Sportscaster Lesley Visser honored for excellence in journalism
Lesley Visser was recognized for her contributions to journalism as the 2018 recipient of the Al Neuharth Award for Excellence in the Media in the Freedom Forum on Monday night.
Visser is an American sportscaster, television and radio personality and sportswriter. She is currently a reporter for CBS Sports, and she got her start writing sports for the Boston Globe.
Blazing a trail for female sports journalists, Visser was the first woman in the Pro Football Hall of Fame, the first female sportscaster to carry the Olympic torch, the only woman to present the Lombardi Championship Trophy at a Super Bowl and was voted the number one female sportscaster of all-time.
She covered many events such as the Super Bowl, the Final Four, the NBA Finals, the Olympics, the Triple Crown, the US Open and the World Figure Skating Championships.
Gene Policinski, a founding editor of USA Today and the chief operating officer of the Freedom Forum Institute, moderated a Q&A session with Visser, where she spoke about her life in sportswriting, trailblazing the profession for women and humorous stories from her career.
USD President Sheila Gestring gave the opening remarks for the event. She commended Visser for the work she has done for women in journalism and then introduced a video entitled “Where Would We Be Without Lesley Visser?” in which other well-known female journalists expressed their gratitude for Visser.
“Tonight we also honor a woman who faced those barriers and overcame them,” Gestring said.
Visser said she has always been drawn to sports.
“I was just a child who loved sports who was a girl; it was my passion,” she said.
Visser also said she believes she has maintained her passion, humor and curiosity for her reporting throughout her career.
“If you don’t love it, don’t do it,” she said. “If (what you love) is journalism, then you must have stamina.”
Students, alumni and faculty asked Visser about how she prepared for interviews, the intersection of politics and sports, her perception of social media and how she keeps her cool when talking to her sports “heroes.”
At the end of the event, Policinski announced Washington Post photographer Carol Guzy as the 2019 recipient of the Al Neuharth Excellence in Media Award.
