Sports Journalism

Writing is not for everyone. It requires not only imagination but a talent to make the letters make up words that make up sentences that flow into a thought you wish to express.

Writing about sports is a whole different scenario. It is not only reporting scores or who is doing what in a game. It is about engaging the public with the sport, the fans with the athlete, and the rules with the statistics.

Media is an extremely important part of sports. Nowadays, with online streaming and social media, sports journalists have everything to provide better coverage and analysis of game, coaches and players and the teams.

Therefore, everyone expects more from sports journalism than back in the 1800s when reporters started to write about horse racing and boxing, especially for the elite society and the newspapers. In the 1920s, with baseball being the national pastime, college football became a thing and the massive increase in interest for sports overall, sports journalism was in high demand. Radio was the most popular source of sports news.

In the 1950s, Sports Illustrated magazine was born and with this, a whole new way of writing about sports. Journalists focused not only on the athletes but also conducted personal interviews to highlight them on another level.

Controversial sports stories like Jackie Robinson's racism issue, Pete Rose's unethical gambling situation, Michael Jordan's retirement, The Mitchell Report on steroid usage, Tim Donaghy the ref that affected bets, The attack on Nancy Kerrigan, Maradona’s hand of gold in soccer, The deflated footballs of the NE Patriots, Kobe Bryant’s death and Mexico’s “it was not a penalty” cry in the World Cup, to name a few, are all part of our history.

No matter where you are, who you are or what you do, you have heard about at least one of the stories above.

On July 2nd, we internationally celebrate Sports Journalism. La Revista Binacional and Fox Deportes are proud to feature Jorge Carlos Mercader. This is his story: After 15 years at ESPN, including becoming the youngest host of Sportscenter in network history, Jorge Carlos Mercader joined FOX Deportes this past September as one of the network’s lead voices from its new Mexico City-based studios.

Jorge Carlos Mercader, Host of Fox Deportes

The native of Mexico City currently serves as host of TOTAL SPORTS, the network’s daily sports highlight show, as well as PUNTO FINAL, a colorful debate show with a focus on Mexican soccer. PUNTO FINAL also features a rotating cast of former players including Daniel “Ruso” Brailovsky, Paco Palencia, Cesilio Dos Santos, Beto Valdes, Mariano Trujillo and more.

Mercader also recently joined the ranks of network’s play-by-play announcers as the voice behind the USFL, the upstart football league, alongside Rodolfo Landeros.

Throughout his career, Mercader has been part of the globe’s biggest sporting events, including the FIFA World Cup and the Olympics. He also won three Emmys.