high-level media operate — how ESPN works, how The Athletic works, how people cover the top of the sporting world and how difficult it is,” he said. “I learned a lot and I think it gave me perspective. Now I have a more regional job where I can talk about Baltimore sports and Maryland sports, but it helps me understand how things play on the national level. When Lamar Jackson is being talked about as MVP, I understand more now how that national conversation is handled and I think it really gives me a valuable perspective.”
Goon is nearly 15 years removed from his SJI experience, but he still credits the program for his current success at the Banner. “It’s short, but intense,” Goon said of SJI’s bootcamp. “I think that was really valuable in understanding how to work on your craft and all the ways you can get better. Sports check is super fun and memorable, but it reminds you to pay attention, especially in the job I have now.”
Wynton Jackson will intern at the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.