Introduction

Media is such a conspicuous industry that receives so much attention from almost all people globally. One of the media segments is the football world. Football is aired on numerous channels across the globe, covering various leagues such as Champion’s league, tournaments, UEFA Nations leagues, and the biggest of them all is the world cup. Media personalities come in handy in football during broadcasting, analyzing matches, and analyzing players’ lifestyles, outlining issues that affect players, such as racism and fitness. Football integrates numerous players from all corners of the world. Talented players can find their way into the most competitive leagues globally, such as the English premier league, Serie A of Italy, Bundesliga of Germany, Laliga of Spain, and UEFA Champion’s league, that comprises of top European leagues. The consumption of football information globally is very high. People support and fancy prestigious teams such as Barcelona, Bayern München, and Manchester United.

One of the most outstanding and renowned media personalities in the football industry is Jon Champion. He is an English international who has worked with the BT sport in coverage of the English premier league, International football, and currently relocated to the United States in the coverage of the Major League Soccer (MLS) for ESPN. Jon Champion is a very charismatic and bold speaker who is fancied for his clarity in voice. Another major attribute of Jon Champion is the ability to speak out his mind without fear or favor.

In interviewing a media personality, I will follow a four-phase process that includes; Ensure that the interview questions strictly align with the research questions, such as the nitty-gritty concerning football broadcasting. Secondly, I will construct an inquiry-based conversation that entails asking questions that will help gather specific information that we desire to know. Also, Feedback reception on the interview procedure is essential. It will show whether the interviewee conceptualization the research questions related to what the researcher expects (Milagros, 2016). We do not expect extremely outrageous responses at this stage because we expect the kind of information we will get. Lastly, a pilot survey is conducted to model the actual interview. This simulation is done as real conditions as possible, and aspects that can improve the interview protocol are noted. Any redundancies in the process are eliminated to ensure that the interview is as objective as possible.

Some of the interview’s key takeaways could include objectivity while presenting information, prior research before presenting information to consumers, flexibility in career, and aligning of work to personal life. Jon Champion reads a lot of information about footballers, and he has made this a lifestyle. He knows even the most ignored details about players, and whenever he utters them, consumers are amazed and develop the desire to listen to him more and more. Consistency is also another major stepping stone for any media personality. Once you address your audience in ways that they desire, be assured of continued growth in terms of career (ESPN, 2020). Jon Champion began broadcasting in the 1980s for the BBC radio. He then joined ESPN in 2009 in the United Kingdom. In 2019, Champion began working for ESPN full-time, and because of his competence, versatility, and reputation, he was promoted to be the head play-by-play voice of the MLS.

Champion’s flexibility as a commentator has seen him broadcast other dynamic games such as rugby, Olympic games, and cricket (ESPN, 2020). He is also one of the mastermind voices behind football video games such as Pro Evolution Soccer (PES).

All media personalities would like attributes such as the ones of Champion. The kind of research he does before his commentary assignment is one that all other media personalities need to emulate. It ensures that consumers get scrutinized information without any falsehood. It is not surprising that some people watch and listen to football matches because of the witty nature, charisma, and facts spoken by broadcasters such as Jon.

Patience, hard work, and good intentions are other values that anybody in the media needs to emulate. All people start at the lowest level, but they will rise with time, but it solely depends on the kind of output they give. Jon started as a mere radio presenter before getting a relished chance on BBC TV. His performance was tremendous, which had him promoted to ITV for Premier League coverage, UEFA champion’s league, and he also covered seven league cup finals (ESPN, 2020). All these could not come without hard work, consistency, and quality delivery of information.

Conclusion

The media industry is pivotal to all sectors worldwide, ranging from the health sector, environment, sports, politics, science, fashion, architecture, and even culture and religion. Availing quality information to consumers will uphold the integrity and role of media and preserve all aspects of these varied fields (Jay, 2019). Interviews give us a gist of what happens in the media industry and show what students should expect once they are out there in the field.

References

ESPN Pressroom, (2020) Jon Champion: Soccer Play-By-Play Voice. Retrieved from; https://espnpressroom.com/us/bios/jon-champion/.Jay G. Blumber, (2019) A Fresh Perspective on Politicians and the Media. Retrieved from; https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/10584609.2018.1548413?journalCode=upcp20.Milagros Castillo-Montoya, (2016) Preparing for Interview Research: The Interview Protocol Refinement Framework. Retrieved from; https://nsuworks.nova.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2337&context=tqr#:~:text=A%20researcher’s%20interview%20protocol%20is,or%20certain%20ideas%20and%20experiences).