Media Relations in Sport 5th Edition

Prepare students for a career in sport media relations.

As sport media communication has become intertwined with the frenetic pace of technology, global interconnectivity and versatility have become the bywords. Media Relations in Sport, Fifth Edition, examines the intersection and trajectory of emerging technology, platforms, and trends with foundational principles of communication to give students and industry professionals alike a nuanced understanding of the communication tools at their disposal that will allow them to keep pace with and succeed in a kinetic, competitive industry.

Media Relations in Sport is the only text focused on the day-to-day execution of media relations within sport organizations. Students interested in a career in sport media must possess a distinct set of essential skills―how to interview, how to effectively create and distribute content, and how to deal with communications issues that, given the hectic pace and global reach of web-based media, now seem amplified. Discussions of event management, publicity campaigns, ethics, regulations, and the law are not only still relevant but essential for today’s sport media professionals, where news travels the world at the speed of a tweet. For undergraduate- and graduate-level students, the fifth edition of Media Relations in Sport blends and balances how sport media communications has traditionally been crafted with the ever-evolving strategies necessary for remaining ahead of the game.

Formerly published in 2020 by FiT Publishing.

Craig Esherick, JD, is an associate professor of sport management at George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia. He is the associate director of the Center for Sport Management at George Mason University. He also works with the U.S. Department of State and their SportsUnited section, working on grants that use sport for diplomacy and community building. Esherick is the prime color commentator for college basketball for Mid-Atlantic Sports Network (MASN). In the summer of 2014, he started a three-year term as an editor for Journal of Issues in Intercollegiate Athletics (JIIA). Esherick’s life in the sport industry started as a college basketball player and then basketball coach. He was a scholarship member of the Georgetown Hoyas from 1974 to 1978; he received a business degree in finance with a minor concentration in theology from Georgetown University. Craig also holds a law degree from Georgetown and has been a member of the District of Columbia (D.C.) Bar since 1982.

Esherick’s coaching career started as an assistant at St. Anthony’s High School in Washington, D.C., and continued as a graduate assistant, a full-time assistant, and the head coach for the Hoyas from 1999 to 2004. He also served as an assistant coach and scout for the U.S. Olympic men’s basketball team in the 1988 Seoul Olympics. His career as a professor started at New York University (NYU), where he worked in their master’s degree program for two years as an adjunct professor for several sport management classes. He is the coauthor of three textbooks, along with numerous book chapters and articles for journals, books, and encyclopedias. Esherick’s fourth book, The Art and Science of Coaching, was published in 2015.

Philip H. Caskey, MA, MS, is a social studies educator at University High School in Morgantown, West Virginia, teaching civics and world history. In the summer of 2010, Caskey returned to school full time to change his career from sport information into secondary education. He graduated in December 2012 with a master’s degree in secondary education, with West Virginia state certification in social studies. Prior to returning to school, Caskey spent 11 years as a sport information director with the West Virginia University (WVU) athletic department. He was promoted to associate sports information director in December 2008 after serving his previous tenure as the office’s assistant.

A native of Martinsburg, West Virginia, Caskey served as the primary media relations contact for Mountaineer women’s basketball and served as the secondary contact for WVU football. He also assisted with the overall operation of WVU’s 15 other varsity sports and supervised a student staff that consisted of three graduate assistants and two student assistants. Prior to his full-time tenure in the sport communications office, Caskey served two years as a graduate assistant in the office as the primary media relations liaison for Mountaineer baseball, wrestling, and men’s soccer. A seven-time winner of the College Sports Information Directors of America national and district feature writer award, Caskey is also an adjunct instructor in the graduate sport management program of WVU’s College of Physical Activity and Sport Sciences and in WVU’s Perley Isaac Reed School of Journalism online curriculum classes. He has also served as media coordinator for numerous WVU- and NCAA-hosted sporting events. Caskey earned his bachelor’s degree in journalism, with a specialization in public relations, from WVU in 1999. He earned his first master’s degree, also from WVU, in sport management in 2001. He is married to the former Sarah Smith of Morgantown, and they both reside in the University City.

The late Brad Schultz, PhD (1948-2023) was a former professor at the School of Journalism and New Media at the University of Mississippi.

His research interests focused primarily on the effect of new technologies on the practice of sport journalism. Dr. Schultz was the author of six books, two dozen scholarly papers, and scores of academic presentations. He was also the creator and former editor of the Journal of Sports Media, published by University of Nebraska Press. Dr. Schultz has produced four documentaries for public television, one of which won a national Aurora Award for Best Sports Documentary in 2010. He spent 15 years in local television news and sports before entering academia. Dr. Schultz passed away on June 19, 2023.